Dealing with multiple aggressors is extremely challenging, both physically and mentally.
The hardest part is the mental aspect. We feel more alone than usual when facing multiple attackers. Feeling alone in a battle subconsciously increases fear, enhances feelings of helplessness, and creates a sense of lost control. From this state, making the right decisions is difficult. Many tend to freeze or curl up, hoping the beating and damage will end quickly with minimal harm. There’s a subconscious desperate sense of hope—hoping someone will rescue us, or that the aggressors will show mercy—but the truth is that this is very unlikely (have you heard of the bystander effect, or noticed lately that people will more readily pull out phones to record footage than intervene?). This combination of feelings weakens us physically and mentally, and significantly impairs strategic thinking. And clear thinking is critical to our ability to survive and prevail.
Physically, this scenario is extraordinarily complex and of course exhausting. You must deal with attacks coming from different directions, at varying times, and with different levels of strength. Adding to the difficulty, weapons may be involved, increasing the chance of lethality.
The situation becomes even more urgent and stressful when loved ones are present or at risk.
So, what can we do? Starting from the inside, the core of our strength, and moving outward:
Mentally, we need to train ourselves to maintain strong intent and a powerful will. We must believe that we will prevail. We shift the perspective away from being the victim, into one of ferocity and conviction. They (the attackers) made a mistake in creating this scenario. There must be no doubt in our intent to prevail. The smallest doubt will cause us to break down. At the same time, we must understand that we will get hurt. We treat this reality as a given, not a surprise, so we minimize the damage and survive.
Physically, rule number one: if we can escape, we should. We must create or identify opportunities to escape to safety at any time. Remember, our main goal is not to win, but to be safe, so we must escape at the first opportunity.
If escape is impossible, movement should always be around the outside of the group of attackers. Try to deal with one person at a time, and maintain high awareness, looking for opportunities to use objects for defense, from a stick to a rock to your cell phone. Using objects to strike increases the chance of stopping an aggressor.
Ideally, use your legs more than your arms, moving and kicking as much as possible to keep attackers at a distance. If that fails, continue with other available physical weapons. Use everything available: hands, elbows, knees, biting, and eye-poking. We must train ourselves to have good targeting skills. In these situations, we cannot afford to miss, as we will fatigue faster than one-on-one.
Movement is crucial. Once you stop moving, your range of motion will be limited, increasing the damage and reducing your chance of escape.
Multiple aggressors present an extremely difficult situation where training is essential. Knowing what to do is not enough. We must train to manage our body and mind to use our physical and mental resources effectively. These resources will deplete quickly, and we cannot afford many mistakes. Hopefully, we will never face such a scenario, but as I always say, “Don’t f– with Murphy.”
The best way to prepare is to find time to train, step out of our comfort zone, and invest in ourselves, being ready for anything.
Be happy, be well, train, and train smart.
Kida,
Dany