Karate defence against aggressive?

[AdamE3]

What are the techniques of defending against aggressive people? I usually have a tough time with them, especially if they have done football or similar, as they charge fast and low.

Which leads me to another question.. Can one use football as a martial arts? Would a professional football player be able to survive against a professional martial arts person in a ring?

Whats leading me to this question is how these people always charge after nuts, if they don't go all out. They tag team, distract and hurt testicles. What would the defense be for that?

A bit of a funny thread , but I expect some serious answers, cause I am genuinely interested in knowing how to defend against these, when they provoke you.

[mal103]

Just to make clear when you say football you mean the USA version of putting on large shoulder armour and bending over to push/charge. Football in the UK is what you call soccer.

To defend against aggressive behaviour and aggressive people are two different questions, the first you need to act passive, show open hands (this puts your hands where they will be ready but not end laming the situation), then you should look to make your exit as quick as possible.

Aggressive behaviour is dealt with by a combination of block/evade, hard strike followed by your exit. For someone charge like a US football player then you would be looking to strike into the should or neck area or use your thumb or knuckles to push into the neck pressure points. You can also push down on the head, most people will bend when their head is pushed.

Of course you could try a kick before they got too close...

If someone is grappling and you haven't had a chance to strike them you also need to move your hips back and twist them to the side to protect your groin area.

To compare two people in a ring then you will only be able to compare those people, you could have a good karateka who hasn't done much grappling defence so would be useless when grabbed, you could have a football player that has never been hit so would crumble on first impact to a sensitive area.

If you are being constantly beaten up by the local football team then you may want to wear a box.

The last thing you said was to defend yourself when they provoke you, a good Martial Artist won't be drawn into a fight and will do their best to avoid unless attacked. Being pushed about or teased is not an attack...

[vantheman]

In any given scenario, strength and can make up for technique and technique can make up for strength. This is the topic of fairly extensive debate, and that's all i am going to comment as far as the football vs martial arts fight is concerned. A balance of martial arts and conditioning (muscular strength/endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, ect).

With an aggressive opponent, they tend to drive you straight back. As such, your general guideline is to move off their line. Depending on how good the form of the football player's tackle is, they will either leave the back of their neck or their face open, both of which are extremely vulnerable targets.

[guird]

of someone charges at you from a distance, a solid stop kick should do some damage, or else a well-timed knee depending on how far away. If they initiate the tackle from closer, see below.

*Edit* : This probably won't work against a fully fledged airborne spear tackle. Getting out of the way is probably best in that event, as others have said. If the tackle misses completely you'll have a chance to run away or go on the offensive.

If someone ducks low and tackles you, sprawl. you'll need to practice it a lot to build the reflex, but once you've got it it's the simplest way to avoid being taken down.

Football isn't as well adapted to fighting as martial arts training, but it definitely doesn't hurt someone's fighting ability. Being able to tackle and smash people effectively is useful, if a little limited. The strength and overall fitness football players have is also an advantage of course.

what do you mean by tag-teaming? and as for hurting testicles, can you be more specific? is this question about defending against groin kicks?

Use your legs to block low blows.

Edited September 17, 2014 by guird

[Nidan Melbourne]

If you have to fight someone who is like that it is best avoid them aka dodging, but in relation to techniques i would go for their legs.

Also what type of football are you talking about? Because there are people that don't live in America and don't call NFL football

[jaypo]

I'd suggest finding some Youtube videos of Lyoto Machida. He's an MMA middleweight who has a strong Karate base. He's very successful against all types of fighters mainly because of the angles and movement he uses from his Karate training. And his counter strikes are awesome.

But mainly, angles to avoid being tackled and sprawl if you are grabbed. As a general rule, bullies, wrestlers, or those "aggressive football types" feel very uncomfortable on their backs, so if you can avoid being taken down, and instead, put them on their backs, you can create the opportunity to escape the situation.

But rule #1 is the best- avoidance! It works better than any other technique!

[sensei8]

Imho...

Be much more aggressive than any opponent/attacker!! Anyone can win the lottery, but not anyone can win a fight. Be aggressive at all times!!

[Wastelander]

As sensei8 points out, aggression certainly gives you a serious leg-up in self defense. A large part of your response to aggression is going to depend on what the attacker is doing. A tackle, as you describe, is best dealt with by either getting out of the way, sprawling, or counter-throwing--in that order. This kind of attack is actually very easy to deal with, as long as you see it coming.

[Kusotare]

These guys are right.

Although I am sure Sensei8 means "controlled aggression"

Aggression by itself is too emotional, therefore as martial artists we need to be on top of it.

The Japanese have an expression called "sente" which means to have the initiative.

In true budo - if you do not think of yourself as the winner before you engage in conflict, you have already lost.

K.

[Harkon72]

Kusotare is right; it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!