Defense against a sucker punch

[stanley neptune]

How do you defend against a sucker punch?

Last night on the Channel 25 news in Boston there was a story about a bunch of punks who roam the streets sucker punching and fighting with people and video taping it. These dirt bags are the lowest of low.

I have told many people that the best self defense is self awareness and to avoid areas of trouble. But when you have the dregs of society who think it is acceptable to attack innocent people to get their jollies you may become a victim no matter where you are.

How can you defend against such an attack?

Stanley Neptune

 

[theletch1]

Your suggestion is the first best answer. Awareness of your surroundings is the best overall defense. Secondly, don't look like a victim if you can help it. Develop a walk of confidence (not cockiness), get out of the situation as quickly as possible. If you are confronted and you do get sucker punched it really comes down to your reaction time and exactly what gets thrown at you. Aikido (NGA) trains for sucker punches as well as for reading the body language that leads up to it. The key is to be ready for anything, I guess and do your best to avoid the situation all together. Sooner or later one of these punks will get a bullet in the chest by a paniced victim and maybe that will be a wake up call for the rest. This isn't a new thing, unfortunately and will more than likely continue to happen in places all over the country for a long time to come.

 

[babaker]

Defense against a sucker punch? Kind of defeats the whole premise of a sucker punch, eh? But yeah, the awareness game, or reaction to something amiss in your surroundings, such as people positioning themselves around you to attrack your attention while one semi-tough tries to punch you in your blind side, or uses speed to surprise your reflexes so you can't or don't respond are two of the reasons for being a victim.

Another is simply not listening to your gut, and your head, which are telling you to slow down, speedup, so you are not in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Did you ever take notice of how the people, the places, and things around you move in waves, in patterns? Stop and watch the traffic sometime ... damn if there aren't herds of cattle coming down the road, sometimes one or two lone cars get away from the pack, or throw the timing off so they are inbetween the herds, or leading an angry bunch of Ricky Racers, but watch and learn .... one's prioritys can be met within an acceptable time margin if one takes control of time and space. (space being the space one occupies at any given moment, not the other one we call outer space.)

The world operates on a set of subliminal signals that are recieved by humanity and all living creatures causing them to react just like they would if a big storm was coming, an earthquake was immenent, or some other imperative danger was present causing the flight or fight reflex.

What can you do to avoid a sucker punch? Be aware of the timing of people around you, look at the road ahead, the surroundings you are coming from and going to, get a feeling for the timing of interaction, find the harmony of nature that will keep you from falling into trap, or being shot by the hunters. Break the sequence of events by learning to reallign the timing of events.

Sounds silly, doesn't it? But try it sometime, when everyone is around you pushing and shoving, let'em pass, find the hole in the crowd or inbetween the herds of cattle, and reallign the timing of events for yourlife. I find it especially helpfull in gettin out of danger synchronization, that is when people are trying to occupy the same space as me, or competeing aggressively to be where I want to be as in driving my vehicle, shopping in stores, or simply watching punks who think they can bully, rob, steal, get over on the lesser citizens who are like sheep to their wolf-pack.

Funny how the wolf-pack becomes wary when everyone sees them for who and what they are, they are no longer invisible, because they have become the hunted, not the hunters. This is one way to totally avoid being a victim, but don't do it in a way the calls for the wolf-pack to be challenged, or a confrontation will result, but you already know that, eh?

You want to know how to keep from being sucker punched .... be the hunter, not the hunted ... get out of sync with the wolf-pack and become aware of where you are, who is around you, what the hell you are doing. It certainly makes a big difference if the citizens know what to do when they spot the wolf-pack and take action as a group and not as individuals. Get to know people around you, get to know people who know you as you travel, and think about the martial aspects of changing the timing of your life, not just for sparring in practice, but as a tool to make life work for your needs by speeding up or slowing down to change the interaction of people around you.

Hey ... you can't be suckerpunched if you are in right place at the right time, but only if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, right?

Beyond being someplace else ... raise the bokken and get off the line of attack .... but that would also mean cognizant mind and body reacting to the situation too.

Should we set up traps to gangjump these punks, tie 'em up to whatever is handy leaving a note for the local police to release them upon their own recognizance? Oh yeah, I can see it now, ..."local punks jumped by senior citizens, tied up with a bow for local police."