ACTION AGAINST VIOLENCE

May 15, 2009

DON’T WAIT FOR ADRENALINE TO KICK IN TO “LEARN” SELF DEFENSE TECHNIQUES.

I just completed my fourth of four Self Defense for Women classes at the local community college last night, and, frankly, it might be the last one I teach in that venue. 

HERE’S THE THING, Hammer Fans:  It is simply too hard on this Old Dog to experience girls and women who do, or, better put, refuse to do the following during training:

·        Refuse to strike their training partner with any significant power, even when her partner, who is playing the “Bad Guy” role, is attacking and either wearing protective gear or holding a strike bag.

·        Apologize to her “Bad Guy” partner after “striking” the Bad Guy.

·        Refuse to even feign an eye gouge or throat strike (all I ever ask anyone to perform on those areas is the lightest possible touch drill), claiming that those areas are “icky,” or “yucky.”

·        Absolutely refuse or decline to take part in any techniques on the ground.

·        And, as in every class I have taught, forget to scream, yell, or say anything (I prefer the liberating and empowering yell – “Kai!”) when under attack.

·        And, probably the worst to me, when questioned about her refusal to strike with any body mass, or to actually even Touch Drill the eyes, throat, nose or groin (“GENT – “ the acronym for the Primary Targets, include the Groin, Eyes, Nose/Nees and Throat), or to take part in Ground Counterattack drills, state with absolute confidence and certainty that “ when the adrenaline kicks in, I will do what I have to do—“

PLEASE, LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR.  There is no way on Earth, ladies and gents, that any of my lovely students, nor you, for that matter, will magically learn to defend yourself in a life and death struggle when your adrenaline kicks in.  And I am sure that anyone in their right mind who is reading this understands that, but, for the sake of clarity, allow me to explain why.

WHEN you perceive that you are under a possible deadly threat; when you have never faced that type of threat before; when you are forced to defend yourself against such a threat; and, finally, when you have little or no confidence in your ability to defend yourself, your mind and body will be flooded with survival stress hormones, which will accelerate your heart rate from around 70 beats per minute (BPM) to over 220 BPM.  When this happens, your SNS (Sympathetic Nervous System) will be activated –  the adrenaline my optimistic students were referring to –  and you will experience the “benefits” of the adrenal rush, better known as Fight of Flight.

THE BENEFITS OF ADRENALINE, especially on an untrained person, are:

1. An inability to make quick and effective self defense related decisions. (depreciation of cognitive skills).
2. Auditory Exclusion.
3. Visual Dysfunctions, such as Tunnel Vision, and Inability to Focus, Loss of Near Vision, Loss of Night Vision, Loss of Monocular Vision.
4. Inability to use Fine and Complex Motor Skills.
5. Accelerated Heart rate and Respiration.
6. An inability to fight at 100% maximum output for longer than 10 seconds.

Add to this the fact that the Bad Guy will almost always be stronger, faster, more experienced at fighting, will have a definite attack plan, will often be armed, and will orchestrate and time his or her attack in such a way that you will not only be surprised, you will not breathe, will freeze in place (9 out of 10 male and female victims of a surprise attack will not breathe and will freeze upon the attacker’ First Touch). 

BOTTOM LINE.  Unless you train seriously and learn to think like a Hard Target (previous blogs), adrenaline will never be your friend and training coach if and when you are attacked.  Even if you “participate” in a serious self defense program, if you refuse to carry out the strikes and other techniques as they are designed – Touch Drill Training really works.  Your body and mind learns when it replicates the techniques in training – you will never be able to replicate the moves with the predator so close you can smell what the asshole ate and drank at the local Bar and Grille a few hours before he attacked and had his way with you.

IF I never teach another Self Defense for Women class, it is because I have finally tired of driving home afterwards and conceding to myself that, for those women who have falsely believed in the Magic of Adrenaline, or, simply of providence, I have done absolutely nothing. 

Nothing.

Until the next post, please Stay Safe.

Hammer

ACTION AGAINST VIOLENCE

May 9, 2009

THE IRREPRESSIBLE WEB STRIKE

HEY, HAMMER FANS, here’s the counterstrike I recommend to anyone – be you elderly, a man, boy, woman or girl – facing a high-risk close quarter attack.  The Web Strike is a Deadly Force Counterstrike, meaning, if delivered successfully – and, frankly, I don’t know how it could not be delivered, not only successfully, but with devastating power, the results of the strike could be serious injury or possibly death to the attacker.

The Web Strike has so many positive attributes that it’s a wonder more people don’t know about it. 

• It is based on Gross Motor Skills, which work best under high stress situations.  In a close quarter, surprise attack, the potential victim’s heart rate will accelerate to well over 200 BPM.
• Gross Motor Skills are simple, doable for the least athletic and strong student in any of my Self Defense classes.
• The Web Strike requires no significant power.  The target is the Adam’s Apple, or the Throat.  A mere 6 pounds of pressure delivered to the throat will cause not only pain, a major stun and a Startle Response.  The Bad Guy will reflexively reach for his throat, even if the pain is minor.  It is a natural, instinctive response.  And, of course, by grabbing for his throat, the Bad Guy opens up all his Secondary and Primary Targets (covered in a previous post).  And, as in all high-risk self defense scenarios, the putative victim must follow-up immediately and often with strikes to those open targets.  Maybe it needs not be said, but it is a deadly force struggle.  If you stick around and allow the Bad Guy a chance to recover, the Bad Guy will attack again, and, this time, it will be anything but pretty.  Put him away.  Please.
• But, if the Web Strike is driven into the throat with full power and with the violence such a life or death counterstrike calls for, the Bad Guy will immediately end his attack.  And I mean now!
• The Web Strike should be delivered using the element of surprise.  It also should be delivered up through the Blind Spot that resides on every Bad Guy extending from his/her solar plexus to just below his nose.

Here is how to use this great strike.  The Bad Guy has boldly strutted into your intimate zone (PSZ) and has latched onto you.  He pulls you in even closer, predictably expected you – like 9 out of 10 victims – to freeze on his First Touch.  Instead, place your hand, palm down, your fingers pointed toward your right and your thumb straight up.  When you look at your hand it forms an “L.”  Now, stretch out those fingers and extend your thumb.  Notice how the web between your thumb and index finger grows taut?

All you have to do is slide that hard web straight up, sliding along the chest until it drives into the throat.  If you were a defensive back in football, you would be performing what we call a Clothesline Technique.

Ever watch a Clothesline in football?  Ever notice how the runner always drops like AIG stock when hit?

That’s why it’s illegal in football.  But, this aint football.  This is life or death.

Stay Safe.

Hammer

DESTROYING THE MOST COMMON

ATTACK AGAINST WOMEN.

The Wrist or Arm Grab is easily the most common move used against women.  Figures, too.  This move almost always follows “testing,” where the attacker uses distraction techniques to get the woman to look at her watch, to look anywhere but at the attacker.  Testing is part of “The Interview,” where the attacker sizes up his prey, testing the waters.  I have written more than 6 posts on how to avoid an attack by acing “The Interview,” or, put more technically, becoming a Hard Target, so let’s move on from there.

When the attacker senses he has himself an Easy Target, his logical next move is to attach the prospective victim to himself.  The predator knows what too many women do not:  Nine out of ten women will freeze upon First Touch, and. just as bad, will hold their breath.  This is one of the major reasons the wrist/arm grab is so frequent.  Because it works!

THE WRIST GRAB ESCAPE, PART I.  If the Bad Guy grabs you with his palm down, bend your knees, turn your wrist so you present a bladed bone instead of a flat surface.  Much harder for him to hold.  Now, pull your hand straight up, as if you are slapping yourself in your ear and step back.

THE WRIST GRAB ESCAPE, PART II.  Once you escape do your best to gain as much distance as possible. Be prepared to strike when the Bad Guy moves in.  However, there is a chance the predator will Re-Grab Your Wrist.  If he re-grabs, this usually means he intends to seriously harm you and the grab is simply the first step.  Here is what I recommend to do:

1.      You escaped against a palm down grab by driving your hands straight up.  Most likely, he will grab your wrists palm up this time.  Escape by blading your wrist and driving your hand straight down.  As you step in to empower the move, however, your hands will be low.  Step in and drive that hand hard into his groin.  He will drop his head instinctively here, so drive your knee straight up into his head, using your free hand to help drive his head downward.

2.      It is not important that you follow my blueprint here.  The key is to escape from the grab and immediately strike whatever target is open with whatever personal weapon you can use the best.

3.      But, here is another option.  In my book, a better option, but, as always, it is up to you.  Do not even try to escape the second wrist grab.  Why should you?  Heck, both of the Bad Guy’s hands are tied up, or, at the very least, one, so he has nothing to block with, nothing to strike with. 

Ø Allow him to hold on to your wrists and step forward quickly.

Ø Drive your foot into his shin, or, if you can reach it, kick him in the groin as hard as you can.

Ø Be prepared to follow up.  If you kick him in the groin, he will let go of your wrists and bring his hands toward his groin.  Now, your hands are both free.  As his hands are moving down, yours should drive as hard and as often as possible into his face:

·        Repeated Palm Heel Strikes to the chin and nose.

·        Stretch out and harden your fingers and gouge the eyes.

·        Create an “L” with your hand and drive the hardened Web (Web Strike) into his throat (use the convenient “Blind Spot” that exists from his solar plexus up to his nose).

·        Follow Up or start the whole cascade of strikes with a powerful Head Butt using your forehead into his nose.

Make the bastard sorry he ever tried the most common and simplest of male attacks on women.  Destroy the Wrist and Arm Grab and never stop striking until it is safe to disengage.

Until the Next Post, Stay Safe.

Hammer

THE HAMMER FIST STRIKE – VERSATILE, EASY-TO-DO, AND DEVASTATING.

This month I am conducting another 4-week Self Defense for Women program.  I have 18 beautiful and energetic women, all of whom are committed to protecting themselves so they can enjoy the adventures and joys life has to offer.  The thought of some miscreant attacking, dragging off and killing any of them energizes me into giving them the best self protection techniques I know.

The problem in any class such as this, though, is to teach as many skills as possible in the short time I have them without teaching so many that they forget almost all of them when the time comes to use the skills.  It is a fact that the human mind can only absorb so much, and, worse, under stress, when the resting heart rate spikes from 70 BPM to about 250 BPM, it is only possible to retrieve a survival skill when the student has repeated the skill at least 25 times during training in correlation with the actual threat (The Condition/Stimulus Response Training Principle).

Thus, the Hammer Fist Strike.  Second only, in my opinion, to the extremely versatile Palm Heel Strike (which I have extolled in past posts), the Hammer Fist is a terrific strike for any woman to employ against any attacker who attempts to drag her away from the Initial Crime Scene (where she is found) to the deadly Secondary Crime Scene (where she is raped, injured, tortured and/or killed in an isolated, secluded environment)

WHY THE HAMMER FIST?

1. It is easy to use.  Easy to do.  Just make a strong fist, which anybody can do.  Strike with the bottom of the Hammer Fist on the opposite side where the thumb resides.  This creates a hard, unforgiving surface, much like the peen of a hammer.
2. It is very powerful because it is delivered in a downward motion, from shoulder height.  Imagine you are going to deliver the Hammer Fist through the target to the other side of the target.  If the woman/girl hits and sticks on the target – as opposed to bouncing off – the effect will be much more devastating.
3. It is also a relatively versatile strike.  Not only can it be delivered downward into the target, it can be driven backward into the genitals as the man attempts to grab the woman.
4. The Very, Very Vulnerable and Effective Targets include the :
   • NOSE.  The nose, in my opinion is one of the five Primary Targets (Groin/Eyes/Nose/(K)Nees/Throat).  Driving the Hammer Fist straight down on the nose will temporarily stop the attack because it will cause instant tearing, an inability to see, and, very likely, will break the nose.  The nose is always a great target because, no matter the size and strength of the attacker, he can not develop any resistance to the punch in his nose!  More than that, a good strike to the nose will result in overwhelming pain.  Think of this:  If you have ever been holding a baby and that child dropped his or her forehead onto your nose, you know how disorienting a strike to the nose can be, even when delivered by a baby (In a future post I will discuss the wonderful Head Butt To teh Nose.  A devsatating technique, by the way.
   • GROIN.  The groin is also a great Primary Target.  Striking the groin with even a deflected strike will still startle and distract the Bad Guy at the very least, giving the woman time and opportunity to deliver another strike.  A solid strike to the groin, however, will stop the attacker in his tracks!  How to do this?  Form the same Hammer Fist and imagine the Bad Guy is very close to you and standing behind you at a slight angle.  Simply drive the Hammer Fist  straight back (imagine you are facing away from a door and you wish to knock on that door with your fist.)
   • FLOATING RIBS.  Can’t get at the groin with the first strike?  No problem, deliver the same backward strike into his ribs.  The ribs are a Secondary Target, but the affect will be to open up other targets.

Remember.  One strike will hardly ever stop him!  Never stop hitting him until you are safe.

Until next time, stay safe.

Hammer

YOU CAN HEAR A PUNCH COMING A MILE AWAY

Ever been punched?  Not a great feeling, is it? I’ve been punched, probably too many times, and, no, it did not feel very good, if you’re wondering.  Thinking back on it, though, what was worse was the debilitating hesitation as my attacker threatened me, poked me with his finger as he bobbed in and out of my personal space.  I should have known better, but I was paralyzed by persistent thoughts that I could wait him out, maybe even catch him off guard then rush him.

It’s that internal dialogue that opens us up to punches, kicks, strikes and worse.  I don’t blame others for weighing the consequences of cold-cocking someone who is just harassing you.  The consequences for punching someone’s lights out are always a consideration; and anyone thinking of the possibility of being charged with assault or being sued can’t really be blamed – as I already mentioned – for hesitating until he or she is positive that the fight is on.

Which is swell.  Really it is.  Unless your up against an asshole who doesn’t live by your rules, or, for that matter, anyone else’s.  He is going to attack you when he is damned good and ready and there isn’t a goddamn thing you can do about it.  That’s what he’s there for. 

Tim Larkin’s Target Focused Training has a great philosophy when it comes to asocial violence.  Violence itself is the only thing that can work against violence when the rules do not apply.  Incidental to that thought process is a concept known as Creating Automatic Decision Points.  These ADP’s are created so that intended victims will be able to know by a few distinct Signatures of Danger when you are about to be attacked.  Once you encounter one or more of these signatures, you have reached that ADP and you can respond accordingly (counterattack or disengage).

AUTOMATIC DECISION POINTS

• Non-Verbal Decision Points. 

•  
  1. Invading Your Personal Space.  Despite your protestations, the thug has invaded your PSZ (Personal Safety Zone).  It is imperative that you make it clear to him that he must get the hell out of your face, like now, just like you must make it clear before he enters the space that he must not come any closer.  It is important to understand that any normal person who lives by the rules would probably apologize and back up.  What you do and how you do it is up to you, but do something.  Me, I’m moving somewhere unless I am trapped.  If that’s the case, then, me, I’m hitting an open target.  Hit the sumbitch between strides.
  2. Going From Maniacal to Silently Calm, to Hiatus, to Target Stare to Bingo.  Your harasser goes from maniacal rage and the movement patterns of a Tasmanian Devil, then suddenly he calms and goes silent.  The attacker has resolved what he is going to do and how he aims to do it.  There is a short hiatus when he turns away from you for a second or two, but, as surely as a frog will bump his ass when he tries to fly, he will return his  attention to you and he will Target Stare at the spot he intends to punch, kick, stab or grab you.  The attack is on.  You?  You do what you want when he goes into the hiatus.  Me, I just ain’t gonna be there for the Target Stare.  If I cannot move for environmental reasons, I got something for him.
  3. Silence.  Long time ago, someone pretty wise told me a truism.  Despite what happens in movies, fighters never throw a punch when they are talking.  When your harasser goes silent, as in the ADP above, he, more likely than not, is having an internal dialogue about what he is going to do to you.  Once again, this is the time to do something.

• VERBAL AUTOMATIC DECISION POINTS.

•  
  1. THE THREAT.   The Attacker is trying to ramp up his courage and confidence.  A threat is not always followed by a punch, but you need to take it seriously.  The key is to break up his confidence with verbal de-escalation.  Change his Channel from his mental channel – the Fight Channel – to any other channel.  De-escalation tactics like distraction techniques, humor, redirection.  I will talk about those in future posts and have discussed them in past blogs.

• PRE-ATTACK ACTION ADP.

•  
  1. THE FINGER JAB.  This is always dangerous.  The thug is testing the waters.  If you do nothing here, you are telling him, “C’mon in, the water’s fine.”
  2. THE SHOVE.  The shove is an ADP that is always followed with some sort of attack.  He’s setting up the punch, getting you off balance and preparing to stride in an nail you like roofing slate.  Once again, trust me, this jerk either finger jabs or shoves you, this is exactly when you prepare to block and/or duck the incoming bomb and deliver one of your own.
  3. THE PUNCH.  If you are hit, no matter how light, you are likely going to get hit again, this time pretty damned hard.

So, they you are.  Do what you can to de-escalate the individual who threatens you, but when you reach one or more of these ADT’s, you are about to be attacked.  It is up to you what you want to do about it, but, if you elect to do nothing, I suggest you have a great hospitilization plan, Dog.

Stay Safe.

Hammer

April 2, 2009

A BEAUTIFUL CHILD MURDERED IN OHIO

It doesn’t matter if a child is beautiful or not.  When a child is killed by a sexual predator it is always an unthinkable tragedy.  But Esme Kenney was in fact a beautiful 13-year old child, a very loving and active child.  Maybe being active this March day in Cincinnati was not a good thing because she was abducted as she jogged along a newly built recreation trail by a convicted sexual predator who had just been released from a nearby halfway house. 

Esme was only a block or so from her home and it was 3:30 in the afternoon and it was broad daylight.  But there are blind spots even on a recreational trail in the light of day and evil was waiting for her as she rounded a corner.  Poised in a tree in a pre-selected observation post, Evil waited patiently.  Evil had performed intelligence on the trail, knew the blind spots by heart, and also knew this would be the time the young girl would be running by.  Alone.

Esne was attacked and captured at what John Hall, the founder of Kid Escape, calls the initial crime scene.  She was dragged to the always deadly secondary crime scene, this one about 100 yards into the woods.  Every year the ravaged bodies of thousands of young girls and boys, as well as men and women victims are discovered by police in woods and forests just like this one, and none were killed there.  All were taken from an initial scene – a public scene – and carried off to this secondary scene because that is where this ungodly, evil miscreant can carry out his unspeakable acts upon his victims without interruption.

If you have followed my blog posts even randomly, you probably are familiar with my repetitious suggestions and admonishments for “victims” of these predators to do whatever they can to remain in the initial scene.  I understand that sometimes, when taken by surprise by a larger, stronger and totally committed evil entity, that staying in the first scene just isn’t possible.  

Then I guess the best self defense is prevention and avoidance.  God, I hate running over all the countermeasures against evil again, but that is just what I will do over the next few posts.

Until then, please, for your own sake and that of your loved ones, Stay Safe.  Until then—

Hammer

ACTION AGAINST VIOLENCE

March 21, 2009

EVADING AND ESCAPING THE CHARGE AND TACKLE

Being tackled to the ground can be a terrifying turn of events for anyone.  Probably why the charge and tackle is one of the 30 most common types of street attacks.  Successfully defending against such an attack requires a combination of mental and physical countermeasures, including:

1. Mental Conditioning.  Stay focused mentally. Stay calm.  You have less than 1 ½ seconds to orchestrate your actions and now is not the time to panic and freeze.  More likely than not, your mental curriculum should include:
   • AWARENESS.  Now is not the time to be oblivious.  Surprise is the best friend of the tackle-attacker.
   • ANTICIPATE:  You need to be Spinal Tuned.  In other words, your mind and body should be prepared at all times to act.  At some point before the attack, you need to have a plan of action, germinated by the self-thought:  “What would I do if such and such happens?”
   • TACTICAL BREATHING.  “Breathe, don’t freeze.”
   • SURVIVAL PSYCHE.  If all of the above is in place, the primal thought in your mind should be “I knew this could happen and I am ready for it.”

1. Balance is always an advantage.  Feet shoulder width apart, your power foor slightly rearward, giving you not only a wide but deep platform.  Knees bent and your nose directly over your center.  More about balance in a future post.

1. MOVEMENT.  Evade the tackle with good tactical movement (GTM).  GTM includes quickly moving diagonally, never straight backwards.  Moving linearly back is slow – the attacker will easily overtake you – but it is easy to trip over your own feet.

1. COUNTERSTRIKES.  In a wide open environment evasive movement is crucial.  A J-Step often will keep a tackler at bay.  However, in a closed environment, your movement will be restricted, so you are going to have to stop the attacker with a strike or two, depending upon how he attempts the tackle.

1.  
   • HIGH TACKLE/NARROW ENVIRONMENT:  Palm Heel Strike to the attacker’s forehead or chest to slow down the attack.  Follow up with other strikes.
   • MID LEVEL TACKLE/NARROW ENVIRONMENT:  As the bad guy attempts to tackle you around the waist, lower your center as you drive both forearms hard onto his Supra Scapular Nerve Motor Points (where the traps connect to the sides of his neck).  This should slow him down.  Now, with his head still lowered (as it will be when he attempts the tackle), grab the back of his head and drive it downward while driving an ascending knee strike into his face.
   • LOW LEVEL (ANKLES OR LOWER SHINS) TACKLE/OPEN OR NARROW ENVIRONMENT:  Defeat this pernicious tackle attempt by quickly sprawling both feet backward, thereby evading his grasp, and simultaneously driving your body and both palm heels against his rear shoulders.  You will end up on top of him, and he should end up face first on the ground.  Never stop hitting and kicking him until you can escape.

A CAVEAT HERE:  You cannot hope to learn genuine Survival Skills in a blog.  These will work best in a hands-on self defense program.  The suggestions above come from my PPCT GAGE (Ground Avoidance and Ground Escapes) Program.  I also teach these and other techniques in my self defense course for women, men and teenagers.

Until the next time.  Stay Safe.

Hammer

ESCAPING COMMON STREET ATTACKS – The Hair Pull.

The Hair Attack is almost entirely restricted to attacks on women, often performed by other women.  Either way, a hair attack is painful, maybe even mortifying.  It is also a tough-escape.  When performed against a woman by another woman it is almost always motivated by anger, jealousy (over a man, perhaps), even rage.  If you have ever seen this type of attack, you know it can get pretty ugly, fast.

When perpetrated against a woman by a male attacker the motivating factor often is a preamble to a sexual assault with a lot of malice thrown in.  The side-goal is to humiliate and dehumanize the woman.

But motivational factors is not the point here.  Escape is.  The two moves I have in mind will work against either gender, but they are designed primarily against a man. 

1. The male attacker expects you to try to desperately pull away.  Thing is, the more you try to distance yourself from the attacker – by pulling away – the more painful the hair pull.  I say, do the opposite of what you naturally feel like doing while also doing the opposite of what the bad guy expects you to do.

1.  
   • Move #1 is difficult to describe outside of the classroom setting where you and I could work together.  Clamp both hands down on top of the bad guy’s hand to prevent him from twisting your hair harder.  Also, you want to gain control over that hand.  Now, lower your center and turn clockwise until you are at an angle where you are slightly behind him.  By doing so you create a nice little wrist lock.  Painful.  While he is trying to gain control over his hand and prevent you from breaking his wrist, you can attack vulnerable targets.  Try a slanted foot strike down on his knee.  Break it.  Go home and watch 30 Rock.

1.  
   • Move #2.  Quick and devastating.  Clamp down on his hand or hands.  Prevent him from twisting.  Quickly turn your body toward his – not away from his as he expects.  Release one of your hands and drive a fist or palm heel into his groin, hard.  Keep hitting vital targets.  Go home and watch Family Guy.

Next Blog.  Another Common Attack.  Another cool escape.

Until then, Stay safe.

Hammer

ACTION AGAINST VIOLENCE

March 14, 2009

NOW YOU’VE GOT ME.  NOW YOU DON’T!         Escaping the Most Common Street Attacks.

Now you’ve gone and done it.  Got yourself entangled in one of the 20 most common types of street attacks (see March 10 Post, Part I).  Could be in pretty deep poop, unless you stay in focus and do something about it, like quick.  Not just any actions will do, though. You have to be dynamic and your move has to disempower the hands, arms, legs that are holding you or striking you.  Not only that, whatever you do should in some way cause the bad guy’s brain to split, to weaken by going in directions other than it intended to.

Take the most common street attack – the wrist grab – for instance.  Almost always the preamble to another attack move.  Often, the bad guy expects you to freeze for a second or two, but this is where you change his expectations (and mental focus, too) by doing one of two or three things.

• Use a quick Wrist Release.  Quickly lower your center, make a fist(s) and power that hand upward, if the bad guy’s palm is down, or down if his palm is up.  As you are moving the hand turn the hand so that your thumb is up (blade your wrist and hand) and escape through the hole between his thumb and gingers.  Done quickly and aided by your center mass, it is almost impossible for him to hold on.
• Distract and then escape.  In the case where the bad guy has great superior strength, you may want to weaken his strength by changing his thought process.  As he is concentrating on preventing you from escaping, drive the front instep or toe of your shoe hard into his lower shin.  Simultaneously escape the grab.  Be aware, of course, that, most likely, things will get pretty medieval from that point on.  Likely he will re-grab with greater intensity, or simply escalate to a more serious attack.  Ergo, my suggestion is you distract, escape, and immediately begin to hit other targets which will open up with your distraction kick.
• Use a Target Focus Attack.  Here’s a thought.  Cut out the “middle man.”  The bad guy has one or both of your hands tied up with one or both of his hands.  He has attached himself voluntarily to you, and, in your mind, you should thank him for that.  Why?  Because, if he is grabbing you with his upper body striking levers, he cannot possible block your punches or strikes, nor can he strike you with them.  I call this a Free Throw.  Take the Free Throw ASAP. 

Ø     Step 1.  Make no attempt to free yourself from his grip.  He will think you are freezing,

Ø     Step 2.  Maintain eye contact with his face.  This will induce Singularity of Focus on his part.  In other words, he will maintain focus on your upper body.  I will call this Channel 6.  That is where his mind wants to be.

Ø     Step 3.  Now that you have induced Singularity of Focus (Channel 6), drive your rearward foot hard into his lower shin.  You have now changed him from Channel 6 to Channel 22 (your channel, baby).  His mind and body are effectively split, which means both are significantly weakened for about 2 to 3 seconds.

Ø     Step 4.  You have about 2 seconds to do damage and escape.  Release your hands from his weakened grip, and, before he can recover, tattoo him in vulnerable, Big Dollar open targets, like the groin, eyes, nose, knees, solar plexus, throat, etc.

Next Post:  Hair Pull.  Until then, Stay Safe.

Hammer

MOST COMMON STREET ATTACKS AND BEST BETS TO ESCAPE, PART I.

I thought it would be cool to go over some of the most common types of street attacks and suggestions on how best to escape them (in Part II). 

OF course, I have repeated this mantra so often in past posts that I’m sure you are tired of reading it, but your best escape move is never to have to make the move.  By that I mean that nothing – and I mean nothing – beats prevention and avoidance.  And topping the chart of prevention and avoidance has to be the 4 A’s of Assessing yourself and your surrounding; Awareness of obvious and not so obvious changes in the other person and the environment; Anticipation, meaning, always have a plan of action, or at least a mind set that asked “what would I do if the worst case scenario goes down?”and, finally take Action exactly when action is required!

THE MOST COMMON STREET ATTACKS

1. Wrist/Arm Grabs.
2. Lapel or collar grab.
3. Lapel Grab and Sucker Punch.
4. Front Choke.
5. Rear Choke.
6. Roundhouse Punch.
7. Front Bear Hug.
8. Rear Bear Hug.
9. Side Headlock and Punch.
10. Hair Pull.
11. Charge and Tackle.
12. Front Headlock.
13. Rear Strangle Hold.
14. Overhead Strike with Weapon.
15. Bad Guy In Mount (straddling the chest), Victim’s (Woman) Hands Pinned To Ground.
16. Ground and Pound from the Mount Position.
17. Choke From Mount Position.
18. Choke From Guard Position (Man in between woman’s legs, on the ground).
19. First In-First Out (attacks when victim is first going in or first coming out of a car, garage, house, etc.).
20. Bear Hug From Rear/Objective is to pick woman up and carry her off.

Next Post:  How To Escape.  In the meantime, give some thought to what you would do?  How you might prevent this from happening?  How you might defeat this attack before it even begins?

Stay Safe.

Hammer