Thursday, August 4, 2011

Discussion: Attack Scenarios

The following post describes a practice session/discussion on attack scenarios in our dojo.

Last night the dojo black belts had a discussion on attacks.  Prior to class, each participant was to research possible street attack scenarios.  The scenarios were from personal experience/concerns, newspaper articles, books, Internet searches and YouTube videos.  Each person added a few items to the list for discussion.

1.  Grab belt from behind in a workplace environment. 
2.  Grab neck with one hand.
3.  Grab from behind in bear hug.  Arms are pinned.
4.  Blocking a door or entrance.  (work cubicle, elevator, etc.)
5.  Being followed.
6.  Attacker charges and attacks with strikes.
7.  Push...Push...Push.
8.  Attack while at urinal or in bathroom stall.
9.  Neck attack...hand hooking around back of neck.
10. Side by side contact when trying to leave an area.
11. Attacker throwing object to distract while charging.
12. Attacked when exiting or entering cars or homes.
13. Being jumped on while asleep.
14. Rear choke.

This list represents the items discussed in a dojo session.  It is not a comprehensive list nor did we include weapons in this session.  The group discussed each scenario and practiced defending against the attack.  We only made it part way through our list and will have to revisit the session.

Personal Observations:
1.  Often we practice linear attacks/grabs in the dojo.  We need more practice in circular conflicts.
2.  Blocked Entrance.  I found this difficult.  One participant described an actual situation which happened at work.  A man stood at the cubicle entrance and would not let the person through the door. 
3.  Following.  I had an immediate reaction when someone was following me. 
4.  Attacks not likely to be "karate" attacks. (technically correct punches with chambered fists)
5.  We have more work to do.

12 comments:

jc said...

thought provoking....i, too, think TMA often does alot of linear modes of attack; sounds like a good brainstorm...

~dawn~ said...

I have this blog post in my manual binder that I reference frequently: http://www.mokurendojo.com/2010/01/most-common-habitual-acts-of-violence.html

Like you said, there are quite a number of online articles and studies about how fights go down. It is very interesting to play around with different attacks. I'm intrigued by the door blocking scenario, will have to mention that one and see what we come up with!

Felicia said...

Like that idea for class a lot, Michele! Sounds like a lot of good stuff was discussed and played out in "real time."

We once did a crowded/dark night club class. We kept our street clothes (and shoes) on, Sensei dimmed the lights and turned on the music/disco ball (we used the room that the aerobic kickboxing class also uses, lol) and lined us up in chairs. We practiced handling unwanted "attention" from someone sitting next to us and getting out if that person was between you and the exit. It was interesting and provided quite a bit of "food for thought." I love classes like that!

Thanks for sharing - and I hope your sinuses are better, today :-)

Journeyman said...

It sounds like it was a great session. Your observations on non-linear attacks and attacks not being "karate' attacks (or other martial art) is spot on. Even just the process of thinking scenarios through is invaluable training. I look forward to hearing about any subsequent sessions.

As an aside, thanks for the mention on your blog and sorry about the terrible sentence I wrote in the paragraph you quoted. I had a plural and a singular tense all in the same sentence. I must have been pretty tired when I proofed my post.

Rick Matz said...

Back in my aikido days, a guy grabbed the knot of my tie ... once.

Charles James said...

Yes, question, do you know what to look for in violence before the threat has a chance to do any of these guesses at attacks on the street?

Josh Kruschke said...

http://ymaa.com/articles/self-defense-down-and-dirty

Charles James said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michele said...

Thank you for your comments and shared links! I must apologize for my delayed response to your comments. Summer is flying by and I am working an additional PT job.

Felicia: You may have inspired another session for our group. Our dojo/house used to be a bar/restaurant. All I need is the disco ball... :)

Journeyman: Thanks again for your articles. It was a useful session and we want to continue exploring the topic.

Charles James: Yes, the group discusses pre-attack indicators.
However, in this instance, the goal of the group was to discuss types of attack. Numbers 1, 4, 5 and 12 were examples from the participant's personal experiences.

Thanks again for your comments!

Michele said...

As the owner of the school, well also the guy who opened it up, is a 6th dan, and I have done crisis intervention long enough to know what is really on the street as opposed to the um , generic self defense. I think you need to put into perspective what the blackbelts were attempting to do. At their level and for discussion purposes they didn't need to review the precursor to the situation. It was a very hard lesson to free your mind of what you thought you knew and relook at regular old collar grabs and reinvent scenarios and deployment. I personally am trying to learn to use the seisan stance as a strike. Attacker comes in , switch angles and strike with your knee to the inner thigh, or outer thigh, many opportunity. nice to share

Thomas said...

I did not realize Michele's account was logged in. The above comment was mine. Tom

Mr. Martial Arts said...

Sounds like it was a fun session. I like that ideas.