When you’re caught in a dangerous situation where someone is kneeling beside you and applying a choke, it’s critical to have an effective strategy to escape. This type of attack puts immense pressure on your neck, making it difficult to breathe or fight back effectively. In this blog, we’ll break down a practical method for dealing with this scenario, offering you clear steps to defend yourself.
1. Initial Response: Create Space with a Strike and a Pluck
The first move you should make when someone is choking you from the side is to use your inside hand—the one closest to the attacker—to extend out and strike. Aiming for the throat can provide immediate relief by disrupting their balance or breaking their concentration. This strike is meant to stun them long enough to give you a window of opportunity to make your next move.
Simultaneously, use your other hand to perform a pluck—a quick, strong pulling motion to the attacker’s arm that is applying the choke. Even if this pluck doesn’t fully break their grip, the goal is to reduce the pressure on your neck and buy yourself some breathing room. Timing and speed here are essential to regain control over the situation.
2. Transition: Tuck the Knee to Prepare for Counterattack
Once you’ve partially relieved the choke, the next step is to position your body for a counterattack. Tucking your inside knee (the knee closest to the attacker) helps you create leverage and prepares you to turn into them. This knee tuck serves as a crucial transition that not only gives you stability but also helps align your body for an effective response.
By turning into the attacker, you’re now better positioned to control their movement and restrict their ability to apply more pressure. It also sets you up for the next phase, where you can shift from defense to offense.
3. Counterattack: Secure the Arm and Deliver Strikes
With your body positioned correctly, it’s time to take control of the situation. Use one hand to secure the attacker’s arm that’s applying the choke. This serves as an anchor, giving you more control over their movements. Once you’ve locked onto their arm, you’re in a stable enough position to deliver powerful kicks to the attacker’s face with your free leg.
This stage is critical because you’re shifting the dynamic from being a passive victim to actively fighting back. The kicks should be aimed directly at the attacker’s face to maximize damage and force them to release their grip. The more controlled your movements, the more effective your strikes will be, allowing you to neutralize the threat.
4. Putting It All Together: Execute with Confidence
Breaking down this defense into clear steps gives you a reliable method to follow in a high-pressure situation. The sequence is simple but highly effective: extend your arm to strike, pluck to relieve pressure, tuck your knee for stability, and then kick the attacker in the face. By understanding how these steps work together, you can execute them with confidence and efficiency, turning a dangerous situation into one where you regain control.
This technique doesn’t just rely on brute strength; it uses smart positioning and targeted strikes to create an opportunity to escape. Practicing this step-by-step approach will help you respond quickly and decisively if you ever find yourself in such a scenario.
