Defense Against The Bearhug

[MJS]

Real world bear hugs are questionable at best. The only person I've ever seen using a bear hug on somebody has been either police or some other security personel. Either way, it was what I'd call a static hold and because of who is doing the holding, doing something against it would be asking for some serious trouble. Therefor, it becomes a mute point. Now the times I have seen a bear hug used by folks actually in a confrontation, has been from the rear and the person was picked up and dumped so fast, there was nothing that could be done - again it becomes a mute point. So IMO, all that training for this type of attack is wasted effort.

I would think that there would be some merit to train this type of attack, considering it could be used in an abduction or rape attempt. If we discounted every technique because it didn't work for one person in question, we'd probably end up tossing out a good portion of techniques.

Mike

 

[Cryozombie]

Real world bear hugs are questionable at best. The only person I've ever seen using a bear hug on somebody has been either police or some other security personel.

I saw it done in a Biker Bar one night. Dude came up and grabbed the guy from behind and held him while his buddy came up and broke a pool cue across his face. Nasty stuff.

 

[Hand Sword]

Yeah. A very common scene when someone engages another, that's part of a group. Broken bottles across the face, also, pretty nasty!

 

[green meanie]

This must all be taken within the context of the attack itself. If the assailant is alone, and bearhugs you from behind with arms pinned, just relax. Why do anything? His arms are occupied. He can't kick you from this hold. I don't care how strong he is, he can't hold my 225 lbs in the air that long. He will become tired and drop me.

What if he drops you on your head Frank?

 

[Hand Sword]

Exactly! They picked you up for a reason. Your not going to be held there, you are going down!

 

[Tony]

I remember I was in a rear bear hug, had my hands free and using a knuckle to striek the back of one of his hands which didn't work, I proceeded to use a backward headbut and it worked! A front bear hug is perfect if your hands are free because u can claw the persons face, or headbutt again!

 

[thescottishdude]

is there any grappling moves to be used? this is the type of thing your non-martial arts friends do to you to see if you're "any good". you can't really kick them or punch them. but spitting may be funny

 

[RoninPimp]

The suit is a two edged sword. As stated, it lets one keep practicing at full power, while protecting the partner. However, the automnomic responses of the assailant aren't present in the training, like they would be for real.

-What is a automnomic response?

 

[Makalakumu]

-What is a automnomic response?

Something that happens at an opportune time.

 

[Brad Dunne]

"Bearhugs from behind...you can escape if done quickly before being lifted and dump".

I'm sorry, but you can't.......there just is not enough time. We've attempted to defend against this situation in training and it just won't work. Understand, the majority of folks that are going to attempt to use a bear hug are fairly good sized and unless they are holding you so another can hit you, you'll be dumped head first and very quickly. Anybody can defend against something when #1 - they have time to react and #2 - they know what's coming. To offer no training against a punch or a kick to use as a rebuttal against a rear bear hug is ???????? One can't defend against a sucker punch either, because they were not aware it was coming. There's lots of things that can't be trained for, but to give good training time to something that's not likely to happen and even if it did happen, you couldn't react in time, falls under the heading of "What For"!
Another statement used for accepting this training was the aspect of rape or abduction. Again, a waste of time. Who is being attacked here....most likely either a child or a female. Do you think that they will either have enough time or power available to defend against this?.......Not likely. What then do they do? Well they wait for a possible opening to do something that could work. There's an old saying that "all training is good training".....I disagree. It must be valued training and nothing less.

 

[BlackSheep]

is there any grappling moves to be used?

Look at my first post.

 

[BlackSheep]

"Bearhugs from behind...you can escape if done quickly before being lifted and dump".

I'm sorry, but you can't.......

Bull!

It’s done often in wrestling.

 

[Henderson]

What is an autonomic response?

Something that happens at an opportune time.

Actually, an autonomic response is involuntary. Basically, it means your reflexes.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Autonomic

 

[still learning]

"Bearhugs from behind...you can escape if done quickly before being lifted and dump".

I'm sorry, but you can't.......there just is not enough time. We've attempted to defend against this situation in training and it just won't work. Understand, the majority of folks that are going to attempt to use a bear hug are fairly good sized and unless they are holding you so another can hit you, you'll be dumped head first and very quickly. Anybody can defend against something when #1 - they have time to react and #2 - they know what's coming. To offer no training against a punch or a kick to use as a rebuttal against a rear bear hug is ???????? One can't defend against a sucker punch either, because they were not aware it was coming. There's lots of things that can't be trained for, but to give good training time to something that's not likely to happen and even if it did happen, you couldn't react in time, falls under the heading of "What For"!
Another statement used for accepting this training was the aspect of rape or abduction. Again, a waste of time. Who is being attacked here....most likely either a child or a female. Do you think that they will either have enough time or power available to defend against this?.......Not likely. What then do they do? Well they wait for a possible opening to do something that could work. There's an old saying that "all training is good training".....I disagree. It must be valued training and nothing less.

So your answer is "Cannot defend against a bearhug and sucker punch?"

Nothing can be done? Right? ....UM? ...I must think about this more?..Aloha

 

[MJS]

"Bearhugs from behind...you can escape if done quickly before being lifted and dump".

I'm sorry, but you can't.......there just is not enough time. We've attempted to defend against this situation in training and it just won't work. Understand, the majority of folks that are going to attempt to use a bear hug are fairly good sized and unless they are holding you so another can hit you, you'll be dumped head first and very quickly. Anybody can defend against something when #1 - they have time to react and #2 - they know what's coming. To offer no training against a punch or a kick to use as a rebuttal against a rear bear hug is ???????? One can't defend against a sucker punch either, because they were not aware it was coming. There's lots of things that can't be trained for, but to give good training time to something that's not likely to happen and even if it did happen, you couldn't react in time, falls under the heading of "What For"!
Another statement used for accepting this training was the aspect of rape or abduction. Again, a waste of time. Who is being attacked here....most likely either a child or a female. Do you think that they will either have enough time or power available to defend against this?.......Not likely. What then do they do? Well they wait for a possible opening to do something that could work. There's an old saying that "all training is good training".....I disagree. It must be valued training and nothing less.

Question for you: If what you're saying is the case, then what do you suggest the person do to defend themselves?

Mike

 

[Brad Dunne]

Question for you: If what you're saying is the case, then what do you suggest the person do to defend themselves?


As stated prior, there are things that cannot be defended against, it's that simple.

"Bull! Done in wrestling"........Ah! another apples to oranges counter. If this needs to be explained further, somebody needs a reality check.

 

[RoninPimp]

What are you talking about? Wrestling and all other grappling styles have tons of techniques, both offensive and defensive, from the bear hug position. There may be things that can't be defended from, but the bear hug isn't one of them.

 

[green meanie]

What are you talking about? Wrestling and all other grappling styles have tons of techniques, both offensive and defensive, from the bear hug position. There may be things that can't be defended from, but the bear hug isn't one of them.

Agreed. When someone locks their hands around you, call it what you want, but you're 'wrestling'. That doesn't mean that they're playing by any rules, or that they won't slam the bejeezus out of you if you let them, but to say that escapes that work on the mat won't work in a bar or on the street is ridiculous.

 

[Kwiter]

I once confused the hell out of my cousins friend who bearhugged me from behind and foolishly left my arms free, he was a skinny little bugger so I reached back and grabbed him with both arms and locked my hand over my opposite wrist against his back freaked him out and he let go immediately.


---

http://www.geocities.com/welovekarate

 

[MJS]

Question for you: If what you're saying is the case, then what do you suggest the person do to defend themselves?


As stated prior, there are things that cannot be defended against, it's that simple.

"Bull! Done in wrestling"........Ah! another apples to oranges counter. If this needs to be explained further, somebody needs a reality check.

Sorry, but I have to agree with Roninpimp, Blacksheep and Green meanie on this one. It appears that you're basing the success on this defense only on what you have seen. There are a few things that need to be taken into consideration.

1) What happened to our awareness? Why did we let ourselves get into this position in the first place? IMHO, being aware, is one of the most important things in the self defense area.

2) Running scenario drills will help in this area. Standing with eyes closed, the defender can begin his defense as soon as the hands are felt. This IMO is when the defense needs to begin. Why wait until the grab is completed? This can also be done with strikes, kicks and weapon attacks. Again, with eyes closed, a cue word can be given. The defender opens their eyes, and the attack is immediately launched, not giving the defender time to think, but instead forces them to react right away.

Again, unless you've seen how everyone trains this, to say that a defense is not possible is wrong.

Mike