The Multiple Attacker Equation Part 1

The idea of dealing with multiple attackers is an idea that many arts overlook. It is tough to teach, tough to learn, tough to deal with and an abstract concept to write about. But it is probably the single most important thing to learn and one of the most likely scenarios you will encounter in a real world situation (if no the most likely).  When facing multiple attackers it is likely that you will be facing a group or groups of 3 or more so we must start there training, dealing and discussing 3 attackers.

First lets dispel some common myths. Myth #1 you can survive an attack from multiple attackers and by survive I mean do a lot of damage and walk away relatively unharmed, I am not saying this is an easy task but I am however saying it is possible. Another common misconception is that an attack from multiple assailants will be like a movie where they attack one at a time, most likely the will surround and swarm you. A third untruth is that you should "hit" the leader/ mouth piece/ biggest one first, again this is not usually prudent and is exactly what they want or expect in fact it might be the case that they are trying to draw your attention or distract you. Ok  now that we have gotten some of the myths and misconceptions out of the way we can proceed. So lets start with dealing with three attackers. I would like to illustrate the fact that every martial engagement is different and dynamic like a fingerprint or a snowflake, because of this we can only discuss theory and the logic that supports it. Application must be worked out during training. We will for arguments sake illustrate this for a right handed defender but understand that this can be reversed for a left handed defender. When multiple people try to attack you understand that they will try to encircle you. You must not let any attacker get behind you, you must keep moving and re-positioning constantly. Your initial attack should be directly to your right, lets stop here and analyze this. Assuming you have maneuvered to keep to keep your back free and clear, the attackers have probably adopted a triangle position around you. Imagine that you are in the middle of the base of a triangle, your attackers have taken up position on the points of a triangle. The attacker to your right we will call # 1 the attacker to your left is # 2 and the attacker directly in front of you is number 3. we want to attack in the order of 1, 2, 3 this of course is for a. the initial attack and b. is subject to change based on your attackers movements and actions. We want to use our right hand to attack  #1 and  #2 and we can use anything that may be available to us at the time i.e. punch, kick, knee...... Remember that we are NOT attacking then moving we are attacking while moving. After our initial attack if escape is possible then that is our best and most practical option, if more action is needed then there are some things that we must do to be successful. First we must move and maneuver our way to the outside of the group. Second we need to push and pull and hit our attackers in such a way as to "stack them up". By stacking them up we need to position them in such a way them in such a way as they shield us from the others. Thirdly we can not stop moving, as to keep them from encircling us. Fourthly while on the move we should be hitting or on our way to hitting, this was explained to me as the "Tasmanian Devil Technique". Lastly we must not try to "win" this is not about winning or pride it is about surviving!!!! Remember if you wanna stay clean you gotta fight dirty
 Real Violence Needs Real Solutions

M.U.C.T