whole fist, even when you make it properly by connecting solely with the first two knuckles. A hammer fist aligns much better with the temple or the forehead than it does with the base of the jaw or stomach where an uppercut or palm-up straight punch might better apply.
If you have to defend yourself on the street and don’t have much training, you are best off trying to knock his attack aside so that you can get away. Open hand slaps are great defensively, deflecting incoming blows with relative ease. If you are going to strike back, we recommend that you connect with you open hands, elbows, or knees in a fight. Stay away from most closed-fisted techniques, save for the hammer fist where you strike with the bottom of your hand rather than hitting with your knuckles.
Don’t hit with a closed fist unless you have sufficient training to do so without hurting yourself in the process. If you really want to strike with a closed fist, plan where you strike carefully, aiming for soft areas of the opponent’s body such as his kidneys or solar plexus.
Don’t Forget to Use Your Mouth Too
If you have ever watched football, basketball, or other college or professional sports, you have, no doubt, seen instances where one player fouls another who subsequently retaliates. In the majority of those cases, it is the second player that the referee observes committing the infraction. His eye is drawn toward the initial motion, yet he only notices the retaliatory strike. Consequently, it is often the victim who is penalized rather than the guy who started the confrontation.
Unfortunately, it works that way on the street as well. Witnesses frequently see the reaction of the victim and think that his defense is the first blow. Consequently, the person who initiates a fight is perceived as the good guy. If witnesses misinterpret what actually occurred, that could be highly problematic for you when the police arrive or things get to court.
We recently did an online news search of the key words “police brutality,” which resulted in 918 stories reported within 30 days of our query. Law enforcement officers are highly trained, following specific policies and procedures as they conduct their business, yet they are frequently accused of overreacting and abusing the criminals they arrest regardless of whether or not they stay within procedural specifications. How much more likely is the average civilian, who has no policy or procedure to follow, to be similarly accused of wrongdoing?
If you really want to protect yourself, you need to make sure that everyone around you knows that you are the good guy when it comes to a fight. So, how can you create a witness who is likely to interpret your just actions favorably? You create witnesses by using your mouth as a weapon. It can be just as potent as your fists or feet in a fight and is often even more important in the long run.
Start by acting afraid—you probably are anyway—by verbally calling for help. There is an off chance that you can ward off your assailant or convince someone to intervene on your behalf simply by shouting for help. Even if you can’t, you might still convince others around that you are the good guy. Shouting something along the lines of, “Oh my God, don’t kill me with that knife!” is a pretty good indicator of peril. It clearly differentiates you from the other guy and should help justify your use of force in court if it gets that far.
“I don’t want to fight you,” “Please don’t hurt me,” “Put down the weapon,” and “Help, he’s got a gun” all put you in a much better light than “Go ahead, make my day!” or “I’m gonna kill you sucker!” Think about various scenarios ahead of time so that you will have a better chance of articulating strategically. It is pretty easy to shout something during a fight. The real challenge is finding words that put you in the best possible light and your assailant in the worst. In other words, it is easy to shout but hard to verbalize so you need to practice this. Many martial arts classes do role-playing and scenario drills that give you the opportunity to exercise your verbal skills while fighting.
What you say before, during, and after a confrontation holds much weight in convincing witnesses that you are the good guy in the fight. What you do has significant impact as well. Once you have evaded the initial attack and disarmed, disabled, or escaped your assailant, be wary of reengaging the enemy. It is not only dangerous physically but also puts you on dangerous ground perceptually as well.
If, for example, you knock your attacker to the ground then proceed to kick or pummel him, you will be seen as overreacting even in many cases where you are on sound tactical ground. A far better tactic in this example would be to precede any further action with verbal commands such as, “stay down,” “stop fighting me,” “drop the weapon,” or “don’t make me hurt you.”
Your mouth is an important weapon. Don’t forget to use it. There is a long list of phrases in Appendix B that you might choose to use.
Don’t Play the Other Guy’s Game
Darrell, a burly 200-pound logger friend of Wilder’s, had a very near miss. His chain-saw tangled on a log, bucked up, and bounced toward his throat. The good news was that he saved his life by blocking the running saw blade with his hand, but the bad news was that it ripped open his palm and tore him up pretty good.
A week or so later, long before the injury had healed very much, he decided to go drinking with some friends, trying to unwind. Unfortunately, he ran afoul of another guy who was spoiling for a fight. The bully saw Darrell’s injury and hoped to take advantage of his weakness. This other guy was big, maybe even a bit bigger than Darrell, yet he wasn’t used to getting up at the crack of dawn, climbing up and down hills through the woods, and wrestling logs for a living. He came on strong, but the fight was short. Using his left, uninjured hand, Darrell picked the other guy up, carried him flailing in the air for half a dozen steps, and tossed him out the door down a flight of stairs.
As the bully found out, it doesn’t pay to play the other guy’s game. The bully was used to being the stronger guy, throwing his weight around to his best advantage. Unfortunately, he ran across a guy who was not only stronger, but sore, tired, and irritable as well. When you’re going to fight a big guy, it doesn’t make in sense to face him toe-to-toe. Moving off line, striking at his knees, or otherwise cutting him down to size is not only safer, but far more likely to succeed too.
Jeff, a
As a karate expert, Jeff thought he could hold his own; after all, he was nearly the same size as the other guy. Much to his surprise, the football player simply grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the side of the car. And there was nothing that he could do about it. The fight was over almost as soon as it began. What went wrong? Well, the lineman was used to using his weight and his hands to move big, strong, highly skilled guys on the field. Pac-10 college football is a pretty elite group, and this guy could play with the best. Gross physicality was his game, and Jeff stumbled right into it and lost big time.
No matter how big you are, there’s always somebody bigger. No matter how strong, there’s always somebody stronger. If you’re used to playing the big guy game and that’s all you’ve got, you’re in for a nasty surprise when you find yourself the smaller or weaker man. If you’re going to train to fight, you need to understand both the big guy’s and the little guy’s role. There are different strategies for each and knowing how to fight in either role is key. While you cannot fight him down the middle if you’re overmatched, you can still break him down from the outside. If he’s big, fight like a small guy, and vice versa.
The size differential is but one aspect of disparity in a fight. The other has to do with your training and natural tendencies. Here’s how it works: Let’s say for the sake of argument that you’re a striker. Maybe you study karate. While the art of karate encompasses grappling, throwing, pressure points, and submission applications, it’s primarily a striking style, attacking with fists, elbows, and open-hand techniques. Maybe you’ve practiced boxing or are just plain good with your hands. If that’s your strength, use it. Karate and boxing are both very solid in-fighting styles. Get close, throw a lot of punches and maybe a short kick or two, and pound the other guy into submission so that you can escape to safety.
