Other things to do while running?

With Sanchin's self-defense scenarios, as well as the general concensus of the forum as a whole, I'm sure not many if any will disagree that running is the best option if you find yourself in a hostile situation.

But, I happen to be a slow, pitiful runner, and if I got jumped tomorrow, my chances of actually running away from the attacker and not having him catch me are slim.

I would still run like hell of course, and the adrenaline pump might give me the nice little speed boost I need to make a clean getaway, but I'm not so sure. I would hate to run, and then get stabbed or clubbed in the back, only then realizing that I needed to do something extra to evade my attacker.

My question is, would running be the only thing you do when you answer these scenarios? Would you run in silence, and for how long, to where? Are there other things you would be doing as you ran from an attacker?

I personally would be shouting
"help" or "fire" while running like hell, and I would run to well lit, very public area as fast as possible.

It may seem like common sense, but I am wary of turning my back on an attacker to run like hell, and maybe the extra insurance or screaming, flapping arms, whatever would add to your chances of survival?

Hopefully your attacker is lazy and doesn't bother to chase you, but being the slow runner I am, are there other things I can do that might persuade my attacker that chasing me would not be in his best interests?

Good question. I would say do your best to draw attention,put obstacles between you and your attacker.Dail 911(if you have a phone)
Pepper spray will give you some distance also. While running by trashcans,push them over behind you. Go into public place.

Yeah, I can only run short distances with any speed.
If they chase me any kind of distance, they will probably catch me.

Only hope is some kind of obstacles-I can corner really well.
Always have my cell phone, dialing 911 is good idea.

Running towards the light is a good idea(as long as it's not at the end of a tunnel)-light usualy means population.

Noise is always good.

[This message has been edited by nekogami13 V2.0 (edited 04-25-2005).]

I agree with Neko about noise. Maybe if you make a big enough racket and people start looking out their windows maybe teh baddies will back off. Light and population is a good place to run to as well.

However I once saw a TV doco on human behaviour where they did an experemant. They played a noise of a women yelling "help!" while they filled out a form. Only 2 of 10 went to the window to see what was happening. Most people just don't like trouble I guess.

[This message has been edited by JayJay (edited 04-25-2005).]

If you think your life is in danger, yell "bomb". In this day and age, that'll have the police on you in seconds. Hey, you might get a court case for disturbing the peace but at least you'll have saved your hide.

Train running (I don't atm but I plan to [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif[/IMG]). Maybe Parkour could come in handy: http://www.parkour.com/ http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/ http://perso.wanadoo.fr/ironic_networks/acme-index.htm

[This message has been edited by Leo_E_49 (edited 04-25-2005).]

a good way to get a headstart is possibly just stare over your assailents shoulder until he/she turns around..then try and have something in your hand (dirt off ground or similar) so when they turn round aim for the eyes..then take off and do what everyone else has suggested (yell loudly, knock things over, ect)

Thanks all for your replies, some good suggestions.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JayJay:
I agree with Neko about noise. Maybe if you make a big enough racket and people start looking out their windows maybe teh baddies will back off. Light and population is a good place to run to as well.

However I once saw a TV doco on human behaviour where they did an experemant. They played a noise of a women yelling "help!" while they filled out a form. Only 2 of 10 went to the window to see what was happening. Most people just don't like trouble I guess.

[This message has been edited by JayJay (edited 04-25-2005).][/QUOTE]

I think Leo hit the mark when he said yell "bomb" as opposed to anything else. I remember learning about Kitty Genovese, New Yorker stabbed 30 times, whose screams were heard by lots of neighbors, none of which called the police. I hate the mob mentality...

Psychologically I learned you are more likely to be helped by bystanders if there is only 1 around than if you are in the middle of a large group. Experiments were done where 1 assistant was "attacked" by another in front of a market or store, with lots of people around. Assistant #1 yelled for help, and didn't get it most of the time, or got it after a ridiculously prolonged period of time. Another experiment was done in a secluded area, with only 1 or 2 passersby to witness the "attack" and helped the "defender".

Idea being that people in a group won't normally help because they believe someone else will do it for them, whereas the solo bystander knows he's it.

Jeesh, psych class has made me skeptical and slightly paranoid, joy...ah well, take the bad with the good.

Standard advise I have heard is yell "fire"-though in today's climate "bomb" would be very effective.

when your running and one comes too close for your comfort stop whirl around with a backhand fist fully outsretched, like a swinging a club, the idea of this is to make them back off a bit because they'll be running into a fist if they don't, if you amke contact it's a bonus really, if you don't you can either spring the fist back and run or follow through and do the full spin and run, I usually spring the fist back as it's faster for me


make sure you're running at full speed for max effect


of course, if you want you can always run as hard as possible, stop instantly when they're running faster then you, and proceed to attack them, the reversal from complete offense to needed defense and their momentum will make it hard for them to defend, they'll be able to crash into you and that's it really, so for your attack I would choose some sort of explosive and very powerful kick or punch/body check movement


another way to get away decently is to look like a stalker, bow yourself down, and wait, as if hunting the attacker, circle it a little bit and stuff, once there's extra distance between you and them/him/her, you'll have that little extra space, back off a little, you can walk off facing them, a little, be upright, if they still attack, the running parts described above can be done [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG], this is a way to put space between you and them using mental techniques

[This message has been edited by rockleewannabe (edited 04-26-2005).]

I agree with run, hit and run tactic.
It worked once in my own experience.
I had seven skinheads on my back, but only two of them were persistent.

So I turned and they stopped the attack and just waited for their buddies to come closer.

During that time I made some distance between us and that was enough for me to get away safely.

Although I did slip on the wet floor and got a few bumps on my back during my "escape".

You see? This is why I love this forum so much. Everyone, trolls as the exception, give valuable suggestions and insight that further my knowledge of martial arts and benefit my ability to defend myself. To quote a fairly famous G.I. Joe line maybe some of the Americans would know, "And knowing is half the battle".

Thank you all for your posts!

P.S. Sanchin31:
I actually did the 50 for complainin about the moderation on the WC vs Boxing thread! [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG].

[This message has been edited by UofM Shorin Ryu (edited 04-27-2005).]

[QUOTE]P.S. Sanchin31:
I actually did the 50 for complainin about the moderation on the WC vs Boxing thread! .[/QUOTE]
I had a feeling you would. [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif[/IMG]

Running is not always a good idea though. When you're all high on adrenaline you're very likely to do stupid things like trip over a curb or slip on twigs and such. So that is something to be especially mindful of, know what your feet are doing and don't screw up. If you trip over yourself you're going to be messed up.

Running towards light is a good idea, but keep in mind that if you're running toward a light source, the shadows it casts are going to be behind you. So if your attacker is catching up with you, it's possible you are not going to know it until it's too late and he's already on top of you. Take that into consideration.

Picking up any kind of weapon you can is probably a good idea, if you've got time. Rocks or dirt are especially good and are usually easy to find even in the middle of the city. If someone attacks you in the city you can grab a handful of dirt from the tree planters that line the streets of most large cities. Just be careful with rocks, don't give the bad guy free ammunition. If you whack someone with it, make it count. They should be damaged severely by it or distracted long enough that you can damage them.

Most importantly, if they do catch up with you, you absolutely must destroy their attack. Do not give an inch. Shout as loud as you can into their ears, attack weak spots, scratch them, throw them to the ground.. Whatever. You automatically have a mental disadvantage compared to the attacker if you were running from them, so if you're fighting them now you need to make it clear you're going to kill them. If they see this attitude they may decide to back off.

This is all considering you could not diffuse the situation by any other means.

Here is a story that happened to me some time ago.

Several years ago before I started my taijutsu training, a group of about 9 teenagers started following me on my way home from the grocery store, which was close by. When I started to walk faster, it seemed like it was like an invitation for them to start attacking me.

I will mention this- at night time your depth perception is way off. I had no idea how fast these people were walking towards me until they were very close. They came at me in a diagonal line from accross a soccer field. I had thought they were on the other side of the field, when in reality they were only about 20 seconds walking distance from me.

There was a chain link fence seperating the sidewalk and street ahead of me from the soccer field that I had just crossed. The street was lined with houses on one side, and it was only about 8pm (winter, so it was dark out) but this did not deter the people following me. I knew these people were looking for trouble and I wanted to get far away from them as soon as possible. I lobbed my grocery bag over the fence then leaped over it myself. 2 of the people jumped over it after me, while the rest of them started walking around to the normal exit in the fence.

Several people drove by on the road during this time but nobody did anything, despite the fact I tried to wave them down.

I decided to end the confrontation immediately after this. One of the 2 thugs grabbed at my grocery bag and tore it, spilling the contents everywhere. A can of soup rolled out along the grass and stopped near me. I picked it up and threw it at his face, he dropped immediately to the ground, unconcious. I used to be a baseball catcher so I wasn't afraid of missing the mark. I would recommend caution against doing this unless you have accuracy in throwing.

The second attacker was just standing next to his friend with a slightly dumbfounded expression on his face after he saw what happened. He then made a sort of boxing shuffle move towards me and tried to punch me, but missed. I managed to grab his hair and pull him into a chain section of the fence mentioned above.

For future reference I would recommend smashing an attacker into a pole section of a similar fence if that option is available, because the chain absorbs too much impact and does not cause enough damage to be a good deterrent. It only cut his lips and he kept struggling. I had to step on his hands with the heel of my shoe (I was wearing dress shoes that have hard soles). This took the fight out of him completely. The rest of the group stayed back but continued to shout profanities at me.

I picked up what was left of my groceries, packed them into my leather duffel bag (I loved that bag!) and took off in the OPPOSITE direction from my house! I had to wait about 30 minutes behind some bushes before I was sure they had cleared out.

The moral is, they thought they had an easy mark, but when they saw some real ferocity they quickly realised that they should back off.

If someone is instigating something and you know you can't escape trouble, running away might make the problem worse for you.

By the way, I lost that can of soup. The edge of it hit his face and then exploded, for lack of a better word. There was cream of mushroom soup goo all over the area. Quite gross. I guess when it crinkled and compressed the soup shot out the sides.

[This message has been edited by paradoxbox (edited 04-27-2005).]

I liked the advice given elsewhere on this forum about throwing a handfull of coins at their face.... this should give you a bit of distance while they are still trying to figure out what's going on.