How Silat can help protect us from the Knockout Game?

I want to add to the points made by Purespit and Rand86. Unless you have your hands up in a guard etc even a sucker punch from the front is very difficult to deal with. Especially without any telegraphing and if the distance is within range.
People who enjoy fighting and violence even when drunk can throw a very fast punch and action always beat reaction. These people have a history of personal violence, the normal emotional brakes are not on, so they don’t need the internal ‘justification for the violence’ process to launch an assault. Consequently martial arts is very limited in what you can do to defend against it. I agree with Robert Map in that don’t waste your time thinking of a strategy to deal with this particular type of assault. Use that time drilling on dealing with a sucker or straight punch to the head using what ever technique you believe is effective against it.
As in the final analysis if the no feelings individual want to punch you in the mouth they will do it quick without any hesitation or give off body language leaks of impeding assault. If you are lucky you might have the distance from them to react.

 

According to a former instuctor, regular sparring at higher contact levels will get you used to being hit and the sucker punch that does land won't effect you as bad. You recover quicker and have a chance to defend yourself.
Obviously, awareness is the way to go here. I wouldn't depend on taking the sucker punch and fighting or running!

 

Dave76 your former instructor has made a excellent and in my personal view a very valid observation . In boxing we talk about a ‘suspect chin’/ ‘glass chin’ referring to a boxer who has a limited ability to absorb punches to the jaw/chin area. v a boxer with a ‘granite chin’ who has tremendous ability to absorb punishing blows to the head without being knocked out .
Some believe whether you are one or the other depends on the strength of the neck muscles to withstand the sudden acceleration of the head which causes the knockout.
Others believe it is genetic, some believe it is down to ‘frame of mind’.
I accept that being hit by gloves is different to being hit by a fist but I personally believe high contact levels or even moderate contact levels have a number of self defence advantages; it gets one de sensitised to being hit i.e it doesn’t come as a shock and thus not only can you recover from it but you can then fight back under pressure, Also this type of training teaches you to cover up and ‘roll with the blows’.
A good boxing friend of mine about a year ago was attack by 2 guys outside a chip shop. As he came out the chippy one guy blindsided him with a sucker punch. He recounted to me ‘I Step out the shop just about to tuck in when I saw a punch out the corner of my eye, I got both hands up just in time and rolled with the blow and the second one’. Suffice to say he knocked one down(not out and their were reasons for that) and the other person ran off. He made it clear to me that had he not had the contact training he would have been decked.