Right to Self Defense

[casingpoint]

British advice about striking a downed attacker

The objective is not to hit your adversary while he is down, Grasshoper, but to keep him from getting back up.

I see on the BBC America tonight a British distillery has produced it's first batch of English whiskey. It beat out Scottish whisky unanimously in a blind taste test. That's something those ruddy-faced Limeys are good at, getting soused.

[yerasimos]

British advice about striking a downed attacker

The objective is not to hit your adversary while he is down, Grasshoper, but to keep him from getting back up.

Why not quit while you are ahead? Why expose yourself to the unnecessary physical risks I have described?

[yerasimos]

I want to look at the practical aspects of hitting someone who has been knocked down on the ground.

Knee drop, keeping your back straight and head up. Rock back onto your feet and get lost before he recovers.

In order for this to have a useful effect, would this not require target fixation on a target below eye level, resulting in degraded general awareness?

To apply this strike to the head, would this not require your feet to get close to his upper body (including his shoulders, arms and hands)? Do you really want to give him a chance to grab onto your legs and impair your mobility?

And if you miss (he just moved his limb or head) and you just smashed your own patella into a paved surface, how does that improve your overall situation?

He is not worth it.

[KD5NRH]

In order for this to have a useful effect, would this not require target fixation on a target below eye level, resulting in degraded general awareness?

In order for any attack in this situation to have a useful effect, he's going to have to still be in the fight. (The useful effect being to change that.) If he's still in the fight, you'd better still be paying attention to him.

And if you miss (he just moved his limb or head) and you just smashed your own patella into a paved surface, how does that improve your overall situation?

Teaches you not to miss again if you survive. Any time you miss in a fight you're giving your opponent a free attack, and usually doing bad things to yourself as well.

[dewayneward]

If you want to "really" learn about self defense in real world situations, may I recommend Krav Maga. Very good stuff from my experience. I am sure that there are others (and I dont want to get into my crane style is better than your monkey style ), but Krav is a good self defense system.

There are others, but I recommend these guys and have personally studied under a number of the instructors.

http://krav-magatexas.com/main/instructor_Results.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Abraham]

With their 'theater of the absurd laws', I wonder if some British "fence sitting" law abiders have decided they may as well go over to the criminal side, given the extreme advantages...

Instead of being a victim, they'll be a victimizer...they have much better odds.

[yerasimos]

In order for this to have a useful effect, would this not require target fixation on a target below eye level, resulting in degraded general awareness?

In order for any attack in this situation to have a useful effect, he's going to have to still be in the fight. (The useful effect being to change that.) If he's still in the fight, you'd better still be paying attention to him.

Unless he has a gun, how is he still in the fight---a present threat---when he is grounded and you are standing away from him? I agree he still deserves attention, but not to the exclusion of general awareness. Move away while you have the chance. If he tries to point a gun at you, Bill-drill him using your own---unless you happen to be visiting a miserable place like "cool Britannia".

And if you miss (he just moved his limb or head) and you just smashed your own patella into a paved surface, how does that improve your overall situation?

Teaches you not to miss again if you survive. Any time you miss in a fight you're giving your opponent a free attack, and usually doing bad things to yourself as well.

Then I would not bother attempting the knee smash you described. Too much downside for too little upside, and no need to learn an unnecessary lesson.