by N. Mashiro
The hard version of the technique is to use a powerful palm-heel strike up under his chin, knocking him out and possibly breaking his neck. If you need to kill him (some of my readers are military men) you can just use a right hammerfist blow to the Adam's apple. It is splendidly exposed when the opponent's head is rotated back like this. (See Figure 3 1.)
19-6: This one really only works for women. The more macho among us won't even try it.
Throw your arms around the attacker's neck and hug him, pulling yourself up into a cheek-to-cheek position as if in a passionate embrace. (No amorous drunk will suspect that anything is wrong, and the tactic might even lull a would-be rapist momentarily.)
Then suddenly lock your teeth into his ear, lift your feet off the ground, and let go with your arms. You'll drop about two feet and land on your knees, but in the meantime your entire weight will be suspended from the big fellow's dainty little ear. Be ready to block his fists when he lets go of you. He's going to be pretty mad.
You can see why male students are reluctant to try this technique. A man just feels inhibited about giving a passionate embrace and ear nibble to some 260-pound lumberjack who is squeezing the life out of him. But look at it this way, gentlemen. What would happen if you were to give that hulking lumberjack a big wet kiss? Would he release you? You bet he would!
ATTACK #20
In situation #19 the key to a successful defense was to remember that your hands were free. In this case your hands are pinned, a development which makes most people feel perfectly helpless. You must fight that helpless feeling by reminding yourself that, hands or no hands, your feet are still free. Your knees are free. Your head itself is available as a weapon. And last but not least, those pinned hands are only inches away from the attacker's groin. Remembering these points will be the difference between success and failure when your arms are pinned to your sides.
COUNTERATTACKS FOR SITUATION #20
20-1: Use your legs to throw your body weight from side to side, working your hips backward slightly with each lurch. Soon you will have opened up a wide enough gap to get your palms braced against his hipbones. Lurch and shove until an eighteen-inch gap develops between your pelvis and his. That's when you suddenly dig in with your fingers and yank his hips toward you into your rising knee. For added power, push outward against his hips sharply and watch for his natural reaction to oppose your thrust. As soon as he pushes his hips forward you yank them in toward your knee. This kind of thing is what people mean by the phrase "using the opponent's strength against him."
20-2: Another alternative is to use your head. Tuck your chin down against your chest and rap his face with the top of your forehead. You won't have to hit him very hard to hurt him. While he is concentrating on avoiding getting hit in the teeth, you can pick up one of your feet and stomp heavily on his instep, kneecap, or shin.
Figure 32: "A bird in the hand ..."
20-3: There you are, caught in an unfriendly embrace with your hands pinned only inches from his groin. Does that give you any ideas?
One possibility is to make a fist, lock your arm rigidly, bend your knees suddenly, and ram your fist into his groin as your body drops. This groin punch is one of the fastest karate attacks of all due to the extremely short distance your fist has to travel to reach the target. My punch in this situation was once electronically timed at 0.04 second, start to finish. This is five times faster than a normal person can even begin to react.
20-4: Another idea would be to reach in there and grab a fistful of the fellow's most precious possessions. Don't apply any pressure, just get a good snug grip on them. Then look him in the eye and see if he gets the message. He'd have to be pretty stupid not to. (See Figure 32.)
20-5: A variation which works for the ladies is to reach into the fellow's groin and fondle him. (This is a little like putting an alligator to sleep by rubbing his stomach!) He may decide that he's made a lucky catch, until you sort things out, catch a testicle between your thumb and forefinger, and squash it like a ripe grape. Duck and shield your face at the same time. Don't worry about him getting up and running after you. He won't.
The coward's standard stock in trade is the surprise attack from behind the victim. Although a blow on the back of the skull gives you little opportunity for retaliation, many muggings begin with a sudden choke, strangle hold, or embrace from the rear instead. If such is the case you can make the mugger wish he had chosen a less hazardous profession.
But the attack from behind is not limited to muggings. Barroom brawls occasionally involve one combatant choking the other from the rear. In the movies, and too often in real life, one thug pins a victim's arms from behind while an accomplice beats him. In all of these situations the ability to speedily dispatch a person who has attacked you from behind could be crucial to your survival.
ATTACK #21
The attacker embraces you from behind, encircling your waist with his arms but leaving your arms free.
BASIC DEFENSE #21
In this position the attacker's arms are fully employed in holding you, and his legs have to be strongly braced to prevent you from pulling him around or overbalancing him. You, on the other hand, have complete freedom of movement with your head, arms, and legs. You can't walk away, it's true, and it is difficult for you to turn around to face your attacker, but otherwise you can do anything. The only portions of the opponent's anatomy that are out of your reach are his back and his groin. His face, hands, legs, and feet are extremely vulnerable.
Figure 33: The rear bear hug is easy to deal with. In this sequence the defender performs a basic leg lift on the attacker, and then zeroes in for a crushing stomp to the testicles.
The key defensive principle to remember is that the attacker has immobilized himself by grabbing you this way. There is little that he can do to hurt you without releasing you first. That means you have some time to think before acting. It also means that a second attacker approaching you from the front is by far the more dangerous of the two. Deal with him first.
COUNTERATTACKS FOR SITUATION #21
21-1: The classic trick to pull on someone who is holding you around the waist from behind is to step back and bump into the attacker, knocking him slightly off balance, and then bend sharply at the waist to reach back between your legs and grab one of his ankles with both hands. Straighten up using the strength of your back to yank his foot right up to eye level. (You wind up straddling his leg almost as if you were sitting on his thigh.) (See Figure 33.)
A typical attacker will fall flat on his back as his foot rises above waist level. If you happen to get a limber one, just pick up your feet and let him try to balance both your weight and his own on one foot. (If he can do it, give up!)
Usually the attacker will let go of your waist as he starts to fall, leaving you standing there holding his foot. The fellow's hips land on the ground just behind your feet. For that little something extra, use your heel to stomp backwards into the opponent's groin.
21-2: If you attempt the preceding technique but the attacker does not let go of you as he starts to fall, throw yourself back on top of him so that you land (sit) heavily on his chest or abdomen. He'll wind up with ruptured internal organs or a crushed chest, so don't do this for fun.
If you happen to miss him with your butt (as happens occasionally) immediately shift to a flurry of blows using your elbows, heels, and anything else that becomes available. He'll have to release you to protect himself.
Notice that even in the case of fighting two attackers this technique is still valuable. By throwing yourself backwards to squash the rear assailant you simultaneously drop out of reach of the attacker in front of you. At that point it is best to shift to the techniques described previously for fighting from the ground. Just be sure that you don't bend over to grab one attacker's ankle while the second attacker is within kicking range of your face.
21-3: This technique is similar to 14-2. Take a forceful sudden step out to the right and in the same motion step a
round behind the attacker with your left foot. Properly executed this move will leave you standing to the right rear of the opponent, with the front of your left hip against his buttocks. Bend forward from the waist and scoop up his knees with your hands.
Straighten your back, lifting his knees straight up. His body will rock back over your left hip and balance there like a teeter-totter. You will find that you can turn him completely upside-down and hold him that way with very little strength or effort. Needless to say, even if you stop here you will have gravely discomfited your opponent.
If embarrassing the opponent is not sufficient to meet the demands of the situation (there might be another attacker to deal with) just bend your knees and fall back as you yank his knees upward. You'll whiplash the back of his skull into the pavement.
21-4: This one is a short, sharp technique for people who don't like the idea of falling on the ground. Look down at your waist where the attacker's hands meet. Grasp his right wrist with your right hand. Using the heel of your left palm, force one of his right finger tips away from you, opposite to its natural direction of bending. You can make this a slow bend, giving him time to let go of you and save his finger, or you can just snap the finger back and break it like a green bean. Either way it will break his hold on your waist.
An appropriate optional finish would be to turn slightly to one side and stomp the sole of your foot back against his knee.
21-5: This is one of the simplest and most effective selfdefense techniques, but surprisingly few students discover it spontaneously.
Figure 34: An even simpler solution to the rear bear hug is the classic elbow blow to the jaw. This technique is very simple, very powerful and very effective.
When someone grabs you around the waist from behind (leaving your arms free) all you have to do is twist your body about 90 degrees and smack him in the face with the back of your elbow. If the attacker is too tall to reach with your elbow, use a hammer-fist blow instead. He won't be able to stand up to your blows for long, but in order to escape or retaliate he first must release you, and that was the basic idea anyway. (See Figure 34.)
ATTACK #22
The attacker embraces you from behind, pinning your arms to your sides. This situation is fundamentally similar to attack #21 but your freedom of movement with your hands is greatly diminished.
BASIC DEFENSE #22
This time the attacker has again immobilized himself by using both arms to hold you while bracing for a struggle with both legs. Your legs are still free, but your hands are trapped at your sides.
What can you do in this position?
The key thing to remember is that you are not helpless. For one thing, there are your hands only inches from his groin. The fact that you can also attack his face, legs, and feet seems almost superfluous in comparison. If the idiot wants to pin your hands between his legs, you might as well go ahead and give him what he deserves.
The basic defense in this case is to shift your hips rapidly from side to side, striving to work your hands back behind you into striking position. From this position there are several devastating options.
COUNTERATTACKS FOR SITUATION #22
22-1: Shift your hips to one side, then strike straight back into his groin with a hammer-fist blow. If he blocks the attack by turning his hip in to catch your fist, just shift to the other side. His retreat from your right fist will set him up perfectly for an attack by your left fist.
22-2: Shift your hips to the side. Reach back with one hand and grasp his genitals in your fist. He will probably let go instantly. If not, lock your arm as straight as a ramrod and throw your feet out from under you. Let your weight rip his private parts down to his ankles. (See Figure 35.)
In actual practice it is impossible to maintain a grip tight enough to tear the opponent asunder, but there is a striking "window shade" effect which is sure to get his attention. His genitals stretch down as far as they will go and then pull free of your grip-to snap back into place like a windowshade rolling up. It feels just as sickening as it sounds.
22-3: Here's a variation for those of you who just couldn't bring themselves to perform the previous two techniques. (Teen-age girls sometimes refuse to even pretend to perform the windowshade trick.) Snap your head backward, striking him in the face (nose, lips, and teeth) with the back of your skull. Stomp on his feet and kick back into his knees and shins to distract him with pain. Shift your hips to the side, then drive your elbow straight back into his solar plexus. Mix and match these attacks repetitively until the attacker's grip on you loosens.
As a parting gesture turn around to face him, grab him by the hips and knee him convincingly in the groin.
ATTACK #23
The attacker chokes you with his hands from the rear. Note that this choke is performed with the fingers only, since the attacker's palms and thumbs are appressed to the sides and back of your neck.
DEFENSE AND COUNTERATTACKS FOR SITUATION #23
23-1: Most self-defense teachers do not cover this attack at all. The few who do tend to rely on the following classic technique. Their confidence is well justified, since there are few other alternatives which a typical self-defense student can work as well.
Reach up to your throat and find the attacker's fingers. Pry and gouge at them until you can get a good grip on one (and only one) finger. The little finger or ring finger is usually the best choice, but take what you can get. (Don't use his thumb.) Snap the finger sideways to break the hold (and the finger).
Figure 35: When your arms have been pinned from the rear there are still a few things you can do to ruin the attacker's day. This, the "window shade trick," is one of the best.
Do not release his finger. Your firm grip on that dislocated finger will do more to control your assailant than a whole squad of police could do. If you like, you can finish with a kick to the knee or groin before releasing him.
23-2: Another way to break this hold is to bend sharply forward at the waist and turn around to face the attacker, ducking your head under his arm as you turn. Straighten up and finish with a palm-heel strike to the chin, or you can stand up with a forearm wedge technique and counterattack (see basic defense *10).
23-3: Probably the simplest release from this situation, if you are up to it, is to bend forward from the waist and launch a back-kick into the attacker's groin, abdomen or chest. The back-kick might be best described to a layman as a "donkey-kick," in which you lift your knee up to your chest, bend forward, and stomp straight back (horizontally) against the opponent's body. Most men will let go of your neck instantly to avoid a repetition.
23-4: There is another response to this attack which I suggest only to more advanced students, and especially to karate-trained individuals.
Sit down suddenly just behind your heels and roll backward on to your back. As you go down reach up and grasp the attacker's wrists as they twist free from your neck.
He will bend forward in an automatic attempt to follow you down. This leaves you on your back with your head roughly between the attacker's feet. To effect the counterattack, pull down on the attacker's arms while driving the soles of both your feet smartly up under his chin. Properly executed this blow is extremely vicious, and can easily break his neck.
I recommend this technique only to more advanced self-defense students because the roll back and kick must be performed very quickly, with no false moves or wasted motion. Otherwise the frustrated opponent will surely realize that he can stomp on your face, and he will do so. Your defense against this is speed, a commodity which beginners tend to lack.
23-5: Here's an especially effective technique which many people adopt as a favorite. The opponent has grasped your neck from behind as before. Lift your left arm up high as you forcefully turn to your left to face the attacker. Your arm will sweep across over his arms, tearing his hands from your neck. Drop your arm down tightly against your left side to trap his wrists under your armpit. This leaves you with one fist free while he has both wrists trapped.
It will take him a moment to get his wits together, so use that right hammer fist quickly in a strike to the temple, side of the neck, or collarbone. (See Figure 36.)
ATTACK #24
The attacker encircles your throat with his right arm, strangling you from behind. This attack is similar to the two chokes described in sections 8-2 and 8-3.
BASIC DEFENSE #24
When you feel someone's arm snaking around your neck from behind, your basic defense is to hunch your shoulders and tuck in your chin. Try to turn your chin into the fold of the opponent's elbow and burrow it in deep. In this way you can keep some of the pressure off your throat. This gives you a little time to think as well as a minor degree of relief from the pain of the attack.
COUNTERATTACKS FOR SITUATION #24
24-1: Grasp his forearm near the elbow with your left hand, and grasp his upper arm near the shoulder with your right hand. Bend sharply at the waist as if to touch your head to your knees, and your opponent will sail right over your head and land on his back. Nine times out of ten he'll release your neck and use his hands to try to break his fall. The tenth guy will give your neck a pretty severe twist as he goes over.
Figure 36: When you are being choked from behind, this simple windmilling spin effectively and reliably turns the tables on the attacker. Of course, a handy stairwell helps.
Figure 37: The simplest solution to the strangle hold is a fivefingered stab at the eyes ... which are usually within easy reach.
A word of caution. Most practice partners you may encounter will gracefully perform a somersault when you use this throw on them, but a few awkward people will just dive straight into the ground headfirst. I nearly killed a student this way one time and the experience has made me very cautious. Usually I refrain from teaching this trick except in the case of the occasional student who is athletically inclined.