Welcome to Gaia! ::

So my friends and I spent most of last night talking about a completely arbitrary topic. Don't ask to explain how we got off on the tangent, the topic was fascinating and kept us up until three this morning before finally we all had to sleep. As it was interesting, an pertained to the martial sciences (albeit rather whimsically), I have decided to post it here for discussion as well, since there is a far wider spectrum of martial artists and scientists here than I have in my home (I'm the only one here!)

Given the following factors:
- Zombies are a reality and have overtaken the Earth.
- You have survived.
- These are the slow (cannot move more than a fast hobble) zombies that can only be killed by damage to the brain, transmit their disease by bite and body fluid, and have heightened hearing and sense of smell.

The topic, when it drifted into my area of expertise, asked the following questions:

- What physical techniques could you utilize to escape a scenario in which you are attacked by one zombie? Two? Five? Ten? An unending horde?
- Given the heightened strength levels of zombies as compared to humans, would this influence your technique choices?
- Given a weapon, which weapon would it be, and how would you utilize it in the above numerical situations?

As I recall, (it's a bit hazy, it was very early in the morning) I answered in the following fashions.

Krav Maga offers several techniques for disabling multiple opponents. One on one with a zombie, I would disable a leg or employ a simple throw and utilize a stomping kick to crush the skull. Repeat as necessary to destroy the brain. When the situation approaches two zombies, the advancement of technique involves using superior intellect to cause the zombies to be in each other's way. At five zombies, I am going to be more concerned about escape than fighting. I would utilize a throwing technique to create an opening in their grouping (presuming I'm surrounded) and then make to escape. By the time I reach ten, I might have trouble escaping in the former fashion, so it falls to me to again use the superior intellect to cause them to get into each other's way, using defensive maneuvering techniques until I can find an opening and make a break for it. Against a numberless horde, unfortunately, Krav Maga (and the other techniques of unarmed combat I have studied for that matter) is woefully lacking, due to the lack of immediate killing head blows it has. I will admit that, without a weapon, at massive numbers I would quickly become lunch.

As to the second question, I am a fairly large human being in exceptional physical shape. I do not believe that I would have to alter my techniques to compensate for most zombies (given that the bulk of them would be human average in size and I am a good 4-5 inches taller than American average).

The third question has many of the same answers as the first one. My only well-trained weapon is the katana, used in my Iaijutsu training, and unfortunately that style does not lend itself to either prolonged combat or numbers of opponents greater than three. My kendo would allow me to address up to five zombies, but I would likely sustain a fatal/turning wound in that combat, and against any number greater than that, I'd be pretty much doomed.

Just a silly topic that I thought this particular collection of people might be able to have some fun with! Think of it as an exercise in practical combat application of what you know. Enjoy!