Improvised Weapons

Getting this in your eyes hurts.

Okay, so maybe mass distraction isn't entirely accurate, but I thought it sounded better.  Continuing our series on improvised weapons, we now turn our attention to some things that even some people who are familiar with improvised weapons might not normally consider to be weapons.  Today, I thought it would be interesting to look at some weapons that don't really do all that much damage at all.  These weapons are there entirely to distract.

So what's so great about distracting someone?  More than I can count.  Sure, most distractions won't in and of themselves do much damage to an aggressor (although I'll touch on a few that do) but they free up valuable seconds for you to act in some way and, possibly more importantly, they focus the aggressor's attention on a singular point opening up other target areas.  Additionally, there are countless improvised distraction weapons.  Countless to the point where, while I'm going to do my best to give as many examples as possible, this article is going to be based mostly on principles that can be applied to a wide variety of objects.

"I love improvisation" - Nora Dunn

Now, I image the picture above doesn't look too menacing to most people.  I mean, they're just car keys, everyone has them.  You can walk into almost anywhere (with the possible exception of through airport security) twirling a pair of keys around your finger and no one would think twice about it.  Walk into a bank with a knife or a gun even tucked into your belt or a in a pocket, let alone in your hand, and you get a very different reaction.  Sure, as martial artists we learn to fight with swords and knives and sticks and even more exotic things, but what about the stuff just lying around?  This series of articles will hopefully teach you to look at what's in your pocket or sitting on your desk in a whole new light, and I'm starting with one of the most common items out there: car keys.