The Hierarchy of Self Defense Methods

Here's the ultimate self defense hierarchy, #1 should be considered way above all the others, to the point of the rest being an entire secondary fallback. For the most part each step assumes the step above isn't possible, with some logical exceptions:

1. Strength in numbers. Don't get caught alone, you're far less likely to be attacked, and more likely to survive and not get seriously injured if you are. A dog counts, if it's big and aggressive enough. This always gets overlooked, it shouldn't. Don't get isolated alone in the first place, this can fix everything before there's even a problem.
2. Call for help. Yell, scream, use your phone, make them think you're going to solve #1, they may leave right then and there.
3. Don't freeze. All of below will not be useful unless you remember this: Don't freeze up. You have to be able to be scared but still manage to function by moving and verbalizing. You may be shaky, but it's better to be shaky and doing something about it than to freeze.
4. Maintain distance. As stated above, get away. Run, but don't just run, run to safety. Finding a building or room you can lock behind you can provide immediate safety, but it can also get you trapped. Notice how this relates to #1?
5. Carry a weapon or deterrent. If you are alone, change that as quickly as possible, but in the meantime carry pepper spray or a pistol.
6. Keep them in front of you. You don't want to let them get behind you, you won't be able to defend yourself.
7. Guard yourself with your hands and forearms. Be careful to let your hands stray from where they can cover your face and neck, use your shoulder to shrug up and help protect your neck and jawline, use your elbows to protect your rib cage so you can keep your hands up.
8. Avoid getting into a clinch. This means pushing them away and striking them when they're close. This accomplishes two things: it helps maintain distance for safety and prevents a higher likelihood of ending up on the ground where you'll lose mobility.
9. Stay on your feet. Try not to do anything that will risk you coming off your feet. If you do go to the ground, fight to get back on your feet. This will allow you to remain mobile to avoid danger.
10. Knock them unconscious with a strike. Obviously you need to attack the head, but be careful, you can break your hand hitting someone's skull with a closed fist. Landing a shot on the jaw is surprisingly effective at rendering someone unconscious. This will allow you to get away without being pursued.
11. Immobilize them with a strike. This will require injuring their legs. You can watch some Muay Thai or MMA fights to get an idea of how effective a well trained leg kick can be at making someone unable to walk, let alone run. This will also allow you to get away without being pursued.
12. Stun them with a strike. This is the next step down from knocking someone out completely, but can buy you time to get away. Some common examples are hard strikes to the groin or a hard body shot which includes striking the solar plexus, the liver, the spleen, or a kidney shot. Controversially, a hard shot to the collar bone. They might still come after you, but you'll have a head start and they'll be more likely to give up the chase.
13. If you go to the ground, guard yourself with your feet and lower legs. Use your feet and legs as a guard when you're on the ground much like you'd use your hands and forearms to guard yourself when you're standing up.
14. Establish a control position. You would think this wouldn't be a last resort, but the reason it is is because this means getting into a grapple, which you generally want to avoid when you're alone. Even if you establish a control position, with all but maybe one exception, you won't be in a very mobile position where you can respond to what else is going on around you. The one exception is called the "knee on belly" position, where you have one knee on their belly and the other foot planted on the ground. This allows a reasonable amount of control while still being possible to quickly pop free on your feet and respond to other dangers.
15. Choke them unconscious, or injure one or more of their joints with a grappling submission. The reason this comes after establishing a control position is twofold: First, it will likely require getting into a position that will sacrifice some quickness in getting back to your feet if needed, and also because much like throwing a jab creates openings that make you vulnerable because your hand is leaving your guard, in most cases attempting to secure a grappling submission without first establishing a secure control position will leave you vulnerable to ending up on the receiving end of them having you in a control position, which really is the worst case scenario, disregarding weapons and other people being involved. As stated above, if you succeed in applying the submission technique, they'll either end up unconscious (even possibly dead), immobilized due to an injured leg, or at least stunned with another injury.
    

If you adhere to the above principles, you'll find that in order to competent at all of those things you'll learn some very useful fighting skills to get there.

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1. Don't freeze. You'll develop confidence by practicing improving a difficult physical circumstance.
   
2. Maintain distance. In order to run away you have to be physically fit.
   
3. Carry a weapon or deterrent. You'll get more comfortable with it by practicing using it.
4. Keep them in front of you. In order to keep someone in front of you, you'll have to develop good fighting footwork.
   
5. Guard yourself with your hands and forearms. In order to guard yourself standing up, you'll learn to cover, parry, slip, fade and roll while using your footwork.
6. Avoid getting into a clinch. In order to avoid a clinch you'll have to learn to be a good enough striker to make them hesitant to try a second time to close the distance.
   
7. Stay on your feet. In order to stay on your feet you'll need to learn to avoid opening yourself up for takedown attempts unnecessarily, how to sprawl, and how to dominate a clinch, including defending takedowns and sweeps.
8. Knock them unconscious with a strike. You'll have to learn to gauge distance and timing, recognize openings, how to counter, and to anticipate the dangers of leaving your guard
9. Immobilize them with a strike. Same as above
10. Stun them with a strike. Also same as above
11. If you go to the ground, guard yourself with your feet and lower legs. You'll have to learn some grappling guard retention techniques, submission defenses, sweeps, and stand ups.
12. Establish a control position. You'll have to learn grip fighting, guard passes, escapes, guard recoveries, submissions, and how to defend them
13. Choke them unconscious, or injure one or more of their joints with a grappling submission. You'll be using the grappling skills from above, you'll just need to be more skilled and experienced with the dangers of the hostile person escaping and reversing the position when you initiate an attempt to apply a submission.

Submitted July 23, 2020 at 12:39AM by xenophonsXiphos https://ift.tt/2CYYfjX