For today’s lesson, we are going to learn the most efficient moves to escape a situation where the assailant is attacking you from the front, either with a choke hold or by dragging you along with a strong grip on your hair or shirt.

A front neck choke is a common attack move. Not only is such a frontal attack a controlling move, but it can also do some serious harm. The choke can constrict the carotid arteries – responsible for blood flowing to the brain. If the choke lasts for 10 seconds, it could leave you unconscious or even cause brain damage in extreme cases.

Clearly, this is not an ideal situation and you need to get out of this as quickly as possible. So, let’s take a look at an effective way to escape this sticky situation. First and most importantly, do not PANIC! Get yourself into a proper posture to gain stability and keep your breathing steady. Conserve your energy for the actual fight.

Now, use your index and thumb on your attacker’s jawline, slightly above the lips on both sides, and squeeze as hard as you can. As you press on this area, it will cause a shooting pain that is sure to force your attacker to release his hold. While your attacker is dealing with the pain caused by the attack, slam the heel of your palm into the area just below the attacker’s nose as hard as you can, putting your whole body into it. Make sure you deliver this strike at an upward angle.

A strike to the underside of the nose can cause breakage, pain, disorientation, and disturb his energy flow to temporarily immobilise him. This leaves you enough time to flee the scene or to get some help. While I sincerely hope you’ll never have any reason to use these techniques, I do want to remind you that the most important thing to remember here is to not panic and keep your BREATHING steady.

And as I have mentioned before, use these techniques at your own risk. Having knowledge of these techniques will equip you with stability, preparedness and strength to defend yourself from any serious physical attack. All you need to do now is practise these moves with a willing partner or in front of a mirror, so you don’t panic and/or freeze when this happens in real life.

If you enjoyed reading about these techniques in self-defence, do check out our other blogs. You can also share these blogs with friends and family who you think will find the information useful.