Getting to the Source of the Attack

Some exponents have a strategy for a single opponent fight where they just rush the person and give them no time to measure and time their favourite strikes, etc. Dealing with multiple attackers is a bit like this but you have to take your effort to another level. The opponent can be thought of as a bomb that can go off. If the opponent explodes into action with kicks, punches, etc. then you were too slow in your approach. Time is limited, the bomb will go off if you let it, so hesitating is a bad idea. It is best to deactivate the threat as soon as possible at the source. The real danger is the person behind the attack. The kicks, punches, grabs, etc. are the secondary problem.

You have to get to the source of the attack, right up close to the attacker in order to cut the opponent’s intentions off. In a group attack you have only a moment to achieve this. Accelerating at an opponent is no easy feat, and acceleration has to be maintained up to and beyond the encounter. Rushing into the danger zone without hesitation requires a lot of trust in your reactive process.

What will your reactive process consist of when you reach the attacker? I have no idea and neither will anyone else. Acceleration means you have only a single moment in your encounter with an opponent. You simply won’t have time to think about the opponent or what you should do to them. Your reactive process will be whatever comes out in that single moment. Some of your response will be part of your natural reflex actions and a part of it will be a result of your training.

One thing you cannot afford to do is ask yourself ‘what technique do I use’ once you get to the source of the threat. To spend time on hitting, pushing or grabbing in a group attack would be the end of your progress to safety. Any technical strategy will need a degree of stabilisation of your lower body, which translates to a decrease in acceleration, and that just gives the group the extra time they need to take you down.

The strategy of getting to the source of an attack is designed to give you a constant in your approach to each attacker. It does not give you time to worry about their kicks, strikes, grabs, etc. There is good reasoning for this approach. A survival situation does not give you the luxury to practice your interpersonal skills, or the time to try out your self-defense tricks to win the day. When it comes to survival there is not enough time to prepare solutions that take time to sort out and execute, hence you look for time savers i.e. constants.

As always with group work, train safely and under the supervision of a qualified instructor.