What Do I Do When…?
Published: 3/23/2011
By Spencer sensei
If you’ve ever taught a martial arts class at some point a student has come up to you and ask, ”What do I do when I’m attacked in a certain way.” Most instructors have answers that come from either their instructor or from having been asked this question over and over. Most answers are simplistic and are designed to answer the question, so the instructor can push on to another aspect of training. In reality there is no simple answer to the question. Truthfully, your counterattack depends upon how quickly you recognize that you’re being attacked. There is no one-size fits all answer to any attack scenario. There are variables that determine your response to any conflagration. To answer the student’s question, you need to analyze the many facets of the self-defense technique in question. Our ultimate goal as martial artist is to respond to an attack without thought. Through training, introspection, and examination is the only way you can effectively know what to do in a given situation.
Analysis is necessary to fully understand any defensive technique. To make this study beneficial, we first need to ask ourselves a few questions to validate our chosen defensive response. The first thing you need to determine is at what point the attack was recognized. Distance changes your choice of technique. A second variable we need to examine is the level of violence being confronted. Are you fighting for your life? Next in the study we need to determine the level of practice that will be necessary to master the counterattack. Will your defense be a preemptive attack, or will it be a more passive? Do you wait until the aggressor gains control? Remember you only have seconds to react. Answer these questions, coupled them with practice, and you can develop the appropriate defensive response.
Understanding the methodology of an attack is the key to understanding the tools of your enemy. You cannot begin to interpret the bunkai or the situational self-defense of kata without understanding attacks. Kata is the core of traditional marital arts, and karate is fundamentally all about defense, but to understand defense you need a knowledge of offense. Understanding the nature of attacks is essential to answering the, “What do I do when…?” question.
To begin this process, we need to examine a common attack, so let us look at the bear-hug because it is one technique that both skilled and unskilled fighters know. We begin the process by asking the question, “What do I do, when I’m placed in a bear-hug?” Next the instructor must ask the student a few questions. First does the attacker have his/her arms around you, or are they reaching for you? Is the attack from the front, side, or back? What is the speed of the attack? Does the attacker intend to choke you? Is your life in danger? Sniff out all the possibilities. All these questions must be answered in a split second if you are to successfully defend yourself, so it is a good idea to have the answers in advance. Most students’ view is from the point of last resort, or in other words when they’re in the attacker’s grasp. They do not understand that they had many chances to escape before ever being entangled with the aggressor.
While in a crowd, have you ever played the game “What If”’? If you have not, you are not prepared to defend yourself. A story that illustrates this point goes something like this. A Japanese master swordsman asked his students to attack him when they believed he was most susceptible. One of his student s attacked him as he prepared a meal. To the student’s astonishment the master swordsman grabbed two pot lids and not only thwarted the attack but defeated the student. The master swordsman was always prepared, and unless you think about how you will react, you may not get the opportunity. The master swordsman was always aware of his surroundings, and because he spent years becoming aware of his surroundings he instinctively responded. You must develop this skill by asking yourself questions. Where are the exits? If I’m attacked, what is my first move? Don’t try to figure it out on the fly because you will not fly long. If you have ever performed kata, you have stepped through the “What If “scenarios developed ages ago. Every time you perform kata your mind should be on the kata’s bunkai. This repetition builds an automatic response to a certain type of attack, but if a student does not understand the attack, they cannot see the bunkai and they’re merely performing a choreographed dance. All martial artists must play the “What If “game, if they truly want to be prepared to defend themselves.
Stages of recognition determine strategy. For example, if the attacker is reaching around your body from behind, and at close range, he /she could be stopped with a reverse elbow strike to the solar-plexus. If he/she is farther away, a quick turn and punch can stop the assault. Every school teaches their students to back-kick if the attack is recognized at long distance but kicking backwards gives the attacker the opportunity to grab your leg and compromise your balance. This kick is not a good selection for a long-distance counter to a rear assault. In Okinawan karate a back-kick is made to the attacker’s back. This technique is best employed by moving or slipping to the side as the attacker charges you from the front. As the aggressor moves past you, deliver a mule-kick to their spine, coccyx, or kidney area. This is how the back-kick is meant to be employed. If the attack, from behind, is recognized soon enough you should spin and meet the attack head on, so all of your weapons: hands, feet, elbows, and knees can be brought into play. Recognizing when the attack is coming is key to determining your response.
Range/distance and speed are both parts of the stages of recognition. Range is emphasized as the student is instructed in sparring, but many instructors miss the distance element in self-defense training. Students stand placidly in front of each other and through ten or less performances of the individual techniques are then expected to master the defense necessary for life preservation. When first learning any self-defense move, it is okay to go slow, and it is permissible for the attacking student to be more passive in resisting the defender’s counterattack. As the student gains knowledge, strength, understanding, and confidence the speed of the attack should be increased until it approaches the speed of an actual attack, and the student-attacker’s resistance should be increased proportionally. Speed can be slow, fast, or a mixture of the two. Next the different distances and speeds should be mixed. To make any self-defense counterattack work you must practice seeing all variables. Differing scenarios force the karateka to broaden his/her skill set. The instructor should purposely vary the ranges, speed, and body position of the same technique, so the karateka can develop the footwork needed in the different stages of recognition. The karateka must write these key variables into their muscle memory to be able to respond to the recognized attack without thought.
Many instructors teach only technique that can be used after the victim is in the attacker’s grasp. This simply means that the opportunity to stop the attacker before they have the advantage has failed. It is vital to train in all ranges/distances. Close-up may well be the most important range and therefore garners the lion share of attention. This is the do-or-die moment in the attack, so let us explore some possible solutions at this range to the bear-hug. Again, we need to ask a few questions that can determine our response to the attack. The first question is where are the attacker’s arms? If the aggressor’s arms are wrapped around your elbows pinning them to your side, you should drop your body weight to prevent being thrown. A skilled attacker can get their hands around you in this manner lifting you off your feet for a suplex. In a suplex, they arch their back throwing you over their head, turning you upside down while driving your head into the ground. If the attacker’s arms are around your throat, tuck your chin to prevent a possible choke. If the attacker grasps your clothing, he/she could be trying to throw you. To thwart the throw, drop your weight or lower your centerline. Horse stance training becomes valuable here. When in the grasp from behind, to break the attacker’s hold or to set-up a counterattack, drop your centerline and move your body side to side until you have the opportunity to reach behind to slap, grasp, and crush the attacker’s testicles. Still there are even more possible counters to this attack. Stomp on the top of the aggressor’s foot. Scorpion-kick to the attacker‘s groin with your heel. Reach between your legs and grasp the attacker’s leg, so the attacker can be thrown backwards by pulling his/her leg forward, upward, and off the ground while launching your bodyweight backwards. This counterattack causes you to land backwards on the attacker. If their grasp is high up around your shoulders, drive your hips into their hipline to break their balance, and throw them over your shoulder. Scream for help. Bite, scratch, or try to break the attacker’s fingers if they’re intertwined in front. Do what it takes to get them to release their grasp and run, attack or both. If their head is close and directly behind you, throw your head backwards and break their nose. If their head is to the side, quickly raise the shoulder and strike their jawline. Even in this range there are countless techniques to be considered as long as your mind does not go blank with panic and fear.
Thus far we have only discussed this attack from the back. To properly address this technique the student must examine the attack from all angles. No one is ever only attacked from one direction. Now let us take a quick look at this attack from the front. If the attacker’s arms are reaching for you, and this attack is life threatening, drive your thumbs into their eyes. If their arms are reaching for you, and their intent is less violent, push their grasp away and drive an elbow into the side of their jaw. If the attacker’s distance is even greater drive a fist into side of their chin. If their distance is truly long range stop them with a front-kick or heel-thrust-kick. If they manage to get in close and your arms are pinned at your side, drive the top of your forehead into the bridge of their nose or eyebrow to make him/her bleed. If the attacker is bleeding, it creates a distraction or gives them something else to think about. It is impossible to think of two things at one time, so by slowing their thought process you now have an advantage. If the attacker’s grasp is around your ribs leaving your arms free palm strike both of the attacker’s ears simultaneously or put your fingers under his/her jawbone and place your thumbs into the eye-sockets and squeeze. Another affective technique is to insert your fingers into the attacker’s mouth and fishhook the soft tissue of the cheeks and pull the mouth in opposite directions. Do not get your fingers between the attacker’s teeth. Remember the range of the attack is determined by how fast the karateka recognizes he/she is in danger. Again there are countless possible counter attacks, and you must be aware of at least some of these possibilities.
Practice makes perfect. Ten executions of a self-defense technique only gives a student false confidence. You did not perfect a low block after ten repetitions, so how can you expect to execute an advanced series of moves after walking through one counterattack a half dozen times. Understanding the bunkai of a kata, is one method of practicing a series of self-defense techniques over and over. In class a student cannot devote the time necessary to master any counter. The answer is training outside your scheduled class. Train outside class often. Don’t be afraid to fail in practice. During training, you’re in a safe controlled environment, so experiment until you can make it work for your strength, height, and weight. It is better to make a mistake here than on the street. Blindly following the instructor in class does not develop life protection skills. The instructor only has time to pass the basic technique on to you before class ends. It is your responsibility to become a student of self-defense if you truly want to protect yourself. A student that has even a limited understanding of self-defense is still better off than someone with no training.
Physical practice makes your technique perfect, but it must be coupled with mental preparedness. It takes both to save your life. Some women are afraid of making their attacker angry. Know this, he/she is already angry, and their desire is to hurt you. Don’t worry about upsetting them. There are questions you must ask yourself to be truly prepared to defend your life. Ask yourself if you could honestly dismember or kill an attacker in a life preservation situation. To save your life, you must mentally give yourself permission to react appropriately also know your limits. There are lines you cannot nor should not cross. If you do not know yourself, how can you be prepared to stop someone intending you harm. You cannot debate morality when a mad man is holding a knife to your throat. If an attacker orders you into an alley or into a car, don’t comply no matter how angry he/she becomes. You must believe they’re going to kill you. Make a scene because the last thing an attacker wants is a lot of attention. Mental practice is as important as physical preparedness.
Drills can be developed to hone the karateka’s speed, timing, and recognition of an attack. Drills like Bull-in-the-ring can increase the student’s reaction time. Bull-in-the-ring consists of one black-belt in the middle surrounded by other black-belt students. Quietly the head instructor whispers a number in the ear of each of the surrounding black-belts. As the head instructor calls a number that black-belt attacks with a bear-hug or some other predetermined attack. Depending upon the point at which the center black-belt recognizes the attack, that recognition will determine the black belts counterattack. Students must wear a mouthguard, full head, full face, hand, and chest protective equipment to prevent injury. Eventually the students will need to as fast as they can to develop true life protection skills. Women that have a history of abuse can react violently to these drills, so the head instructor must know his/her student’s personal history before placing anyone in a situation where they could possibly lose control. These drills are for highly trained students only, and a mistake can cause injury.
The level of a student’s response to an attack must also be predicated upon the violent nature of the attack. If it is a man attacking a women, she must assume this is a violent attack and her response should be appropriately violent. This is a mental barrier that women must overcome. Most women don’t want to hurt anyone. In this situation a punch to the throat or a strike to the eyes may be warranted, but if Uncle Bob is a little drunk and decides to take on the family karate expert a simple arm-bar joint lock takedown will suffice. Mental preparedness is the one variable that cannot be addressed in the dojo alone. It must be schooled through conscience thought, “What-If” practice, roll playing, soul searching, and introspection. The student must not allow fear to override their training, and they must know in their heart that under extremely violent circumstances they can take an attacker’s life, or permanently dismember them. If the mental aspect of self-defense is not in place, the student’s self-defense is weak if not worthless.
We have examined only one attack out of the countless ways man has devised to harm his/her brother or sister. The above methodology applies to all types of attack. Attacks come in the form of punches, grabs, joint-locks, throws, kicks, and chokes. Each attack merits the same level of examination and should be run through rigorous questioning if the student really wants to understand what to do when they’re attacked. Kata contains situational self-defense to defend against various types of attack. Look deeply into the kata to unlock its’ hidden treasures. Not every set of self-defense move will work for you, but what does not work for you may well be the set of techniques that saves one of your students. Only through this process and analysis can we adequately understand a kata’s bunkai. Kata is self-defense or simply can be reduced to nothing more than choreographed folk dance. Remember self-defense is both physical and mental. Once your mind is right only by varying speed, distance, and angle of attack during the practice of self-defense can we truly say we are prepared to defend ourselves. The purpose of this paper was never to discuss the bear-hug. It was to give you the keys to open the situational self-defense contained within your kata because all situational self-defense begins with an attack