Page 102 - Pat O'Keeffe Combat Kick Boxing

Combat Kick Boxing

Chapter Eight
Gang Attacks

The greatest danger from a gang attack is being rushed and overwhelmed before
you can mount a successful defence. So great is the danger of this that you must
practise specifically to avoid it.
Further, if they get you down on the ground, and the odds are clearly in their
favour for this, then you risk being severely injured or even killed. Keep on your
feet and you double your chances.
Time is what they will try to deny you; time to strike back, to manoeuvre, to
escape. Therefore you have to make time, you have to find ways of making them
come at you one, or at the very least two, at a time.
If you want a clearer picture of the process by which a gang will attack, then
just watch any of the natural history programmes that feature wolves, lions, hyenas,
or cape hunting dogs.
A general scenario will go something like this. One attacker will confront you
and draw your attention. Others will move to the sides and rear, while still others
will close off potential escape routes. The instant you are engaged by anyone
from the gang, the others will swarm all over you. You will be dragged to the
ground and stomped into the pavement.
The more attackers, the greater the threat. Time, the angles of attack, 360-
degree vision, strength and weight are all factors on their side. A strong, fast kick
boxer who thinks quickly and acts decisively might be able to deal with up to
three attackers. Beyond that you are in very dangerous waters and only a
combination of courage, skill, strength and luck will get you through.
The moment you feel that a gang attack is likely, you must survey the area for
an escape route. If escape is not
possible then you must use whatever
is in the area as a means of making
them come at you in ways you can deal
with.
Never let them come at you all at
once!
In military terms anything that
forces the enemy through narrow or
confined gaps is called a defile. Look
to make them move through defiles.
If humanly possible, pick the ground
on which to confront them. This
factor alone may be the most
important in surviving a gang attack.
The top of a staircase makes it very
difficult for a gang to come at you from
any angle other than the front. It also

Fig 170
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