Win a fight with lethal force
When it comes to fighting there are no real winners. You’re risking injuries, potentially even your life if the situation escalates or you’re the recipient of a blow in just the wrong place. But sometimes you’ve not got a choice. I’ll always recommend walking away from a confrontation like this instead of reacting to it, but I do appreciate there are times when its simply now impossible. Like when someone means you real harm, is trying to kidnap or abduct you, or has given you reason to believe that they’re trying to kill you.
Now, I’m not a lawyer and you’ll have to check the specific legislation in your state that surrounds self-defense and fighting back, but as a reader of my posts you probably know where I stand on this. If someone intends to harm me, my family, or someone I care about, and I can see that their life is under an imminent threat, I will not hesitate to fight back with everything I’ve got. And I’m not the biggest guy either, but there are a few things we underdogs can do to tip the scales of a fight in our favor.
Strike first and strike hard
If you’re facing a bigger opponent you need to use every advantage you have, and the element of surprise can catch even the most seasoned fighters off-guard. But you’re likely only to get one shot in so make it count. Following up immediately with secondary strikes to key vulnerable areas that ensures your opponent goes down, and stays down.
The only trouble is that striking first can get you into legal trouble, so use your head here and don’t take it as an excuse to simply start a brawl. Think about the danger you’re in, how the situation is unfolding, and if you have no other option. Be the first one to strike, and put everything you have into it, because you might only get one shot to take them down.
Target vulnerable areas
There’s no question certain parts of our bodies are more susceptible to an attack, and you want to be targeting these areas if your life really is on the line. Though I have to warn you, landing a strike on one of these parts of the body can be fatal. These areas shouldn’t be targeted when you’re sparring with friends – only when your life is in real danger.
For me, there are three particular areas I would be trying to hit. Striking the base of the throat will damage their trachea and make it almost impossible to breathe, while a strike to the temple can cause an immediate black out and brain damage, or the eyes with a gouge to blind them (just know that this can be permanent, only do it in an extreme situation).
Find a force amplifier
If you’ve ever punched someone in the face before you’ll know exactly what I mean. Our knuckles are pretty strong, but so are the bones in your opponent’s face. And if you happen to mis-strike or not properly connect with the target area, there’s a good chance your big haymaker punch will do more damage to your own hand than you’re inflicting on them.
What you need is a force amplifier. Something you can use to strike with, so you can put the power of your body behind your strikes without concern for any damage you’re doing to yourself. Brass knuckles are the perfect example of this, they’re easily concealed and can be slipped on in a pocket or a handbag, and they can turn the punches you throw into a deadly weapon that does an incredible amount of damage to your opponent.
Don't hold anything back
In a street fight there are no rules. You can’t expect a criminal to honor some kind of moral code, and if you give them any kind of respite during the fight they will take advantage. Their friends might show up, they might pull a knife or another weapon, and the longer the fight goes on the higher your chances that you are seriously injured.
Don’t hold anything back, don’t pull your punches or worry that what you’re doing might do serious damage, because I can guarantee you this. The bad guys you’re fighting against care not one bit for your wellbeing. Don’t make the mistake of caring for theirs. Put everything you’ve got into defending yourself and you make just make it out victorious.
Be willing to escalate
There was a training I saw many years ago that recommended not to bring a knife or a gun to a fight, the argument being that you’re “escalating” the level of violence, and potentially putting you in more harm’s way than a black eye or a loose tooth you’d probably expect from a fight if they were to take the weapon from you. They’ll use your weapon on you.
To this, I call nonsense. If your life is on the line, you need to do everything in your power to gain the upper hand, and let me tell you. Pulling out a knife will cause your opponent to pause. Pulling out your concealed carry firearm will cause them to run. But you need to be ready to use it. It can’t be an empty threat, or it will be taken from you when your opponent slowly realizes your bark is worse than your bite. Shoot or stab them, and win the fight.
To wrap up I want to make this perfectly clear. I’m not advocating violence or lethal force in this article today. The best option if you’re in a fight, is to walk away. But for the times that you can’t, for the times that your life really is on the line, use the advice today to strike back first and strike back hard, with everything you’ve got, so you win the fight and walk away in one piece. That’s what matters most.
