Self Defence preperation
Most attacks occur with very little warning. It may be late at night, your aggressor may be intoxicated, you may be tipsy and a crowd of onlookers may be jeering and hissing. After heated exchanges and some verbal insults the confrontation may descend into a physical attack at any moment. Do you know what to do?
Any self defence expert will have long known to leave the scene. The best form of self defence is flight - removing and / or avoiding situations where one may be forced to fight. Is it dignified? Not really, but neither are we in the movies here. The culture of knives and the tendency of modern youth to jump on one’s head when one is unconscious means it’s far preferable to extract oneself with the drunken taunts of a scumbag ringing in one’s head than have to wait for paramedics to extract oneself with a scumbags shoe imprint on one’s face.
But there will be a time when you have no option. The attack may be unprovoked, without warning or for some other mitigating reason we cannot extract ourselves from the situation.
Its not just physical preparation that’s important. The body can go into shock - the classical frozen response. The sheer overwhelming nature of being attacked can lead to paralysis and indecision as you try to comprehend the events occurring. It’s important to condition yourself to ignore the trauma of a situation and to react with speed and decision. More often than not, being decisive can lead to a better outcome, if not avoiding a beating altogether.
All of us have a natural ability to slow time down as adrenaline surges through our system. A few key points you should prioritise when faced with an attacker is:
1. You will not emerge unscathed. Be prepared to suffer punches, blood and an ugly mess. Resolving you to being hit makes it a lot easier to overcome. Forget about who’s looking - the only thing that matters is coming out the other end walking.
2. Do not allow yourself to be surrounded. Try put your back to an object - a wall or car, a phone booth or bin for instance. At the same time, try not to become trapped either. No point being at the end of an alley and facing down twenty attackers with no route to escape.
3. Act with hard and decisive force. When you hit, hit with everything you got. If you land a punch, the aim is to incapacitate your attacker so you can concentrate on other potential attackers. Aim for the nose, throat and, groin areas - all will severely handicap your aggressor in launching an immediate counter response. Use nails (for the eyes), fingers (for the throat) and don’t be afraid to grab and twist in the groin area. Knees are effective for the groin - unless you’ve practices chuck Norris type round house kicks best keep the legs to yourself in case an attacker grabs one mid flight - you will immediately be on the ground. The key is to inflict the maximum amount of damage that you can. Forget your inhibitions and strike hard. It won’t be dignified, but if it was going to be dignified it wouldn’t have got this far already!
4. MOVE! Don’t stand still. Jig and jive, move sideways, backwards and forwards. A moving target will be harder to hit and will gain you more time to think and plan - if even only a few seconds. It also makes it harder to encircle you. Ideally move towards a point that offers the chance to escape. Walk backwards if needs be. Keep your side to your opponent - it offers less area of attack to them and is far easier defend.
5. As soon as you can leave, do so. If your aggressor’s mates haven’t already joined in on the attack, they will soon do so. Unless you have an army of friends willing to put themselves on the line for you, remove yourself and them from the area as soon as possible and as fast as possible. Do not walk away - grab a taxi, police car or passing car as soon as possible to put distance between you and your attackers.
Last Updated on Thursday, 03 June 2010 19:53 Thursday, 12 November 2009 15:55