GANG ATTACKS: THE HORROR OF MULTIPLE ASSAILANT VIOLENCE

By Bradley J. Steiner, American Combato
For a sobering glimpse of reality please go to YouTube and enter “Man Attacked by Group in NYC.” Just one major city, and you will see more documented video reports of multiple attacker situations than have ever been fictionalized in motion pictures and on TV! That’s all we are going to say about the importance of recognizing and accepting this ugly and dangerous phenomenon of “wild pack animal violence” as a reality to be dealt with in our Nation. 
There are many members of the species (we just can’t bring ourselves to say “human” species, when referencing them) who, like wild pack animals, attack, injure, terrify, maim, and kill members of the human race. In fact, this is common today… and the fact that these scum are repeat offenders (and have been allowed to continue living after previously demonstrating their willingness to senselessly attack innocent people) amounts to a national disgrace. If humanity manages to survive on this planet the day will come when botched life forms which we refer to as “violent criminals” and “dangerous predators” today are put down like rabid dogs. 
Apologists for violent criminals should simply be ignored. Like advocates of all insane and outrageous ideas and theories, and like those who criticize people who make good sense in any field, there is no reasoning with these fools. They will continue to believe that which they want to believe. Just ignore and shun them… and proceed to take necessary action to protect yourself and your loved ones from the crawling scourge these idiots overlook or minimize. 
Multiple assailant attacks are deadly attacks. Let that sink in. Remember, whenever two or more rodents in human form attack a victim, the attack is overwhelmingly dangerous and potentially life threatening, even when the multiple predators have no intention of killing their victims. Heart attacks, strokes, accidental injuries that exceed the intended onslaughts of the savages, are all possible outcomes, and have occurred with sufficient frequency in the past to convince any honest person of the truth in our statement. 
So… what can you do about this? There are measures that can and should be taken, and above all a realistic approach to the matter of defending against multiple attackers must be taken by students of self-defense, if they wish to have any real hope of surviving this kind of egregious dilemma.
In a nutshell: 

1. Be committed to always being situationally aware. Notice things. Like those two or more young males down the street, standing around and talking. Or the two odd looking individuals down the block walking toward you. Red light warnings to the wise! Yes, certainly, these individuals could all be conscientious candidates for Harvard Medical School on their way to share notes for an upcoming exam in microbiology. Or they could be predators waiting for a convenient victim. Cross the street. Avoid contact. Do this on the chance that these individuals about whom you know nothing just might not be model citizens. Avoidance is self-defense technique number one. 
2. When interacting with any strangers or not-that-well-known acquaintances, be calm, very polite, and agreeable. Notice how often news reports confirm that violence erupted in a given situation because of some real or imagined “disrespect”—or most often, some disagreement. Don’t contribute to or (heaven forbid!) start any disagreements with unknown persons. What for? There’s nothing to prove, and you’re not going to see it their way, anyway, once you’re away from them.

3. Go immediately to condition orange (danger-alert!) upon any approach by unknown strangers. (Yes, yes, yes smartass… if two old ladies approach you, you can remain in yellow.) Keep your distance… striving to remain outside arms’ reach of them. Move to the outside of the pair or group if at all possible. Be ready. Chances are these individuals are not troublemakers… but be 100% prepared in case they are. 

4. If it becomes clear to you (due to their body language, what they say to you, or your gut reaction to something that they do) that these individuals mean trouble, attack first, and do so like an insane, murderous, wild animal! 

5. Always drop ONE of the multiple attacking party with a powerful blow to his throat, or at least a knee-breaking kick, or a blinding thrust into his eyes, straight away! This will reduce the odds against you by one, and immediately shock the remaining individuals into realizing that you are attacking them. They are now on the defensive. 

6. Keep on attacking, moving, turning, bobbing, and do not stop! There is no way to be effectively and purely defensive against multiple attackers, and to attempt to do so is foolish and hopeless in the extreme. Only by attacking ferociously and doing as much damage (hopefully lethal damage) to members of a multiple attacker group do you stand a chance of preventing them from killing or maiming you. The purpose of this is not to “win a battle between yourself and these scumbags.” Your ultimate purpose is to clear the way for your ESCAPE FROM THE SCENE. But escape is not possible so long as your assailants possess the will and physical condition that enables them to keep attacking you.

7. As soon as you can safely do so, run! If you are carrying a licensed handgun, gain distance and draw your weapon only if you are being pursued. If you are being pursued, turn and use your weapon. Never attempt to draw a weapon until or unless you have DISTANCE, TIME, and SPACE in which to do so. Otherwise you will have that gun taken away from you. 

8. Obviously, if you are chased or approached aggressively by two or more scumbags and you are lawfully armed with a handgun, you should draw it when the distance between yourself and them allows you to access your weapon with no possibility of interference from the assailants. Should you be fortunate enough to be carrying a walking stick that you know how to use combatively, use it! If you have a knife and can access it (and, if it is a folder, open it) without having to contend with an attacker grappling you, do so. And, against two or more attackers, have no hesitation about using that knife—or anything—to defend yourself! 

While it is possible that producing a weapon will cause your attackers to retreat and discontinue their onslaught (and of course will enable you to avoid using your weapon) do not count on it. Be ready, willing, and mentally able to use your weapon immediately if the attackers keep coming. You have no time to delay. 
Defense against more than one attacker is absolutely feasible, despite the nonsense touted by many who say that such cannot be done. The fact is, it has been done… and often. So, while taking this form of attack with the deadly seriousness it deserves, do not become fatalistic about it. 
The techniques that work against multiple assailants are the same core skills fundamental to American Combato, to the WWII Fairbairn System, to the O’Neill method, and of course to the skills taught by Rex Applegate, Anthony Biddle, and John Styers. And these skills must be used with 100% ferocity and determination.
What does not work is emphasis upon throwing (ties you up with one man), various holds and control grips, and all ground grappling. Some judiciously selected throws may have an occasional place in countering multiple attackers, but never, never, never, never, NEVER go to the ground when dealing with two or more assailants!
Ground work (ne-waza) is a terrible tactic against a single enemy in hand-to-hand combat. Against two or more it is virtual suicide.