Self-defence - Prevention is better than cure

Escaping from this sort of situation might take more than just technique knowledge...

In a private class recently, we did some ladies’ self defence, in which the ladies practiced escapes from rape scenarios. We discovered that there were some ladies, who, against a large enough attacker, were utterly unable to perform escapes once they were held down on the ground. This revealed a few of critical lessons.

The most important lessons were these –

It’s better not to get into a situation, rather than to fight your way out of it once you’re there.

It’s better not to meet the hostile person in the first place than to try to placate aggression.

It’s better to talk your way out of a fight than to duck under a punch.

t’s better to prevent a punch being thrown than to block and counter.

It’s better to avoid getting grabbed than to grapple free. It’s better to avoid getting taken to the ground than to breakfall on the way down.

It’s better not to wait until you are pinned and immobile than to wrestle your way out from under.

Thus, for those women who find that it’s almost impossible to fight out from under a 20 stone man with a grip like steel, I’d say, don’t ever let him get close enough to put you into that situation!

Of course, that’s simplistic. Most sexual assaults are committed by males who are known to the victim. Thus, it might be that the male gets close whilst the victim is still on friendly terms, and only after a refusal or some other event, does the encounter turn from a friendly one into a threatening one. In this situation, the transition from friendly to dangerous may be too quick or subtle to avoid. In which case, you have to consider the second important point – compliance.

Normally when you train with a partner in the dojo, that person is compliant – in other words they understand what you’re trying to achieve, and they allow you to achieve it without too much resistance. There’s a good reason for that, and it’s not simply to be nice to the person practicing – the main reason is that in real self-defence, the karateka should be willing, if the situation requires it, to seriously hurt the attacker in order to avoid personal injury. In the dojo, the simulated attacker, doesn’t wish to be crippled, so he punches slower, lets go easier, and complies with the intent of the defender.

However, this brings about its own problems because whilst the attacker may be compliant, he also has fore-knowledge of the defender’s intentions, thus he can shift his weight, prepare his guard, and subconsciously he can generally make life awkward for the defender.

Furthermore, the attacker has no intention beyond delivery of the current hold or technique. Thus, a partner simulating rape by sitting on the defender’s chest holding both of the defender’s hands for instance, has no interest in genuinely advancing the situation beyond the current position. However, there comes a point when a genuine rapist, would have to release one of the hands in order to strike the victim or open his clothing, or he would have to shift his body position to one more conducive with his intended action.

Because these moments never occur during training (and these are not exercises that one would expect to see in a normal public class), the attacker is denied valuable opportunities to escape.

So, to the essence of my third point – timing. If an attacker sits astride you, pinning both arms down, you may be unable to do anything at that moment. However, what attacker would wish to remain in that position forever? Sooner or later, he’ll have to move, and when he does, his attention is distracted, his weight is shifted and his grip is loosened, and THAT is the moment to strike decisively.

Don’t expect every escape to work at every second of every encounter. If you’ve allowed yourself to get into such a compromising and unfavourable position, you may now have to practice supreme patience and composure, whilst you wait for what may be your sole opportunity to escape. Use the time to control your thoughts, prepare your body, and decide exactly what you’re going to do, and how hard. Then, when the opportunity arises, strike. Experience has taught me that the perfect time is not the very instant after the attacker loosens his grip, because he is still on high alert then, but a second or so after that moment, when his guard is lowered by your apparent submission.