1. Try to calm the situation down. If things are getting heated always make an attempt to calm things down a bit before you resort to violence. Look your antagonist in the eye and resist the temptation to let your anger get the better of you because this will only aggravate the situation and hasten the oncoming violence. Stay calm and logically try to diffuse the situation. Smile even. Show your antagonist you have no interest in fighting. The calmer you come across the more put of your antagonist will be, simply because it will seem like you have nothing to prove and you will therefore seem more dangerous to him. It’s the quiet ones you always have to be wary of, after all. Thugs look for fear in a person. They feed of it. Don’t give them the satisfaction of knowing you are scared, even if that’s the case. Stay stone cold.
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2. Always look for an escape. The minute you think you are going to be attacked start looking for an escape. If you can run, then run. Even if things have kicked of keep looking for that escape. I know a friend who was attacked by three guys from behind. He was pushed down in the street and they all went at him at once. My friend was able to kick out with his legs from the ground to keep his attackers at bay though. The first chance he got he was on his feet and away running, saving himself from further hurt. It’s never too late to run.
3. Balance. Maintaining your balance is key to effective street self defense. Without good balance an opponent can easily knock you over or at the very least control your movement easier. It is therefore important that you keep a good steady stance with the legs about shoulder width apart and the feet turned slightly inwards, the very stance you’ve been practicing all these years in the dojo. Keeping a good fighting stance will allow you to strike properly and apply technique easier.
4. Distance. Next to balance, controlling the distance between you and your opponent is probably the single biggest thing you can do to survive a street altercation. Don’t allow your attacker to close the gap between you and him unless that is what you want to happen. Use the fence technique if he is just being aggressive. If he is coming at you with a flurry of punches use your kicks to keep him away from you, at a distance were he can’t land any punches. Likewise if he is trying to kick you, close him down and apply a choke or takedown, put him on the ground were he can’t hit you.
The same applies with weapons. Most weapons require a certain distance to work properly. Blunt objects like pool cues or bottles need to be swung. Closing the distance will stop this from happening. Trap his arms so he can’t swing the weapon, rendering it useless. Care must be taken with knifes, which can still injure from a closed position.
Guns can be dealt with in the same manner. The closer you are to the gun the easier it will be to control it. Again, great care must be taken to make sure the gun is not pointed towards you as your attacker can obviously still pull the trigger.
5. Assume your attacker has a weapon. If you always assume that your attacker has a weapon you won’t be too surprised if one does actually appear. The most common street weapon is the knife and they come in all shapes and sizes so sometimes you will see what appears to be a fist coming towards you but actually there is a small blade in that hand that you can hardly see. If you see your opponent reach into their jacket or pockets close them down immediately before they get a chance to either pull the weapon or use it.
Concealed weapons are so common these days it would be foolish not to consider the possibility that an attacker is armed in some way. Train against weapons in the dojo so you get a feel for them and don’t be too scared by them.
6. Make it difficult for an attacker to hit you. If your attacker punches with his right hand then try to move to their right side and if they lead with the left then move to their left. Positioning yourself to the outside of your opponent makes it harder for him to hit you and easier for you counter strike. If you can get his back, then all the better because you can then kick the back of his knee and take him down. The same applies if your attacker is trying to kick you. Move to the outside.
7. Use your surroundings. Put something between you and your attacker to stop him getting at you. Cars are very good for this. They will still probably chase you around but at least you’ll have time to assess the situation better or buy yourself valuable time to think or make an escape.
Walls are very useful when there are multiple opponents. Putting your back against a wall ensures no one is going to move around behind you and pull you to the ground or hit you from behind, leaving you one less thing to worry about.
8. Improvise weapons. Again, this is using your surroundings to your advantage. Slamming an attacker against a wall or making him hit the concrete floor will take a lot of the fight out of them and do them a fair amount of damage at the same time. Also pick up whatever is lying around, especially with more than one attacker on the scene, things like bottles, pieces of wood, stones, anything that you can use as a makeshift weapon. Sometimes the fact you even have something in your hand is enough to deter an attacker from going any further. Weapons put the odds back in your favour. The only thing you have to careful of is your attacker disarming you and using the same weapon against you. Keep your wits about you at all times to ensure this doesn’t happen.
9. Stay of the ground. Never go to the ground unless you really have to. Going to the ground with an attacker will leave you in a vulnerable position, especially if he has mates with him. They’ll just run over and start kicking you and then you’ll be beat. I’ve even seen fights were complete strangers who have nothing to do with the attack have run over and started kicking guys on the ground. So always try to finish an opponent standing up. The only one who should go the ground is him when you’ve finished with him.
10. Target your opponent’s vulnerable areas. I have talked about this before in another article in more detail. Don’t just blindly lash out at your attacker; target the areas on his body that are going to hurt him the most. Areas like the eyes, throat, groin, knee, shin, anywhere that is going to cause the most damage and stop the attack quickly. In the case of more than one attacker it is even more important to stop them quickly so you can move on to deal with the next one. The quicker you put them down the quicker it will all be over.
