A Martial Artist looks at the Zimmerman/Martin Murder Case

THE MOUNT POSITION

Filed under: law & crime by Victoria Liberty @ 1:45 pm

Guest post by John Victor

Thanks again to John, who earlier wrote a guest post about the Pring-Wilson trial, for providing his analysis of another high-profile case.

The killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman is a story that ran through most of the media earlier this year, with strong opinions expressed on both sides of the issue.  Martin was shot by Zimmerman as he walked to his father’s apartment in a gated community.  Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watcher who was armed, followed Martin assuming he was a potential burglar.  The two had a confrontation, where Zimmerman pulled out his holstered handgun and shot Martin.

Contrary to reports in the media, it is possible to reenact the murder and to discredit the stories coming out of the Zimmerman camp.  My own background is in martial arts and I do reenactments of street crimes for the purposes of self-defense training.

Zimmerman’s first story (as related by his brother to the media) is full of easily discredited holes.  He claims that Trayvon Martin was seated on top of him, smashing his head against the pavement, whereas he went for his holstered gun and shot him in the chest.  This story is as unlikely as “space aliens made him do it.”


Let’s start with the position that Martin and Zimmerman were allegedly in.  It’s called “the mount” as shown in the following picture: READ MORE

Who Screamed for Help?
One of the keys to understanding a street fight is that “multitasking” is not an option for most people.  When a karate master takes on, say, three attackers simultaneously, his or her approach is to deal with this as one single attack and not three separate attacks.  Screaming for help is a separate event from fighting.  One does not fight and scream for help simultaneously.  It’s the party that has stopped fighting (or never engaged in a fight) that does the screaming.
I would put my money on Trayvon Martin as the screamer when he was pinned to the ground.  Why not Zimmerman?  Because he had an ace in the hole in this fight, his gun, and he would have been fighting to get to it, and not taking the time to do anything else.  It would have been a single minded effort.  Even assuming that Zimmerman was being “ground and pounded,” he would know that he had the ultimate weapon in this fight, and that’s what he would have been going for, and not screaming for help.
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George's Shoes