Multiple Attackers Training:
Published: 1/10/2014
By Spencer Sensei
Half the karate tests I took when I was a student included sparring against multiple attackers. I hated this when I was a student but loved it when I got to be the attacker after receiving my black-belt. Yes… countless times we would chase some poor blue or green belt candidate around the dojo for ten minutes until he/she got tired and then we would surround them and pound them. I was never told the reasoning behind it, yet I did it simply because it was on the test. Maybe I concluded it was to build character.
Back in the early eighties, when people were not as prone to lawsuits as they are today, we tested a rather arrogant candidate for blue-belt. During his promotion one of the black-belts kicked him so hard it lifted him off the floor and drove him into dojo wall. He hit with such force that the heels of his feet knocked two round holes in the wall. It was okay because we made the student fix the holes before the head instructor had to teach the next day, so he never knew. I know this tale sounds like another story of black-belts gone wild but there is a point here. I never asked why we did the exercise. It was just simply part of the test. If we were building character what we did was futile because the guy went on to be an arrogant black-belt, and probably believes what we did to him was how you’re supposed to test students during this scenario. He probably believes it builds character.
Truthfully, I never gave much thought to why we did multiple attackers testing until a high-ranking instructor, from another style, asked why I tested my students in this manner. He asked the unforgivable karate question… why? My answer went something like, “Err…Ahuuu… because they did it on my tests.” He smiled and said, “When you teach a student something there should be a reason, and testing should reinforce the information.” He went on to explain,” Multiple attacker testing is important and could save someone’s life, but there are ways to do it correctly, and I’m not sure that point is coming across clearly on your tests.” In my training we never practiced defense against multiple opponents, nor was I told the proper way to do it, yet I was tested on it anyway, so my students got tested on it. After thinking about it for awhile, I realized that I didn’t know why we did it, so I took it off my student’s testing requirements. Eventually, I come to understand the why and how multi-attacker training should be conducted, and it was once again placed on my black-belt promotion testing. It still however is not one of the student requirements as of this date.
This excerpt may not explain why we test in this manner, but I hope it sparks the natural questioning that should be applied to all our training. The excerpt talks about IOFB. This is a theory of combat that would take several articles to try and explain on any understandable level, so for now simply accept that it is an AOKK theory of combat. I hope this sparks conversations between students and instructors.
This is an excerpt from the American Okinawan Karate Advanced Technique Vol-6[Drills] training manual.
No matter how well you understand IOFB theory there are a few tactical steps you should take. The first is: when entering a building or going inside a potential area of combat know your escape routes. Always have an exit strategy before walking into a dangerous place. If attacked, note those that may be potential attackers, and note their location between you and the exit. Their support can be friends or conspirators-in-crime that may become involved in the altercation. Turn your hips towards the closest exit. If the exit route is blocked, pick the adversary that you’ll control to get through to make your escape. Generally, this is anyone between you and the door. If the closest attacker grabs you, try move the opponent in a manner that allows your hips to remain in line with the exit whether moving forwards or backwards. Using an inside or outside positioning technique is determined by the location of the adversary in line with the exit. Do not turn your back to the threat until you are clear of any obstacles or potential enemies. Call for help and threaten the enemy, but do not show fear. Use the IOFB principles to facilitate your exit. Once you’ve decided a course of action make it happen. At bare minimum know what you’re going to do to the first attacker and make it severe. The first encounter must be a violent one when faced with multiple opponents. Without badly hurting the first attacker you have no advantage. Hurt one or two attackers badly enough, and the others will hesitate before attacking. Hesitation is all you need to escape.
Distraction or misdirection is another part of IOFB. Loud noise or commotion can be your friend. Watch the bad guy’s eyes if they cut sideways due to some distraction attack or run. There is always a distraction. Multiple assailants will glance at each other to see if they hold the advantage and also to gain the courage from the pack mentality. This little distraction may be all you get. Sudden loud noises can be your friend. A friend of mine pulled into a gas station, while on a long trip, to fuel up and take a restroom break. He went into the restroom and a guy followed him in. He never anticipated being robbed at knifepoint. That was a mistake. He waited and when someone flushed the toilet in the adjoining women’s restroom he attacked. Needless to say, he left that restroom unharmed, but his would-be attacker was incapacitated. Still, you cannot wait too long, while waiting for a distraction. Waiting too long before initiating your escape gives the enemy time to fortify their strategic locations. Once they’re in place they have the advantage. In boxing, a boxer maneuvers his/her opponent trying to pin them against the ropes to limit their mobility. The same is true in any premeditated attack. They want to limit your options. That is your adversary’s goal. Don’t wait too long before moving because time is on their side.
Walls are weapons. If you’re given the opportunity, drive your opponent’s head into a wall. If you’re in the bathroom a toilet works well too. In a bathroom kick the attacker backwards into the sink. Sinks can hit the coccyx, kidneys, or lower spine when an attacker is driven backwards by a solid side kick. You don’t necessarily need to hurt the adversary with the kick just let your environment do the damage. A swinging door can be slammed into an attacker head. Standing in a doorjamb allows you to block and push the attacker’s arm into the frame as he/she delivers a blow. Weapons are not always things you pick up. Sometimes they’re mounted to the wall and you need to take the attacker to the weapon and not take the weapon to the attacker. You just need to know how to wield the weapon. You can push off of a wall to increase the force of a blow. Objects like a table can be used to separate you and the opponent. Jump on the table and your kicks can easily reach upper body targets. A saltshaker can be used as a weapon if it is thrown hard enough. In a fight with multiple opponents use your environmental weapons.
The IOFB multi attacker training must be incorporated into every student’s curriculum. A student should be placed in scenarios and then be questioned about how they would respond to these situations. This is thinking training. Physically walk the student through the scenarios and use other students as would be attackers. Explain how the attack is going to occur and walk them through it. Question them on their response to the attacks as you move through the scenario. For example, the student posing as the first bad guy might say, “I would attack from behind,” and the defending student would counter with, “I would square my hips to the doorway and hit him/her with a back kick as they approached.” If within the scenario they get caught between two attackers’ have them explain the actions that they would take to align the opponents, so they’re only fighting one at a time. Ask them if they have an escape plan. Any plan is better than no plan. Fighting on instinct will get you hurt. Question the would-be bad guys about how they would respond to the actions of the student playing the victim and note the victim’s response until the victim is incapacitated or out the door. There is no hurry to get through the drill. Their responses let you know how they will mentally respond during a dangerous encounter. You may need to make corrections to their thought patterns to keep them safe and grounded. This training must be coupled with full speed training too. Thought training is not enough. It is too slow, but it trains the mind and gives the student experience. Actual sparring, wearing protective gear, in these scenarios trains the student’s mind to respond more quickly, and to adapt to the changes that are inevitable in a fight.
Many schools teach their students to fight multiple attackers. I agree that fighting multiple attackers should be practiced. When fighting multiple adversaries try to fight one attacker at a time. Line them up or hide behind whoever you’re fighting at the moment. Use the imaginary environment. Do not get surrounded because remember they can all attack at once in overwhelming numbers. In the movies, attackers only attack once the protagonist has dispatched his/her last adversary, but in real life they can all jump on you at the same time. To prevent this, you must put fear into the hearts of your attackers. Cripple the fist couple of would-be bad guys and the others will begin thinking about their own self-preservation. Stick a thumb in one guy’s/gal’s eye and his/her blindness breeds fear in the others. Drive a knife hand into a second attacker’s throat and all of sudden their belief in the invincibility of a gang diminishes. Injure an attacker and move. Stop moving and you may stop breathing. Always keep moving towards your exit and not in some mindless circle. In some karate schools they practice fighting multiple attackers. This is good drill except they normally run around in circles and the single defender has no goal other than to get tired. If this exercise is to be of any real value, the goal should be to get to an escape not to mindlessly run around punching and kicking pretend attackers. This type of exercise must have purpose, or it is of no value. Endlessly fighting multiple attackers is a fantasy that only has success in the movies. The exercise of fighting multiple attackers dates back to the days of the Shuri castle guards. The only difference was their practice was very physical had a real-world application at the time. They were the king’s line of defense between him and an agitated constituency.
Never fight multiple adversaries. Too many black-belts have found themselves in critical condition after getting into this type of altercation. Training a student to defend against multiple attackers may save their life. Just keep moving and never go to the ground. This is the reason to practice sparring against multiple opponents, but the overall goal is to escape. Mark out with tape on the dojo floor an exit and have that as the student’s destination. Do not use real exits because students in their zeal can get hurt when thrust into the doorjamb or glass can get broken exposing the student to cuts. Explain the scenario and see how the students respond. The dojo is a safe place to be overwhelmed by a gang of thugs. In a real-world situation, you could lose your wallet or spend time in a hospital. Now I understand the why and how we train for multiple attackers. This is just one piece of the karateka’s training that many students perform without questioning. We need to look at our testing and training curriculum and ask why….