SO having quoted Pugil who make a lot of sense with this post from another thread, what, in your experience, are the most common "well-proven strategies" that muggers employ? And what method would you recommend to combat them? My favourite is not to be there in the first place. IE avoid situations which could potentially be dangerous. However, what I really want to discuss here are the possible situations that you could find yourself in if you HAVEN'T taken that advice and what you can then do about it when the worst happens?
Well, I can't claim to have ever been mugged or have some attempt to mug me, but Ive been in a fight or two and what ive noticed is that most untrained guys flail around with wild rights and lefts and rarely make contact with the knuckles but use the wrist side of the hand.IMO a good guard and a solid 1-2 jab and cross should sort you out if your opponent is alone and unarmed. just what I think though, I haven't and will hopefully never have the chance to verify this.
First of all if a mugger ambushes you with a big knife or a gun and demands money or whatever material items you possess..Simply hand the items over and dont try and act like a hard man risking your life for some paper. If there are multiple guys lets say 4 to 6 then do the same. If a knife weilding mugger starts slashing at you straight away then yes you should do all you can to put him/her down.. However if the mugger is clearly unarmed, alone then engage them and put them down. I myself would grabble and put him/her to the ground as quick as possible and perhaps call the cops.
I think you're confusing mugging with untrained fighting. Muggers generally have a game plan (not all muggers will be equally 'skilled' of course) - they knew when they left the house that they were going out mugging. They've come prepared (to some degree at least) both mentally and physically (ie. they have a weapon), and they have a good idea of what tactics they're going to employ. Put yourself in a mugger's position. He's not interested in a 'fair fight', honour or anything like that. He's chiefly interested in parting you and your goods in a way that is as risk free (for him) and likely to succeed as possible. So he wants to take you by surprise, either by actually hitting you before you even know he's there, or appearing in your face in an intimidating manner without warning. Alternatively (or in addition) he may attempt to disarm you (physically & mentally) with a distraction technique (eg. asking you the time). In short, he selects victims who don't look like they'll put up a struggle and aren't very aware of what's going on happen around them. He may then employ tactics to further decrease your awareness and preparedness. So the best way to deal with muggers is to not be selected as a victim in the first place. Conduct yourself in a confident manner, maintaining awareness of your surroundings. That will prevent the vast majority of muggings. If you do find yourself in a situation where you think you're being set up for a mugging don't be afraid to put up a guard - practice a guard that can be used in a social setting rather than one that is overtly martial. Give a clear signal that you are calm, in control, but ready for nothing. Expect distraction/disarming tactics - don't be fooled or cajoled into lowering your guard. Oh yeah, and if they've got knife or gun and they're giving you have a choice in the matter, just give them your money. What's the loss of a few quid and a few cancelled credit cards compared with the risk of losing your life. Mike
Criminal violence is extreme, unpredictable and often sudden. Unless you have trained under full contact conditions using adrenal stress scenarios using verbal disarming techniques you should absolutely not attempt this. If you have trained under these conditions you will understand full well that you should absolutely not attempt this. Mitch
Bitch bitch bitch moan moan moan You just wait till you get to my age - I'm happy if I can remember what I read long enough to craft a reply let alone learn new fangled things like a thanks button - didn't know there was one - and will now have to avoid using it as a matter of principle All the best. Robert.
I know you're not being funny here, Mitch, but you did use humor in the presentation of your idea, and why I just had to respond. :yeleyes: It's this very nature of the beast which you mention as to why I hadn't bothered responding to the question in the first place.
I think we can make some generalisations about how muggings work, if we go back to statistics and look at HAOV. I think we can also usefully invest time in understanding the verbal disarming techniques muggers etc sometimes use as part of their strategy. I think we can then design training that goes someway to addressing those common aspects of mugging and use it to help prepare for that terrible eventuality. My limited experience of this kind of training suggests that it is valuable, difficult, unpleasant and looks nothing like most martial arts training. It's also really good fun What it also does is remove a lot of illusions very quickly. That's just IMO and from my experience though, I'd love to hear your thoughts UKJN. Mitch
Surprise. Fear, and surprise. And ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope.* Awareness *Mostly those first two, sometimes the third. Fourth one's a bit lesser experienced.
Verbal disarming techniques for what..I said engage if they have no weapons.. so nothing to disarm them of in that situation and obviously only do it if you are a trained fighter. And ofcourse engage as a last resort if they have already not engaged you anyways which most of them do before demanding the goods..if there not going to go away then you put them away...I already stated to give the person whatever if they are armed.
Many do.. but these are usually runners who attempt to do quick attacks and snatches..I've had it happen to me before..Most choose for a hold up situation but there are plenty of ways to mug someone other than that.
Firstly, verbal disarming techniques are what muggers will use to disarm you. Not to take your physical weaponry away, but to defuse your state of awareness. Secondly, you simply cannot tell that easily if someone is armed. Knives, razorblades etc are easily hidden and will not be visible until it's too late. I don't know if we're not communicating well Seviko, entirely possible in a written only medium, but advising people to engage a lone mugger and put them down is a very risky strategy IMO, given the points above. For anyone out there in MAPland who has not read Meditations on Violence, Dead or Alive and Animal Day, do yourselves a favour and invest some money with Amazon Mitch
Could you tell me more about the disarming technique? But what mugger is going to approach you without revealing his weapon in the first 30 seconds..because some person walking up to you bare handed and telling you to give him everything you have would not intimidate many people who have years of martial arts experience..thats if he has not already attacked you from the beggining or done a snatch and run..Really depends on who this person is approaching..Im coming from the point of view of a trained fighter being approached not just anyone Anyways i think a mugger would want it done fast so would present all the intimidation he/she could muster in the shortest space of time..Razor blade, knives, guns would be in view i would believe if they posessed them. Perhaps i am mistaken in all this. I'd never engage if a weapon was displayed or if outnumbered and surrounded..and would not advise people to do so..Alone i only ment if you really have to and lets face it there comes a time when you have no choice..Perhaps you have nothing to give..perhaps they are not satisfied with what you give..would you roll over and take a beating that could kill you or fight.
