Pincer movement

If more than one assailant is involved, it is usual for one of
them to deploy the victim with distracting dialogue whilst
the others move to your off side. Whilst the victim is
distracted by the questioner, his accomplices attack. This
was one of the most common attacks in the nightclub when I
worked as a doorman and is a common, though,
unbelievably, innate, ploy of gang robbery or rapes.
The reason that so many people seem to get glassed or
stabbed in the side of the face or neck, is because they are
not attacked by the person in front that they are arguing
with. Instead, they are attacked from the side by someone
who they do not see, because of their adrenal-induced tunnel
vision.

His attacker

approached with his right palm turned into his right thigh so
that his knife was hidden. He got very close to my friend and
asked a question to distract him, then he plunged the hidden
knife into his heart. That single stab wound killed him. So
look out for concealment, if you can't see the attacker's hands
or if his palm is turned in or even if the attacker has his hand
in his pocket, you have to ask yourself why. It is very likely
that he is concealing a weapon. Cannan used to carry an old
carrier bag in which he kept a number of dangerous
weapons. When he asked his intended victim a question,
again as a distraction, he would reach into his bag and take
out his implement.
If the approach is made by more than one person they will
all usually display the same physical traits.

Hand concealment

If the attacker is carrying a weapon, the bearing hand may
be hidden, either in his pocket or behind his back. If one -or
both -of his hands is concealed, beware. Some attackers do
not hide the hands, rather they turn the palm or palms away
from the chosen victim on approach to conceal a weapon, or
keep the offending hand close to their leg to conceal the
same. Other attackers will keep their hands on full display,
extracting a weapon from its hiding place as they approach,
or immediately after asking an engaging question.
My friend was killed in just such a way.

Arm splaying

The attacker's arms will splay in a fit of exclamation. This is
an innate way of making him appear physically bigger
before attack.
Finger beckoning
The attacker will often beckon his victim on with his fingers.
Head nodding
The assailant may sporadically nod his head.
Neck Pecking
He will peck his neck like a cockerel usually in conjunction
with his single syllable challenge and to protect the throat.
Eye bulge
Due the tunnel vision that accompanies adrenaline, the
attacker's eyes may appear wide and staring.
Dropped eyebrows
The eyebrows drop before attack to protect the eyes.
Stancing up
He will often turn sideways on and take up an innate
fighting stance, thus hiding his major organs from attack.
Distance close-down
With every passing second of the altercation, the attacker
will advance closer to his victim, his movements and tone
becoming more erratic and aggressive the closer he gets to
actual attack.

Erratic eye movement

The attacker or his accomplice, concerned about being
caught mid-act, will constantly be checking for
police/general public involvement. Whilst he is speaking to
you his eyes will be darting in other directions. Therefore it
is a bad sign if he keeps looking past and around you as he
speaks.
Adrenal reaction
Unless the attacker is seasoned he will be showing signs of
adrenaline. His face will appear pale his eyes wide from
adrenaline-induced tunnel vision, he will be stern and
unsmiling. He may also fidget in an attempt to hide 'adrenal
shake' (the body will' shiver' as though cold) and his voice
may have a nervous quiver.

The opponent

that stands back is usually
posturing and does not want "to become physical.
Below are some of the physical traits that might give the
attacker's intent away. Running concurrently with attack
ritual
will be signs of adrenal reaction this attack body language
which, if spotted, can help you to recognise potential
menace. It has to be said though, that many of the very
experienced attackers may have learned to hide adrenal
reaction and only an expert eye will see imminent attack.

Therefore,

as soon as you have checked him return the lead
hand to its stand-by position.
Your reverse hand is used also to check range but primarily
it is held back for attack purposes should the dissuasion fail
and you find an attack you last line of defence. Once the
fence is up, you can try and talk the attacker down by telling
him that you do not want trouble. This may hurt the old
pride a little, but it is better than having to become physical.
Depending upon your make-up you can be submissive with
your speak or if you think the situation demands it and you
can carry it off, firm to aggressive.
It is important, as I stated earlier to keep a check on the
opponent's body language. If" he is aggressive and moving
forward then he is a greater threat than if he is aggressive
and standing back. The difference being that the attacker
that is moving forward and touching the fence is usually
preparing to attack.

Like the factory

fence the lead hand will not keep an aggressor at bay for
ever -just long enough for you to initiate verbal dissuasion,
escape or a pre-emptive attack - but it will place you in
charge, even though your aggressor may not know it. Placed
correctly the lead hand will not only maintain a safe gap, but
it will also disable the attacker's armoury (right and lefthand
techniques! head butt etc). Although the aggressor may not
realise this on a conscious level, he will instinctively
understand that, until that fence has been removed or bypassed,
his techniques have no clear way through.
The lead hand should be held in a non-aggressive way and
should not touch the aggressor unless he makes a forward
movement and tries to bridge the gap between you and he.
The lead hand acts as an antenna to your aggressor's
intentions. If he moves forward, he will touch the fence and
set your alarm bells ringing. This forward movement should
be checked so as to maintain the safe range by using the
palm of the lead hand on the aggressor's chest. Don't hold
the touch, as this may be seen by your assailant as a
controlling movement. Whilst of course it is a controlling
action, it's better, at this stage that the aggressor does not
feel that you are in control, this creates a power play and
may force him to knock your hand away or grab your wrist
and possibly cause him to attack you pre-naturely.

If you had

a factory that you wanted to protect from robbers,
the most sensible thing to do would be to place a fence
around it to make it a hard target. Therefore a potential
robber has got to get past that fence before he can even think
about attacking the factory. Whilst the fence might not keep
him out indefinitely it will make his job decidedly harder.
Rather like a boxer who constantly flicks a jab into his
opponent's face, even if that jab does not hurt his opponent it
keeps him at bay. If his opponent wants to employ his
Knock Out blow he first has to find away past his opponent's
jab-to the boxer the jab is the fence around his factory.
In practical terms the 'fence around your factory' is your lead
hand, placed in that all-important space between you and
your antagonist to maintain a safe gap.

fuel the fire

and possibly result in your wrists being grabbed. If he
keeps forcing forward, you are in danger, attack is certainly
imminent so make your decision without haste. Indecision begets
defeat.
For the duration of dialogue it is imperative to maintain distance
control until you are able to escape, or are forced or strike. If you
are forced into an attack situation -this should be an absolute last
resort -make it a telling blow to a vulnerable area. Explode into
the opponent with every fibre of your being, then run!! Many
defence gurus advocate a second strike, a finisher. If there is a
choice in the matter, don't do it. The few seconds you buy with
your first strike could easily be lost if you linger for even a
second. With some of the people I have interviewed, and certainly
in many of the incidents I have witnessed, this attempted and
unnecessary coup de grace resulted in the victim being grabbed,
and subsequently defeated. There is also the danger of your
attacker's accomplices (if he has any), coming to his aid if you do
not take advantage and beat a hasty retreat. So unless a second
strike is absolutely necessary the rule of thumb is 'hit and run'.
Dissuasion range, or conversation range usually allows only
8-1 2 inches between you and your potential opponent. If
this is mismanaged it rapidly degenerates into vertical
grappling range and then ground fighting - not a good place
to be if you don't know the arena or are facing more than one
opponent. Whilst conversation distance is not the chosen
range of the majority -most people feel safer at about 4 or 5
feet - it can be maintained so that it does not degenerate
further into grappling range by 'putting a fence around your
factory'.

Verbal Dissuasion

When avoidance is gone and escape is no longer possible we
are left with verbal dissuasion. Verbal dissuasion means
talking the situation down. There is not a lot to say here that
isn't obvious, other than the fact that you should never
undertake mediation without some sort of protective shield,
that shield is what I call 'the fence'. Now the fence is a whole
subject in its own right and should be studied in-depth. For
this I recommend that you read my book, or watch my
video; The Fence. I shall give you a brief outline of it here
because, as I said it is very dangerous to start negotiations
without a fence and a book on avoidance tactics cannot be
complete without its inclusion.
Therefore, as soon as you are approached in a potentially
confrontational situation take up a small forty five degree
stance (as illustrated) by moving your right (or left) leg
inconspicuously behind you. Simultaneously splay your
arms (fence), as though in exclamation, whilst replying with
your dialogue. The lead hand is placed between you and the
assailant, the reverse hand back, ready to control or attack.
As you will see in the illustrations, the fence allows you to
control the distance between you and your attacker,
disabling any attempts he may make at grabbing/striking
you. Though it may be on a subconscious level, your fence
will act as a barrier between you and he. Try not to touch the
assailant with your hands, unless you are forced to, the touch
may

the reasoning

( process mistakes adrenaline for fear, often
freezing victims into immobility). The threats are repeated
with escalating aggression causing the victim to experience
multiple adrenal release, grossly heightening the supposed
feeling of fear and adding to the 'freeze'. The threats of
course are married with demands for money/credit cards etc.
Often the attacker threatens to hurt the victim if they are not
compliant, or, not to hurt the victim in exchange for
compliance. It is not uncommon for attackers to use a
physical attack, creating compliance via disablement, others
initiate an attack to disable the victim, before robbing them.
Sometimes the attack will be minimal, used only to add to
'freeze', on other occasions, the attack will be frenzied and
severe. Any chance of a physical defence, other than actually
attacking back with the same degree (or greater) of ferocity,
is unlikely to be effective. The concepts of 'blocking' an
assailant's blows or using hypothesised release techniques
are unsound. If the situation has got this far, only the very
strong will survive.
If you know how the bad guys work it stands to reason that
you can avoid him like the plague. These people mainly rely
on deception, not so easy now that you know how the
blighters work. Avoid at all costs, escape as soon as you see
their ritual in play, if that doesn't work, or the option has
been spent .then use verbal dissuasion.

The professional attacker

often likes to take his booty
without actually attacking his victim, instead he threatens to
attack. I found it very interesting that many of the muggers
that I interviewed used the 'threatened attack' as opposed to
the 'actual attack' to prime their victims. They professed that
this was because if they got caught and they had used
violence in the course of the attack, the sentence they got
would be longer because of it. So they frightened victims
into submission, rather than beat them into supplication.
The mugger will often threaten the victim with attack to
frighten them in to supplication, frequently underlining the
threat with a weapon or an accomplice, or both. These
threats will be aggressive and menacing, thus effecting
adrenal dump in the victim, quickly escalating to the freeze
syndrome