Defending yourself from multiple attackers
Filed under
Urban
The world has gone crazy!
Turn on the evening news and you will be bombarded with stories of innocent people being attacked, robbed, and killed on a daily basis. Now throw in an emergency situation or natural disaster and the lunatics of the world will swarm the streets like roaches looking for innocent victims to target.
One of the biggest dangers that you will face in an urban survival situation is an attack from multiple people. Anyone who is serious about survival needs to be able to defend themselves and their loved ones from a violent attack.
So what can you do when attacked by multiple people?
Access the situation
Do you have an escape route? This isn’t about looking cool and it’s not time to be Mr. Tough Guy.
Survival does not mean fighting, if you have an escape route take it now.
Can you talk your way out of the situation? Talking your way out of an attack is more art than science and takes a considerable amount of street smarts to pull off. But there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind.
- Telling a group that’s ready to attack to F off does nothing to diffuse the situation.
- Remember you are probably dealing with people that are borderline insane and have nothing to lose. Stay calm & don’t show any fear.
- Apologize – Sometimes these morons are just trying to look cool in front of the group. Apologizing will allow them to look like the big tough guy without having to pound in your skull.
If you must fight then here are some tips that may help.
If you have no other options and your life is in jeopardy then you need to know how to protect yourself. *Remember your best option is to try to avoid the fight, the following actions should only be taken if your life in in immediate danger.
Watch the groups body language - Watching the groups body language will give you a clue to when they are ready to attack. The following actions may be a signs of an attack.
- Watch for the assailant to do something like removing a hat or shirt.
- Your attacker may start to make erratic movements such as rubbing his nose, pushing his hair back or clenching his teeth.
- Watch the groups eyes, they may start to glance at each other for ques on when to attack.
- Watch the attackers fists, often times they will tighten them right before they are ready to attack you.
Weapons - Quickly scan your surroundings. Beer bottles, tree branches, garbage cans, bricks, and even the pen in your pocket can used as improvised weapons in an emergency situation.
Psychology - Fighting a group does not always mean having to fight the whole group, in fact your goal is to fight as few of them as possible. Instead of defeating each of their bodies, you must instead destroy their minds.
Your first strike must be spectacular and very visible to the group. The more visible the injury is, the greater physiological effect it will have on the rest of the group. The first few seconds of the fight are critical, if you can physiologically defeat the group now many of them will scatter without ever throwing a punch.
Identify the leader – Who is the strongest link? This person is your main threat and must be taken out first. Taking out the leader can destroy the groups willingness to fight and is the first step to surviving an attack. Remember, you want to create a strong visible injury that will make the group rethink it’s attack.
Where to Attack – In a life or death situation there are no rules. Take out their eyes, break their kneecaps jab them in the throat….. your goal is to immobilize the attackers by any means available.
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Mike/ on Tue, 13th Oct 2009 4:27 pm
Good advice. Taking out that leader is certainly a game-changer in many situations.
Sam on Fri, 16th Oct 2009 12:03 am
I agree love the advice on creating a devastating injury to the leader
James on Fri, 16th Oct 2009 5:06 am
I have first hand knowledge of this working, I was attacked by a group of people once luckily I busted the main aggressors nose which caused the other 3 to take off running.
hikerbob on Sat, 17th Oct 2009 7:02 pm
Thank you for pointing out that it is always best to try to get out of the fight, way to many people let their ego’s get the best of them.
Lance on Sun, 18th Oct 2009 12:02 pm
How about a big kick to the sackaronis!!!
MartialMaster on Sun, 18th Oct 2009 4:30 pm
Great tips on body language everyone of these signs is what I teach my students to look for
Gunslinging Redneck on Sun, 18th Oct 2009 7:05 pm
No offense but why not mention a gun?
Robert on Sun, 18th Oct 2009 7:25 pm
No question that a Gun in this situation would be the best method of self defense. The article was meant for those that would be caught in this situation without a gun or weapons
MADDOG on Mon, 14th Dec 2009 12:36 pm
Robert is correct being a legally armed and properly trained citizen is your best bet in this situation, unless of course you are Chuck Norris.
Self Defense Knives on Thu, 21st Jan 2010 4:34 am
Awesome Tips, its really hard to fight even 2 bodies (especially if they think like convicts). but aiming to attack their minds highly increase your chance of survival other than focusing on bodies.
Another great self defense post
Goodwin on Thu, 21st Jan 2010 11:17 pm
This is all accurate, if you happen to run into a textbook scenario. In my line of work Ive dealt with fighting people en masse and there is usually no order, leader, or time for discussion. It usually becomes a flurry of thrown projectiles, fists, and feet. As far as emergency situations go, the worst I was involved in was Katrina. First as a citizen and then returned to work armed security after. Count on the worst. There will be NO order. Best advice: Be invisible. Beyond that? Legal possession/carry of firearms and training.
Keep in mind that you are outnumbered. They know they outnumber you. A “spectacular and visible first strike” is not going to intimidate any but the most timid group of attackers.
Fawn on Tue, 2nd Feb 2010 8:05 am
any advice/weapon(other than gun) for a med frame 125 lb 5′6″ female?
hawkins on Tue, 2nd Mar 2010 3:19 pm
Very accurate almost text book if I say so myself, but Robert is right to I don’t leave home unless I’m armed with something but if I had a side arm I would have evened the odds with that it’s like this double tap the leader and the rest of the street punks would be very shaken and either die with him or run. But that would only happen if the world turned on it’s ear anyway.
Goodwin on Wed, 3rd Mar 2010 4:26 pm
Well, Fawn, I believe a handgun is your best bet. But if youre either unwilling or unable to carry a gun that just depends on what youre most comfortable with. Id recommend a knife or striker that cant be easily taken from your hand. A good example of this would be a “cats-eye” striker. These are usually made of metal and shaped like a cats head. The first two fingers of the hand go through the “eyes” and would be pretty tough to take from somebody’s hand. My personal favorite and one of my everyday carry knives is called the Hideaway knife. Its available from hideawayknife.com and its a great tool. Its a small knife, around 2″ (so legal) that fits around the first two fingers of the hand. This allows you to use your knife hand for carrying keys, lights, or mace as well as striking. All while having a knife immediately available. They are also extremely concealable with tons of very sneaky concealment options. Check out the website. These are custom made knives so Id recommend checking the section of the site that lists knives that were never paid for(measure your fingers according to websites directions). The knife I bought usually costs $169 but I got it for $69. The knife was only 1/32″ larger than my measurement. Sorry for the long-winded answer, but there you go! Stay safe!