Elderly and senior citizens seem to be the focus of an unprecedented wave of random street attacks. These unprovoked assaults occur out in public in broad daylight and typically involve a much younger assailant. This is, indeed, a sad testimony to the state of today’s society.
So, if you’re an older citizen, irrespective of gender, what can you do? What steps should you take? Well, you have a couple choices—hunker down in fear or make yourself a hardened target. It has been said that if you make yourself a sheep, wolves will eat you. Quite frankly, that is absolutely true. Bruce Lee said that “fear is for others.” Make it so.
If you are reading KungFuMagazine.com, you are likely a martial arts practitioner. If not, you’re at least an enthusiast. Regardless of whether you practice or what you practice, the following can be of immense service and utility. The following techniques are both simple to execute and, in circumstances where your life is in jeopardy, street effective.
We are going to examine two primary hand strikes. We will also address two leg techniques. The hand techniques will be the primary focus. That is four techniques total. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated.
The Tiger Claw strike of Fu Jow Pai Kung Fu utilizes the open hand and fingers as striking surfaces. Here’s how to execute that strike. Extend your fingers, slightly bent to avoid jamming or breaking them upon impact. Your thumb also comes into play—all five fingers are tensed as if you were trying to scratch at a surface as a cat would do. The amount of bend is up to you, keeping in mind that breaking a finger striking an assailant won’t help you.
With thumb and fingers tensed and as if ready to “scratch,” extend your arm straight out just like you would a straight punch. The target is the face of your assailant, specifically the eyes. The hand is shot straight out, following a linear path to your attacker’s face and eyes. Remember, keep the fingers bent in case you miss or the aggressor moves his/her head and you hit the forehead. Your objective is to rake and gouge the eyes without injuring your fingers. That’s it. It is that simple. If you poke your attacker’s eyes, two things will occur; the aggressor will (a) have at least a temporary disruption of vision, and (b) a temporary disruption in train of thought. Both are in your favor.
If you are ambulatory and can move your arms and fingers, you can execute this defensive maneuver. It doesn’t need a lot of brute force behind it, but it needs to be fast. You can’t hesitate—you must rocket that hand right into your attacker’s face and eyes. Because most people have an aversion to gouging another person’s eyes, you have to practice the movement so that it becomes reflexive. In addition to building muscle memory and the requisite neural pathways, you are also hardening yourself mentally so that you have the resolve to do what is necessary to survive a violent encounter.
The second hand weapon we will discuss is a throat punch. Yes, that sounds violent. It is. But so is being accosted on the street by a younger attacker. The throat punch is the follow-up to the Tiger Claw strike to the eyes just described.
The throat punch—hou long chong kong—targets the tracheal portion of the throat. For simplification purposes, the target you will practice hitting will be the front of the human neck, the throat, between the head and the breastbone. It goes without saying that this is a potentially lethal technique and is warranted only when you reasonably fear for life and limb. If you are attacked, unprovoked, by a younger, faster, stronger assailant, you are justified in defending your life.
The straight throat punch is executed along a linear path from wherever your striking hand happens to be to the throat of your aggressor. It is shot out the same as any other straight punch, except it is aimed at the front of the throat. The fist is closed with the fingers tight, and the thumb safely wrapped over the first two fingers of the closed fist. Note for you non-martial artists: the thumb is not placed inside the clenched fist.
If, by chance, you are a practicing martial artist and accustomed to utilizing a vertical fist with the thumb on top, you can do this with the thumb that way, but a vertical fist is not optimal for a throat punch, as it is likely to catch the opponent’s chin on the way to its target, potentially fracturing your hand. A classical punch with the thumb and curled fingers facing the ground is best in this case. The first two knuckles of your closed fist are the striking surface.
This punch can be easier to “slip” under the chin to its target if done inverted with the thumb and clenched fingers facing upwards. You should try it and see which works best for you. A word of caution: an inverted fist that accidentally catches the point of the opponent’s chin will have a likelihood of damaging the hand. In self-defense contexts, keeping things simple is always best. For simplicity’s sake, I recommend a traditional fist, such as you would employ with a classical reverse punch.
The throat punch is executed immediately following the Tiger Claw to the eyes. One—two. Fast. At that point, run. Get to a place of safety. If you can’t run and you can’t get to a safe place, then there are two additional follow-up techniques you can employ in an effort to further stymie your attacker.
The first is the knee raise. It is exactly what its name implies—you raise your knee (either one) upward between your attacker’s legs and directly into the groin with as much upward force as you can muster. I recommend using whichever knee is closest to the target, as it will arrive in the shortest amount of time. Do not, however, compromise your balance in execution of the knee raise. If you can’t do it without falling, don’t do it. In that case, hit the opponent again in the eyes and again in the throat, just as you did initially.
The second follow-up is the front kick. This is best if the distance between you and your attacker is outside knee range. This kick is essentially the same maneuver as the knee raise except with the lower leg extended. Again, if you can’t do the kick without losing your balance, forget it. Your go-to in that case is once again the Tiger Claw to the eyes and the throat punch. Repeat as needed.
The front kick uses both the top of the foot and the shin as striking surfaces. It doesn’t matter which so long as something makes hard contact with the genitals of your attacker. While most people react quite adversely to being struck in the groin, it is not a “magic bullet’ and don’t anticipate your aggressor falling to the pavement like a stone. He or she might. Maybe they won’t. Adrenaline does amazing things, so don’t count on it. Slam your foot or shin in there repeatedly if you need to. It doesn’t matter if you strike your attacker in the eyes and throat multiple times while kneeing and kicking them in the groin repeatedly. Do what you need to do to survive. Period.
You have to practice these techniques in order to have any expectation whatsoever of employing them successfully in the adrenaline-charged fog of a surprise street assault. I recommend twice a week minimum.
If you practice with a friend, take the necessary safety precautions so you don’t injure each other in the name of self-defense. If you practice at a gym where there are heavy bags, be sure to carefully familiarize yourself with the solidity of the bag before whacking it.
Self-defense is serious business. So is being hospitalized from an assault and battery. Take your training seriously.
