In the previous article on this subject we talked about some of the options open to you when approached by a potential attacker on the street. In this article we are going to examine in more detail some of those options.
A lot of people, when they are confronted by an attacker, tend to either freeze up or behave in a way that is not conducive to resolving the conflict. Allowing a potential attacker to control you from the start and dictate the situation (and thus the eventual outcome) is the wrong way to go about things. Assuming you have done nothing to invite such aggression, why should you allow yourself to be bullied and beaten up by someone who is probably just looking for a soft target to displace their aggression on? Is it not right that you should stand up for yourself and face down your aggressor in any way you can, even if it means having to confront your own fears in the process? You have every right to stand up for yourself and your sense of self worth should demand that you do.
It is obviously a frightening situation to be in when some thug decides to try and intimidate you and potentially pick a fight but it should be your duty to not allow this to happen in any way you can. This doesn’t mean you should get stuck in straight away with all guns blazing because that wouldn’t be very smart move.
For a start you don’t know who you are dealing with. Launching into a fight straight of the bat could prove disastrous as your opponent could be a much more skilled fighter than you. In fact, it’s safe to say that your opponent probably is more skilled, at least in street fighting. Thugs who make a habit of such behaviour are more used to it than you are. They are used to the pressure and fear and they know all the dirty tricks. They’d probably beat you down in a second, so why take the chance?
The Smarter Approach
It’s much better to take a smarter approach to the situation that will allow you walk (or run) away from the situation unharmed. As we discussed in the last article the first thing you need to do is get some control over the situation by putting up your fence and maintaining a safe distance between you and your potential attacker. Now, in order for any attack to happen, your opponent has to get past your fence and they know this.
I remember one of the first nights I spent on the door when I allowed a guy to get right into my face. I had no fence up to keep him at bay and he was thus able to attack me before I had a chance to react. If I’d have created a safe distance between him and me, then he wouldn’t have found it so easy to attack and I probably could’ve reacted in time if he did.
So maintain the gap and keep your fence as natural as possible. Remember, it’s not a rigid karate stance your doing. The idea is for it to be as natural as possible, feeling out the situation and mirroring the movements of your opponent if need be. Doing so will create an unconscious rapport between you and them that will allow for easier control of the situation.
So, your fence is up, what now? Well, as I said, you now have two choices open to you. You can strike pre-emptively, which we will look at in the next article, or you can attempt to diffuse the situation through verbal dissuasion, which we shall look at now.
Verbal Dissuasion
Using verbal dissuasion techniques means you can talk an opponent down or put them off fighting with you altogether and there are two main ways to achieve this.
Calming Dialogue
You start this off by first using what is called a “pleading fence” which is putting both hands out in front of you, palms facing away from you and held several inches away from your opponent in a submissive stance. Once you have the fence up you can then use some form of submissive, yet firm dialogue which makes it clear that you don’t want any trouble: “Look, just stay back, I don’t want any trouble here…Just keep away.”
I want to make it clear that dialogue alone is unlikely to diffuse the situation by itself. Your opponent is riled up, they’ve went out of their way to confront you with the probable intention of smacking you and you will find it extremely difficult to talk someone down from that kind of state. What this submissive tactic does do however, is throw your opponent off-guard by making him think that you are a push-over and an easy target, which will therefore disarm him somewhat. If dialogue alone is not diffusing the situation then you are ideally placed to put in a pre-emptive strike before making your escape. Your opponent won’t be expecting it because he’s thinks you are too scared to act. Or alternatively, you can use the deception to make good your escape without having to strike first.
Aggressive Dialogue
Using aggressive dialogue is another option you have open to you if someone wants to get physical. The idea here is to try and psyche out your opponent by making them think that you are too much to handle.
Again, we start with the fence, only this time we get aggressive and highly assertive. A good tactic is to firmly shove your opponent on the chest to send him reeling back a few steps. This has the double effect of creating distance and eliciting an adrenal response in your opponent that will bring on the fight or flight syndrome. It is important that you shove hard enough to send them back away from you. If you strike too softly it is very likely your opponent will react by attacking you (again because of the adrenal response).
The shove should also be accompanied by very aggressive dialogue. The idea is to be as loud and as aggressive as possible, using the voice as a weapon in much the same way as a karateka would use the “kia” shout. “GET FUCKING BACK! STAY FUCKING BACK YOU FUCKING WANKER, STAY WHERE YOU ARE…” This is the type of dialogue you must use in order to shock your opponent into submission and illicit an adrenal response that causes them to freeze up. The louder and more aggressive you are, the more expletives you use, the better.
Once you have shoved your opponent back and created distance you then do what is know as “ballooning” which is basically walking back and forth in front of your opponent in a stalking fashion, pointing your finger at him and continuing to use aggressive and assertive dialogue. “FUCKING STAY THERE YOU FUCKING CUNT…DON’T MOVE!” The idea of the ballooning is that it provokes in your opponent a very deep fear that we all still have left over from our ancestors of being stalked by wild animals. It will make him very uncomfortable and coupled with the aggression and dialogue it should put him off going any further with his attack. It’s a brutal response, but a necessary one.
No Guarantees
Of course there are no guarantees in these situations and there is always the chance that an opponent could decide to attack anyway. If they do persist however, you have made it possible for yourself to escape in the confusion or react to their attack with one of your own.
All these tactics should be practiced for best effect, just like any other technique. The more you practice them the better you get at them and the more comfortable you will get using them. Just drill them over an over until they become second nature.
In the final part of this series we will be looking at what is probably the best tactic you have available to you- the pre-emptive strike…
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