In this video from the “Martial Study 8” online training, I’m going to teach you how to defend yourself against strangulation (breathing or blood), while sitting on the ground, your back to your attacker.
Please use your imagination…
You are sitting on the beach and someone comes and sits behind you, surrounding you with his legs. Obviously, he doesn’t mean you any good. Of course, in real life, if your attacker manage to come that closer, it means you let him do it… Unless he hits his butt on the ground and falls behind you by surprise!
On the other hand, in a self defense situation, let’s say you’re wrestling on the ground and you accidentally end up in that position. It is unlikely, but anything is possible!.
The situation gets worse: the attacker probably intends to strangle you.
Table of Contents
Two types of strangulation
- “Respiratory” strangulation, which aims at compressing the trachea
- “Commando” strangulation, known as respiratory and blood strangulation, both at the same time, which aims at cutting off the blood influx to the brain by compressing the carotid arteries.
No need to be lie to you, if the aggressor knows about strangulation and he considers you as his prey, it’s highly probable that you’ll kick the bucket since he wants to kill you..
Why? Because once the strangulation is locked, it becomes very complicated if the attacker squeezes very hard, especially if he uses a commando type strangulation. As I already tried it, I can confirm that it is very difficult to get out of such a situation. Also imagine that the attacker surrounds you with his legs, locks them tightly around you, while sticking to you and maintaining his commando stranglehold, and then swings back with a sharp blow, things get (very) complicated.
Be quick!
To avoid being defeatist, you should know that you have a one-second opportunity and that is precisely the one you will try to use.
Again, it may not work. So you are in a bad position and you know it’s going to get worse. This will hurt, but you have to pull your head in so that your attacker does reach your neck. Hence, you will not be strangled anymore.
- First point: he loosens up. Why? At this point, he has no reason to be loose, isn’t it?
You’ll put your feet flat and push back as you hit. Do you think you have time to aim? No you don’t.
To be more efficient, you’ll use both hands, wide open and your fingers forward, and push on him. He shouldn’t wear a cup, so there’s a good chance you’ll crush his genitals a bit.
Your primary goal is to have him let go, this is your way out!
Throw your hands in his face to throw him off balance. Maybe you will miss your target. Then, while pushing on your feet, you will grab his hands by bringing them back on your chest with a sharp blow in order to create an opening.
Let’s break down the movement: position your feet flat, then, while pushing vigorously, throw your hands wide open at your attacker’s face and grab his hands in order to unhook yourself from his hold. Be careful, an opening may have been created but you are not out of trouble yet!
- Second point: it is now essential to escape “on the right side”.
What is “the right side”?
Let’s say you’ve managed to unhook yourself, but because of the stress and adrenaline, your vision is blurred. The mistake you should not make is to fall back on him to get up. If you do so, you’ll end up directly in his guard – in other words, in his claws – that is to say the wrong side.
It’s all about logic, even if the situation doesn’t help being logical. With the techniques mentioned above, you will already be positioned on the “right side” to get out. All you have to do is hit your opponent before you leave and then get out as quickly as possible, using him and remembering to protect yourself!
You have two options: either run away, or get your revenge by hitting “where it hurts”, in other words the genitals, or more violently, the head. But BE CAREFUL: never forget that any revenge will be punished by the Law.
Also, what matters most is the start, i.e. how quickly and how well you react. Here, you should use the “least worst” techniques. It would be suicidal to try to do a joint lock to get you out of his hold. Keep it real: locks have limits.
Commando
Same thing for the commando strangulation, you only have one second! Same techniques: with your feet flat, push back while throwing your hands/fingers towards your attacker’s face and unhook. The biggest risk here is not to try. Try everything!
Luck is on your side and you have managed to unhook yourself from your attacker’s grip, that’s great BUT beware, you are not yet totally safe. Instinctively, under the effect of stress and panic, some people will have the “reflex” to turn to the wrong side, i.e. to the closed side. This is very risky. If your attacker decides to finish you off, you are stuck. Try to always look to the right side and turn to the opening! Also, be careful not to take him on your back, although it may seem obvious.
To sum up
Strike, scratch, punch and release! If his head is within easy reach, strike again, headbutt him or whatever, but do what you can as you can. Then comes the “release”. It’s time to escape on the right side, that is to say the opening side, and if when rushing to get out of this situation, you land on his spleen 6 (pressure point located about 3cms above the tip of the medial malleolus).
On the other hand, stay alert and try to keep an eye on your attacker who has his back to you as a kick could easily happen…
