Last month we covered the use of a bat for offensive purposes, in the light of defending ourselves against an attacker. This month we’re going to talk about defending against an assailant who is wielding a bat. If you haven’t read the past article, it will also give you some additional knowledge for this month’s lesson.
Obviously, an attacker is going to either have a single or double handed grip on the bat. The two main things you are concerned about is distancing and the “50% mark”. Distance is obvious, as you must be either outside of the range of the bat or inside the range, specifically only a foot or less. Where you can’t be is in the middle, or what I call “home run range”. This is where the top third of the bat would have direct contact with you.
Therefore, when someone is attacking you, either back up and move, as a heavier weapon like a bat is more difficult to swing and control. But the goal is to move inside the home run range, close enough where we can strike with our ballistic tools such as elbows, knees and headbutts. This works against a single or double handed grip. The key is to move in after their swing has passed the 50% mark of the swing arch. This gives us time to enter in as the bat is finishing its’ full swing. Plus, even if the attacker can recover and swing quickly again, we’re still entering right at the weaker start of the swing.
Either way, once inside, we want to isolate the weapon’s hand with two of our hands. This control will buffer another swing attempt, but also keep him in that close quarters range where we can use our hardest hitting tools. Ideally, it is smart to have one hand high, and another low, one hand on top and another under for the firmest grip. Once that is secure and we are close enough, it is time to unleash your counter attack with moves we’ve talked about.
Knowing this information, any thrust can be defended against the same way, using the fullest extent as the 50% mark, and when they retract, it is time for us to enter in. Once again, a bat is a powerful weapon which does need to be respected. I’m hoping by breaking this strategy down, it gives you a simple game plan of countering the attack, and even taking some of the fear out of the situation.
For a real time walk through of the defense of this weapon, please go to: https://fearlessstreetfighter.com/bat-defense
If you would like to review the previous lesson on how to use the bat offensively, simply check out: https://fearlessstreetfighter.com/bat-offense
