I was attacked last night, and didn't know what to do!

I agree...lose the earbuds when walking about....even in a "safe" neighborhood. You just never know what might happen.

I had a scare the other morning while out doing my morning walk/workout. I live in a very nice neighborhood and generally feel safe. Okay - so its 5:30 am - its dark and there's not another living soul in sight. I had gone about 3 blocks from my house when I hear this loud animal noise - a "call" more than growl. But it's loud and animal and it sounded like it was BIG! Right then some dogs nearby just start going nuts, so I know something is around- I dont know what - and it is nearby. I'm certain it was a deer, but in the dark by myself, my imagination ran away! Anyway, I think it would be smart to carry mace just in case of human or non-human threats.

But this incident just reminded me that even though I try to be alert, I am not always aware of what might be around me.

Buy yourself some pepper spray. Only problem is if you use it and get sued the attorney will ask if you have ever been sprayed. If not, they can use it to their favor. Sounds messed up, I know. This is why in law enforcement training you get sprayed.

reply to post by bigcountry08


I've only lost one fight to another person. Ever since that day, I have not lost a fight to one person unless it was multiple attackers and I'll tell you what worked for me OP.

First, the fight I lost was in high school. I certainly wasn't looking for a fight, but ended up in a shoving match outside my class when the guy just started pummeling me. After one good hit to the face I was disoriented to where I couldnt fight back he got in at least two more after that. I never landed a punch because like I said it was a shoving match at first and he caught me off guard and just started pummeling me.

So ever since that day, I try to focus on what the other attacker would do to me if I gave them a chance then I don't give them a chance. I start swinging and hard until the fight is over.

I am not a very big guy, but since that day I fought a few very big people, one of the guys I fought was about 6'6", I took him down with a well placed uppercut, thats when I could have finished the guy but didn't because I never wanted to fight him in the first place. But I knocked him back about 10-12 feet before he hit the ground. It was quite a hit he did not want to mess with me again after that. In fact I sent the guy packing, he was a punk kid who squatted and jumped towns and hopped trains. Well he packed up and left town after that.

I have also been jumped more than a couple times. When this happens its ok to fight when you are on your feet, but when you go down, just curl up and cover your head. You can sustain a pretty good beating at that point. I sustained a beating for around five minutes with four or five other people kicking and hitting me with bottles, got stabbed in the neck and everything. They beat me so bad they figured I was not getting back up. I know this cause I made the mistake of raising my head to look when they were still there and they saw me and I sustained another 2-3 minute beating. But after all that I got back on my feet and was ready to fight again. Thats when someone came at me swinging a crow bar at my head. I caught the crow bar with my hands mid swing and disarmed him and was about to beat the living hell out of that person probably to the point of death but 3 cop cars showed up and I was holding the crow bar and dropped it, cause I thought the police would think that I was being the aggressor. But they didn't and I realized that when I looked down the shirt I was wearing was covered red with blood.

It also helps that I had a big brother to beat me up all the time growing up.

Anyways my advice OP is just to imagine what the other person will end up doing to you if you allow them too. If you get in a fight and lose one thats even better, because its an experience you will never forget that will help you out even more the next time.

If your running at night with both ear buds in, your crazy. Running at night without pepper spray? Another crazy idea.Pepper Spray (hot pink) if your a female....

Pepper Spray (Black) if your a male . Arm yourself, keep your music/podcast low and always be alert. Not only will the pepper spray ward off humans, it will also work on dogs, especially the ones who try attacking you.

Get an HK MP7 PDW and put a mix of Tungsten and deformation bullets into the clip and you should be protected against a vast array of urban pests.

Kickboxing and Karate is so 1970ies ..

This here is my BFF, he never leaves my side. Plus i have been in plenty of fights so that helps, but little old for that crap now. If nothing else be confident and portray that you are a bad MF. Intimidation is a majority of the fight, you go in to it thinking you get your butt kicked you probably will. People have a tendency to walk away when you show you aren't about no BS, also try not to hit with fist, break knuckles then you are screwed, karate chop action or palm thrust.

reply to post by bigcountry08

some ... kid ran up behind me and stomped as hard as he could. Startled me a little and ticked me off a lot, so I turned around sneered at him and walked away, while his buddies whooped and hollered for a minute or two at me.

as suspiria and others pointed out, your situational awareness was compromised

drunk or not, that kid actually did you a favor, by giving you a wake up call
instead of a kidney/rabbit punch or a knifing

dont let it go to waste

not having to fight is an important part of the martial arts too

Tried and True. A lot of half a** instructors out there trying to make a quick buck. Many have taken half of what is required to truly be a "Master" , pony up fake accredited documents, awards, etc. and then incorporate their own invented techniques. Be careful. Do your research, attend a free class if offered, get feedback from students. Good Luck.

Originally posted by Suspiria
If you are walking around listening to podcasts you are open to anything. Survivalist or not one of the biggest and best natural weapons of defense are listening out for danger. You need your ears open matey, you were born with them, you need to use them.

Exactly.. I dont see how the OP is surprised he didnt hear him... If youre out in the open, you need all your senses. I never understood bike riders and joggers with ear phones on, its important to hear car honks, tire screeches etc..
Then when something happen, its the drivers fault

the most effective self defence for an unarmed attacked is what i like to refer to as BET

Balls
Eyes
Throat

gouge, hit, scratch, bite, punch, kick, elbow, knee whatever you need to, go for the vital irreplaceble areas

All the self defense training in the world is useless if you lack basic situational awareness skills. Ask any combat veteran and they'll tell you the same thing. Pull your head out of your rear and keep it on a swivel at all times. Know your surroundings. Pay attention to choke points and ambush zones and always keep your eyes open for escape points. Headphones put you in a bubble and walking down a city street a bubble is the last place you want to be.
You'd be amazed how many attacks can be thwarted just by recognizing and acknowledging someone's presence. Whenever I notice someone walking up on me quickly from behind I look at them directly and give them a "how's it going" or some generic greeting. I'm not threatening about it, I've just let them know that stealth is no longer an option. Ambush predators rely on stealth, and when that plan goes bad they go look for the guy wearing headphones

Heres my perspective as someone with over 20 years of martial arts experience.

1. Everyone here is on your ass about the lack of situational awareness when you had your earphones on. They are correct. Those kids wouldn't have messed with you if they knew they couldn't startle you because you were paying attention.

Because you weren't paying attention in real life if that was a mugging or a jacking you wouldn't have had the luxury or the kid stomping on the ground to get your attention and startle you. He would have just ran up to you from behind and cold clocked you. At that point you are pretty much incapacitated, not much martial arts training, experience or weapons will do a whole lot at that point to save you. You certainly wouldn't have time to get a weapon deployed.

2. People are saying to get a weapon. Get one it helps. but in your situation yesterday if the kid had intended to attack you, you wouldn't have had time to get that weapon out. it wouldn't have helped in that situation. The only thing that would have was situational awareness and body language. Walk like you have a purpose. They'll wait for a softer target to go after and leave you alone.

3. Don't go to a martial art school that teaches fancy complicated stuff. Go to a school that is much more self defense orientated. If you see the students just doing forms and not drilling techniques on each other then keep searching. That right there is what is known as a McDojo you won't find what you are looking for there.

Look into local schools or instructors that teach Combatives. They will have small classes and everything is one on one with a partner. However compative classes have few students except for people serious about learning how to fight or defend themselves. Compative classes will also leave you with bruises after each lesson but you get good fast and they teach you to actually fight.

4. When attacking don't feel bad for theguy you are hitting. Keep it simple and aim for the head or neck. Remember when you are up close and there are punches flying a simple knee popped into the guys theigh will do wonders. My basic rule is get behind the guy as fast as possible. Grab head with both hands and yank to the ground. Use your body weight like an elevator going down as opposed to some reaping type of throw.


A earlier poster put up You tube vids or a guy named Luke holloway from Raw Combat. He's an interesting controversial character in the MA world. he knows some great Silat and Kali. BOth are pure combat arts and are tried and true. Problem is half the strikes are designed to kill another guy in combat. So watch his videos for an overview of that style of in close fighting. Just stay away from his weapon videos. He's not an expert in weapon tactics and for some reason he'd diving into that arena which is where the controversy comes in. But yeah, for basic Silat and Kali check out RawSilat's youtube page.

If you want to get into the basics of martial arts for combat or survival, street fight situations then I recommend studying the footwork methods of Boxing and Silat. They are both almost the same triangular footwork. You should make your footwork the foundation of all your martial arts training. Everybody can throw a punch but not many can actually land a good punch. It comes down to angles and footwork. THese angles will teach you how to remain safe while in an altercation with an individual. Or at least as safe as realistic for the situation. Don't focus too much on what type of striking techniques you are using or how much power is behind them. It doesn't take much to incapacitate someone if you hit them with decent technique so don't worry about strength too much. And don't worry about the striking techniques any part of the body making contact will work as long as you understand the footwork and body weight momentum ideas that stem from understanding footwork and proper body structure.

But remember non of the above advice will help you without SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.

reply to post by thehoneycomb


I think you just merged the plot lines to every Steven Seagal movie ever made

THE BEST SECRET METHOD MARTIAL ARTISTS DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW.......

reply to post by bigcountry08

book your self a 3 months holiday in a muay thai boxing camp in thailand after 3 months there you will be ready for anything , i did it best thing i ever did i was scared but it paid of no end

reply to post by johneffendoe




Maybe so. After that fight I was hospitalized for three days. I had a cat scan that same night. I do still have a scar from what I think was a butterfly knife in my neck that actually made a small puncture in my throat. But at the time I hadnt even realized I had been stabbed. It was not until I looked down and saw the blood on my shirt that I realized I was stabbed. It was all the adrenaline, after a severe beating like that you don't even notice. I was able to move around that night but the next morning after a good sleep I was paralyzed from the pain, it hurt really bad just to reach over or move slightly to have a sip of water.

reply to post by bigcountry08


Self-defense is not that hard as long as the attacker does not have a gun. Everyone has knees. If someone comes at you kick them in the knee hard as you can and run like hell. Its particularly effective on big fellas.

reply to post by bigcountry08


I use to volunteer at a homeless shelter with a girlfriend but we were almost robbed at gun point. A ex Marine came by and stopped the guy. So no more city for me my husband said.

Now, we do live in a really nice middle class suburb and go out walking 1-1/2 miles with our dogs. We carry a flash light, a cell phone and mace.

I've been told though that a can of wasp spray is better because if you squirt just a little bit in the attacker's eyes, they will have to seek medical treatment and it's very painful.

This is just the beginning - read Russ Dizdar's "The Black Awakening" - many of our youth are now sleeping cells. Coupled with many people not being able to get or hold a job, the economy is bad, etc never go out without at least mace and your cell phone AT ALL TIMES.

We have a gun locked up in hiding in our house but we take regular lessons at a shooting range.

Sadly it's come down to that.

If you have small kids in the house or teenagers or anyone in your house is mentally unstable, drinks, does drugs or just has a hot temper - better to just have the wasp spray.

Glad you are okay.

In my experience dealing with drunk people would be best handled with Judo and Aikido --- or any other martial arts that allowed you to use balance to your advantage. I've found most drunk people are quite adept at taking themselves down on their own with little to no effort on your part.

reply to post by bigcountry08


I know scary, right? You gotta take a self defense class of some kind. Mix it up with an actual opponent. Then you'll be better prepared.

Because of my experience, I decided to learn a little boxing (because they had boxing at my gym) and then a little greco-roman wrestling. Some of you are snickering at the wrestling thing but fights routinely end up in wrestling matches and I wanted the ability to slip out or pin my attacker.

The first time I stepped in the ring (just sparring) It was immediately apparent how little I knew and how slow I really was. An eye-opener to be sure.

My instructor had a saying: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the nose" He meant it as both an
encouragement and as a warning. Make sure it's your opponent who's getting punched in the nose so he panics, but don't panic and know what to do when it's your nose that got punched.