Learn How to Effectively Takedown an Assailant

Our most powerful tool for self-defense is our mind.  The mind is a muscle, and like all other muscles, it must be exercised regularly to be effective.  Preparing for a dangerous situation, or physical altercation, requires a special type of mental training to make our mind strong.  This training is in the development of situational awareness.

Having situational awareness means that you have a working knowledge of the environment around you; this includes people, places, and things.  In addition to knowing who is around you, it is also necessary to be aware of their activities and their temper and intent.

Through the development of situational awareness, you can become a hard target vice a soft target.  These are two concepts that are explored in the following lectures.  

Over the years, several techniques have been developed to build situational awareness.  The method that is taught at the Hoshin Dojo, and in this book, is the OODA Loop.

The OODA Loop was developed by Air Force fighter pilot Colonel John Boyd as a way to improve human situational awareness and reaction times.  The OODA Loop is described by Harry Hillaker, the chief designer of the F-16, when he said, "Time is the dominant parameter. The pilot who goes through the OODA cycle in the shortest time prevails because his opponent is caught responding to situations that have already changed" (McNabb, 2017).  

While we are not discussing fighter pilot tactics, the OODA Loop is highly applicable in a physical altercation.

The acronym OODA Stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act.

Observe – view the situation before you.

Orient – determine how the situation affects you.

Decide – decide on a course of action.

Act – execute the decided upon course of action.

The “loop” in OODA Loop lets us know that we need to repeat the cycle as the situation develops.

References

McNabb, J. B. (2017). A Military History of the Modern Middle East. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Then practicing throwing techniques.  Safety must be of the highest priority.  The effects of a throw can range from gently placing an assailant on the ground to causing deadly impact injuries when their head forcefully slams into the ground.  The focus of this book is to learn these effective, yet dangerous, techniques in a safe environment.  As such, break falling techniques, known as Ukemi Waza, must be learned and practiced before being thrown.

It is also important to remember that an assailant is unlikely to be trained in methods of falling safely.  Without training in Ukemi Waza, an assailant runs a higher likelihood of being injured upon hitting the ground.  It is the responsibility of the thrower to echelon the force of the technique to achieve the desired goal without using excessive force. 

Unbalancing an opponent, known as Kuzushi, is the single most important aspect of executing a judo throw.  In modern Judo, this is done by grabbing and moving your opponent or waiting for them to make a movement and countering.  However, the throwing techniques that we present in this book are not constrained by the rules of tournament Judo.  As a result, there are countless ways to break an assailant’s balance.

Two main methods are discussed in this book.  The first is the Push-Pull method.  This is a standard principle in modern Judo.  The second is the concept of Opposite Corners.  This method of Kuzushi is best executed with a strike.

This method of Kuzushi is what differentiates modern, sport Judo from its original police and military applications.  When you can combine throwing techniques with striking techniques, a synergy is formed. 

The principle of Opposite Corners is based upon the concept that movement in one part of the body effects another.  This principle can be used to aid you in breaking an assailant’s balance.  If you strike, or apply pressure, to certain points on the assailant’s body, other points will move forward relative to the point you are applying pressure to.  For example, if you push the assailant’s pelvis backwards, their head comes forward in an attempt to preserve balance.

This technique is the preferred starting position when in Phase I of Self-Defense.  You will not see this position in every technique that is shown in this book as throwing techniques are not often the first technique used in a physical altercation.  Instead, striking techniques often occur first.  However, the non-apparent fighting stance is still covered in this book as it is an instrumental part of any physical altercation.

The purpose of the non-apparent fighting stance is to prevent a situation from escalating further while putting you in a position that prepares you for a physical altercation.  This stance is intended to look non-threatening but does not have to be submissive.  By keeping your hands up and in front of your body, you are in a position to block any attack that an assailant may initiate. 

The purpose of basic blocking is to prevent you from being hit by your assailant’s strikes.  Blocking does not have to be complicated.  From a basic perspective, one block will protect you from the majority of attacks you will encounter.  This is the “coward’s” block which combines the protection of a high block and a middle block.  Due to the particular focus of this curriculum, we will focus on this one block because statistically, you will encounter a circular, right-handed strike to the head.  The “coward’s” block focuses on protecting the face, ears, neck, and temple.

Additionally, the “coward’s” block positions you to immediately wrap and trap the assailant’s attacking arm.  This trap leads to a modified Judo grip or to the clinch.  Both of these positions set you up to take the assailant to the ground with a throwing technique. 

When we think of a physical altercation, we think of two combatants posturing up from approximately five feet away from each other.  From this distance, they are feeling out the others movements and getting a sense of how the altercation will develop.

Assailants feel safe from this distance.  The five foot bubble is about as far as the assailant can be and still hope to effectively attack you with striking techniques.  As their arms are not five feet long, it will be necessary for the assailant to move in to attack.

As the distance between you and the assailant closes, you can enter into close range grappling and throwing techniques.  Throwing techniques often happen from one of two positions.  The first is a standard Judo grip and the other is the clinch.  If you think in terms of range and distance, there is a little more space and distance involved in the standard Judo grip than there is in the clinch.  The clinch often results when one combatant attempts to close distance to execute a technique and is stopped by the other.

Neither of these positions are ideal positions to stay in for long.  Instead, you should strive to pass through them during the normal flow of your technique chain.  Getting stalled in either of these positions is very hazardous.

The clinch is a common position seen in sporting events such as Judo tournaments and MMA matches.  Despite its heavy use in sport, the clinch is a dangerous place to be in a life or death altercation.  As such, it is imperative to leave the clinch as soon as safely possible.

The most effective method for leaving the clinch is to throw the assailant to the ground.  However, as you will experience during practice, the clinch is a fairly neutral position that does not give an advantage to either combatant.  This makes throwing the assailant difficult without breaking the balance first.  The best way to break the assailant’s balance when in the clinch is to execute a striking technique.

Due to the proximity of the clinch, standard punches and kicks will be ineffective as they will be jammed.  Instead, the best body weapons to use at close range are the:

- Elbows

- Knees

- Feet 

When learning about throws, they classify into a few broad groups.  One of the major classifications is hand techniques.  Hand techniques are known as Te-Waza in Judo (Ogasawara, 1988).  As the name implies, hand techniques involve using your hands to break the assailant’s balance and throw them to the ground.

There are many different hand techniques in Judo.  Despite the many options available, we will only discuss a few in this book.  Understand that even though these techniques exist in Judo, we are examining them outside of the constraints of tournament Judo rules.  As such, it is acceptable to insert strikes where necessary to aid in breaking the assailant’s balance.

Another major difference in the way these techniques are executed and how they are done in sport is that we will not go to the ground with the assailant after the throw has occurred. 

References

Ogasawara, N. (1988). Textbook of Judo. Montavale, NJ: Kokushi Dojo Inc.