Mass-Attack Q&A

Experienced martial artists know that self-defense scenarios have many variables—which is why I get so many questions when I teach defense against a mass attack. Hereʼs the FAQ:

Question No. 1: “Should I attack first or wait for the bad guys to come to me?” After you pick up an equalizer and/or start your zoning, strike. Itʼs as simple as that. Waiting for two or more opponents to close the gap will only put you in a worse position.

Question No. 2: “Whom do I zone around first? The bigger guy? The smaller guy? The loudmouth?” None of the above. You should zone around the closer attacker first. Itʼs easier, and it helps you move through your game plan more quickly. And itʼs much better than chasing your opponent of choice.

Question No. 3: “What happens if I have a third party with me—such as a child?” Thatʼs a tough question. Get in front of that person and move him or her with you as you zone. Of course, thatʼs easy to say but not so easy to do.

Question No. 4: “What happens if my opponents drive me into a corner?” Go after the closest attacker, clinch with him and attempt to spin until youʼre on the outside and heʼs in the corner. Your goal is to get out of that position as soon as possible—even before you worry about taking the first assailant out of commission.

Question No. 5: “What if one or both attackers have a weapon and I canʼt get to one?” This question needs an entire article to answer. The short version of the solution is to zone around the person who has a weapon, addressing the highest priority first. If one attacker has a knife and the other a stick, zone around the knife guy first.

My rationalization for this—and itʼs backed up by hours and hours of training with noncompliant partners—is that I never want to lose sight of the person with the more dangerous weapon.

Question No. 6: “What happens if there are three or more attackers?” The good news is that you use the same game plan, which makes it easy to train and easy to remember. The bad news is that going from two attackers to three or more exponentially increases the threat level.

Conclusion

Many martial artists get turned off to mass-attack scenarios because they participate in drills that fail to build their confidence. Consequently, they often lose their motivation to keep up the training. Donʼt let that happen to you. Itʼs easy to practice what youʼre good at and to stay away from what youʼre not good at, but that wonʼt improve your self-defense ability.

The key to improvement is to persevere. Practice the fundamentals. Leave out the wild-and-crazy variables until you have the basics down pat. Thereʼs no doubt that the most intelligent way to deal with a mass attack is to run away. However, you donʼt always have that luxury. If you chose to ignore multiple- assailant scenarios in training, youʼre not doing yourself any favors on the street.)