How do you defend yourselves while outnumbered?

I get extremely anxious in larger groups because of past experiences of being bullied and witch hunted by multiple groups in several contexts.

I'd rather wanna avoid those feelings of helplessness in the future if I can, and so was wondering what I could do to make sure I stand a chance in confrontations where I'm outnumbered if it were to escalate to something physical. And if only to gain more confidence when I find myself in crowds.

I'm a weak woman, sitting at 54kg and 170cm. I take walks every day but I could go to the gym if that's what I need to do.

Submitted October 14, 2026 at 07:53AM by New-Elderberry-3098 https://ift.tt/5WxOIlN

Bulking to 200lbs at 5'6

Turns out if you're light, you can work as hard as possible but will still lose easily to somebody heavier who's trained for 6 months. This means, in a street fight, if the dude who's attacking me has a bit of training, I'm probably screwed because of my size.

At 5'6, without an exceptional skeletal frame size, how feasible is it to bulk to 200lbs while retaining athletic and fighting ability?

Submitted October 12, 2026 at 07:31PM by MysteriousMan194 https://ift.tt/dHktO2R

hi guys im needing a pepper spray recommendation

can anyone recommend me a high quality, tested, and trusted pepper spray for self defense?

in life right now im in a bit of a sticky situation with neighbors and they are showing signs of being deranged.

i can't get any firearms. but if you have another options of weapons and tactics feel free to lmk. i also carry a pocket knife always. but that is highly escalated deadly force and kind of wanna carry also a less lethal option.

i never had pepper spray before. only a homemade bottle of pepper extracts one time. it was able to shoot like 7 yards in a stream. which i saw is better than most actual oc spray models out there. however it doesnt fit in the pockets easily and can leak out the nozzle.

so any spray that has a good amount fluid inside. and also sprays a nice long stream as long as possible is what i'd like to carry.

Submitted October 12, 2026 at 01:48PM by real_solja https://ift.tt/DHCjtFJ

How often is someone attacked by more than one person?

I'm talking about when someone is attacked of course. When someone is attacked how often is it by two people? Or three? Or more? I'm sure the statistics are out there but I can't find them myself.

Submitted October 12, 2026 at 05:59AM by Shadow-Pie https://ift.tt/biuKoBa

Self-defense training while pregnant?

What would you do to improve your physical self-defense skills while pregnant? My current thought is non contact boxing but curious if there are any other baby-in-the-belly friendly suggestions? I'm continuing to workout and weight lift as I'm able.

Submitted October 11, 2026 at 11:19PM by growol https://ift.tt/VL8bBcT

What could've been the right response to this incident?

I got assaulted today by what seemed to be a crazy woman. She pushed me while cursing me and kept coming close. All I could do to avoid escalation was to back up and tell her to back off with my palm raised infront of me but she responded by hitting my arm and telling me not to tell her to back off while still cursing. She kept intimidating me until her friend opened the door to the building (which I was also staying in and trying to open the door but struggling) but even inside she was still cursing and looking back at me through the glass like she was about to come out again and fight me.

Mentally, i was prepared to kick her away from me but i was too scared she would get too crazy and do something seriously harmful to me, so I didnt exactly freeze. I was assessing the right thing to do and felt it was too risky to provoke her more but she also seemed like she would've done more if her friend didnt open the door.

I've done muay thai and BJJ for three years and stopped due to major life events, also did a couple of self defense workshops, then started kick boxing recently. Whenever im out alone, im always alert and mentally prepared for things to go south so that i dont freeze. Here, i really couldnt tell whats right.

Are you supposed to know when to hit back, or is it a matter of a reflex that happens without thinking? Was I actually assessing the situation properly or did I really just freeze?

Submitted October 11, 2026 at 06:31PM by NotAllThereAnyway https://ift.tt/F51Xoqr

Years of martial arts, but a guy with a hammer made me feel helpless

Last week, for the first time in my life, I came close to a situation where I might have had to physically defend myself.

I was trying to park near my house when a guy started tailgating me. I felt pressured to park quickly because of the car behind me, and it pissed me off. I ended up yelling at him (car windows were closed, he could not hear me. He only saw it). For context, I recently became a father, I’m barely sleeping, and my patience hasn’t exactly been at its best lately. No excuse to get mad, I am aware.

When I got out of my car to get to my house, I noticed that the other driver had stopped too. He grabbed a hammer and started walking towards me.

I’ve trained martial arts for most of my life. I have a brown belt in judo, years of kickboxing and MMA experience, and some wrestling experience as well. I always understood that real-life violence is unpredictable, but I guess I never truly understood what it would feel like to face someone who was actually threatening me with a weapon.
All that training suddenly felt irrelevant.

I didn’t feel confident or prepared. I didn’t feel like a fighter. The only thing I could think to say was, “Did you really just grab a hammer over this?”

I know that de-escalating the situation and getting home safely was the right priority. I’m not upset that I didn’t fight him. I’m upset by how helpless I felt in that moment, despite all the years I’ve spent training.
Part of me knows that avoiding a potentially life-threatening confrontation was the sensible thing to do. Another part of me keeps interpreting that feeling of helplessness as some kind of failure.

Has anyone here with a martial arts background experienced something similar?
How did you deal with the mental aftermath? Did it change the way you view your training or your ability to handle yourself in a real-life confrontation?
I’m not looking for advice on how to beat someone armed with a hammer. I’m trying to understand why I reacted the way I did and how to stop interpreting a sensible decision as a personal failure.

Submitted October 11, 2026 at 02:32PM by Fantastic-Estate-938 https://ift.tt/IXm4KSt