Did you ever fight a bully “back in the day?”
I had my share of fights in school, and to this day, I HATE bullies.
These days in our schools, though, the fights these kids are having are NOTHING like the fist fights you and I remember.
Back then…
… people usually “fought fair”…
…a bloody nose was maybe the worst that happened…
…and fighting off a bully was enough to get him to leave you alone.
Today’s high school kids, though, are doing their best to kill each other, it seems like.
In fact, I stumbled across this “street fight caught on camera” video the other day…
(Warning: Strong language)
VIDEO: What A “Schoolyard Street-Fight” Video Can Teach Us About Defeating Larger Attackers…
I think the video perfectly illustrates 3 secrets of defeating larger attackers:
1. Even 1-On-1 Street-Fights Are “Multiple Attacker” Fights!
We like to say, in reality based self-defense circles, that you’ve got to watch out for other people.
Your attacker may have friends.
He’ll choose a time and place where you’re outnumbered, and he’ll use his extra muscle to overpower you and stomp you.
In this case, the bully didn’t have any friends who were willing to wade into the fight… but the spectators were bad enough!
In fact, at one point the crowd deliberately moved into the way to cut off the defender’s escape route… because they WANTED to see a fight.
If you’re up against a bigger attacker and there are spectators, don’t be surprised if they force you into the very confrontation you’re trying to avoid.
You getting beat up or even killed is just the sort of entertainment some of these thugs LOVE to watch.
2. Feints Work… EVEN In Real Street-Fights!
We spend a lot of time debating what techniques work and which ones don’t.
As you can see in this video, feints absolutely CAN work to your advantage.
The defender starts out with a low kick to the attacker’s legs.
The kick did NOTHING… but it distracted the bully while the defender waded in with hook punch after hook punch.
He just wailed away on his attacker, and that was the key to taking the initiative in the fight.
Always remember that a feint can be the opening you need to take the fight to the assailant.
3. Aggression Beats Skill In A Real Fight
We like to think that if you just know the right techniques, you can Bruce Lee your way out of ANY situation.
Action movies kind of reinforce this.
The thing is, though, in most fights, the person who is most aggressive will probably win.
The defender in this video didn’t display a whole lot of skill (although that low round kick was pretty decent as a basic MMA move).
What saved him from his larger attacker was that he just viciously WENT FOR IT, pounding away, hooking and hooking until the bully was lying on the ground bleeding.
Remembering the power of aggression COULD save you against even a much larger attacker.
Now, I want you to remember those three secrets, but it’s important that you remember something else: These were still kids.
They were fighting on the ground.
The spectators were bad enough, like I’ve described… but if the bully had friends who were willing to wade in and start stomping the other boy to death, things could have gone very differently.
If the bully had a knife or some other weapon, he could easily have killed the other kid.
Remember THAT, too, the next time you’re visualizing what you would do when you come up against a larger attacker.
Just because he’s bigger doesn’t mean you can’t beat him… but there are right ways and many more wrong ways to do it.
Here’s another, very graphic video of a face-to-face confrontation.
Sadly, the victim didn’t realize he was in a fight until it was too late.
If you watch the video, though, you’ll see the danger signs… and the results were disastrous.
The lessons you can learn from that video, just like the schoolyard fight video, could save your bacon when it matters.
I should know — because I’ve used it myself more than once, and it worked every time.
Stay safe out there.
