Disarm Your Opponent


Fighting unarmed against an armed assailant requires a control over adrenaline rush, an understanding of a weapon's effective field, and a capacity to go from zero to 100% in a single burst. When facing an armed assailant, it is essential to remember that the advantage is created when you initiate a clear plan of action before he realizes he is under attack.

Your plan of action should usually be to run. A knife-wielding assailant may pursue you, but can't attack you at a distance. If you are cornered and have no means of escape, this advice may apply. However, if you are not trained in disarming opponents, and even if you are, attempting to disarm someone has a high risk of injury or death.

Steps

Knife Attacks

  1. Assume proper fighting stance. A knife is effective at close distances. Specifically, at punching range, clinching distance, and to a lesser degree, in a grappling situation. The non dominant foot should be firmly planted forward with the dominant foot resting on it's ball slightly behind and slightly outward. The torso should be rotated to face the opponent. Hands should be up in front of the face with elbows tucked in. Keep your fingers curled, but not in fists. This will allow you to either grasp, palm strike, elbow strike, or punch.
  2. Give yourself distance. The best way to avoid a knife attack is to create distance. Thus, a low kick to the knee, groin, or stomach is a very effective way to counterattack while minimizing risk.
    • To counter a stomach to chest-level thrust, deflect the arm towards the opponent's line of symmetry; This will help expose his back. You can then reach over the arm and pull back while simultaneously reaching around the neck with the other arm. You must then step backwards at once to prevent your opponent from throwing you. Kick the back of the knees, step on his ankles and kick his heels to help bring him down. Alternatively, you may apply a choke hold.
      • A more advanced technique for the above scenario is the following; After deflecting the arm, let your hand slide down his forearm and smoothly grab his wrist. By placing a thumb on his inner writs and your four fingers on the back of his hand, bend his wrist inward while applying pressure to his triceps right above the elbow. You are now positioned behind your opponent. These actions will stiffen his arm and hyper-flex his wrist. Place his wrist right below your hip, step forward such that your foot is placed before his, and then push on his triceps while pinning his arm against your wrist. He will fall and you now have two choices. You can take his knife by holding his arm up and pushing the blade with a flat palm towards the point at which his fingers touch his palm. The safer alternative is to get on the ground and position yourself sideways with both legs over his torso such that his arm is between them and your feet are locked. Place his elbow on your femur closest to his head, near the hip, and by twisting your torso and pushing down, break his elbow.
    • For a low attack to the groin or legs, place your non-dominant (left if you're right handed, right if you're left-handed) elbow at an angle slightly more obtuse of 90 degrees. Use your outer forearm to block the trust. Step in and get close. At the same time, you must perform the following three actions simultaneously. Put your arm over his knife arm such that his elbow is in your armpit and clamp down to prevent him from attacking your kidneys. At the same time, throw an elbow strike at his chin with your free arm. After the strike connects, grab the crown of his head in a half clinch and pull it in. With your feel positioned parallel to each other (do not let one foot move forward as you can easily be toppled to your left or right) begin striking with your knees. Aim for the groin, bladder, and liver.
    • For a downward attack with the knife blade pointing downwards (also called "Dracula stab"), block the attack in a manner similar to the low stab but (obviously) your arm will be up above your face; the procedure is very simple and very effective. When his forearm makes contact with yours, quickly grab his wrist. Then, as fast as possible, reach over his arm with your free arm such that his forearm is in the pit of your elbow. Then grab wrist. You now have a powerful lock. Step towards him and use your back and torso to crank his arm backwards at the shoulder. By taking a hard step forward you can trip him.
      • Warning: knife disarms do not always work sometimes no matter how good you are; there is always a risk of being stabbed. If you do, make every attempt to leave the knife in. Just because you get stabbed does not mean you are dead on the spot.

Gun Attacks

  1. Reduce distance! Guns are effective at extended ranges, so it is essential to reduce distance if attacked with a firearm. Each of these techniques can be adapted for pistols and also long rifles.
    • If the attacker is pointing the gun at your face, it is essential to redirect the line of fire upwards to reduce the chance of collateral damage. Do so by placing the balls of your hands together and making a V with your hands. Your fingers should remain spread, however, to ensure that you can grasp the gun. Remember that your opponent is expecting some sort of reaction, so try to fuse this with a feigned raising of your arms. Grasp the barrel of the gun from underneath with the aforementioned V hand positioning. Do not grab the handle or your opponent's hands. Push up and then quickly pull down. As you pull down, step in and push your hands forward to crank the opponent's wrist back and point the gun vertically. Kick the knees or groin to disconnect your opponent. You are also in a position to twist the gun sideways. Doing so, and then quickly pulling back should force your opponent to release the gun by hyper extending the thumb.
    • For a gun pointed to the chest, the defense is the same as for a knife thrust to the chest. The choke hold is particularly useful here as an arm bar may be hazardous.
    • If the gun is aimed to the back of the head, rapidly turning into the attacker will result in his arm being next to your head. Clamp it down and finish with knee strikes to the groin, bladder, and liver, and palm strikes to the head.
    • If the gun is behind you, glance over your shoulder. Your opponent will be expecting this reaction. Turn and use your hips to push the arm towards the assailant's line of symmetry. Finish as in the first example.
  2. When you have the gun, back up quickly. Create distance.
  3. Tap, rack, activate and aim. Tap the magazine well to ensure that it is properly seated, pull back on the feeding slide to insert a fresh round and clear any jam that may have resulted from the struggle. Check the safety and aim the gun with both hands.
    • If the gun is a revolver, pull the hammer back into single action mode because some revolvers are single action only. Also, the trigger pull will be lessened, making a reflex shot easier.
  4. Pointing a loaded gun at a floored opponent should end the confrontation, enabling you to walk away. However, if you must fire, fire two reflexive shots to the chest with minimal effective aiming followed by a single shot to the head with careful aiming.
    • If you must fire while backing up, (before the tap, rack, aim) fire from the hip. Clamp the gun against your hip, being sure to lower the shoulder so that the slide doesn't hit your forearm. Stand with the gun-side foot back.

Tips

  • Ask a question and attack as he is beginning to respond. He will be thinking of his response and assuming that you're listening. Something like "What do you want?" is fine. Even if he says "Shut up.", he is expecting you to listen.
  • If they want your possessions, hand them over. If they want you to get in a vehicle, apply the disarm techniques. This is about saving your life, and getting into a vehicle with them is signing your own death warrant.
  • You must seek proper training to effectively disarm an opponent. It is immensely difficult to teach yourself.
  • A slash attack with a knife is typically more dangerous than a stab because it is harder to control the attack and disarm the opponent. Defenses are quasi-identical. You just have to compensate for the angular momentum from the side.
  • Adrenaline will give you a burst of energy. Use it to your advantage. Typically you have about 10 seconds before muscle tremors and chills set in. Try to begin your attack before this occurs.
  • Always remember the Tap, Rack, Activate, and Aim sequence. Failure to do so can cause a weapon failure.
  • Remember effective distances at all costs. Knives are deadly up close. Guns are deadly from a distance.
  • Speed is essential. Act before he can interpret and react.
  • Do not focus on the weapon. You know where it is once you are touching it. This is especially true of a gun. Stare at his chest. You will be able to see which direction he is moving and what his arms are doing.
  • Don't look into his eyes. It's too hard to read and easy to fake someone out.
  • Always remember that he must interpret before he can react. This means he must become conscious that you are attacking before he will know what to do. Unlike you, he will not have the time to formulate a plan.
  • In a knife fight, using something to create distance is useful. A stool is a perfect example. So is a box.

Warnings

  • Even with these techniques, you face a very high chance of being killed.
  • Any fight elevated to this level can cause serious harm.

Related Articles

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Disarm_Your_Opponent&oldid=273653"