This week I share with you my top three tips for when you’re in a fight.

Specifically, I’m talking to the good guys out there. I’m talking to private investigator’s process server security, a lost prevention officers, police officers when you find yourself on the street and in a fight. This is not necessarily for the average citizen on the street looking for self-defense moves or advice…. however, you might find some value to what you’re going to learn here.

A lot of times, for those of us who are the good guys (the “sheep dogs”), it’s not so much that we’re in a fight. It’s not even so much that we were attacked, although that does happen. But a lot of times we’re trying to make an apprehension, arrest or just hang on to somebody who has committed a crime. What I’m giving you here is a countdown of my top three tips for when you’re involved in a fight like that.

Number three in this countdown is…

3. Endurance.

Whoever out-endures the other person is the one who’s going to win… for the most part.

Someone’s going to get tired. That’s the person who’s going to lose. There is an exception to this rule of thumb. That is, whoever “has the most gas in the tank”, whoever “out endures” will win, unless… there’s a serious injury like a broken arm or similar “fight-ender”.

A busted nose where your eyes are watering and it messes with your breathing, that type of thing is a fight-ender. There are strikes that will do that. Even falls to the ground, but unless we’re talking about one of these serious and debilitating injuries or breaks, it’s whoever has the most gas in the tank that wins.

Knowing that, here’s a little behind the scenes tip for you, if you’re trying to make an apprehension.

HUGE TIP: If you’re on top of somebody (you’re holding them down for an apprehension or citizen’s arrest) and you’re just trying to restrain them long enough for back up to get there, you don’t necessarily have to exert a lot of energy holding this person down.

Being on top of someone and holding them down can be a chance for you to rest. Use your body weight to restrain them and let them expend their energy. Don’t let them rest while they’re on the ground. Simply reaching your hand around and touching on their arm or even on their face keeps them struggling to counter your “moves” causing them to expend their energy while you conserve yours.

You may not literally be trying to grab their arm. You may have resigned yourself at this point that you’re just not going to be able to get their arm, but touching their arm forces them to resist and twist and expend the energy trying to “prevent” you from gaining access to their arm.

Literally, just touching the side of their face, not any kind of blow, nothing dangerous, and nothing that’s going to injure them, but just touching the side of their face causes them to expend energy while they resist your “move”.

2. You can take a punch.

You can absorb a lot more random, blunt force injuries than what you think you can.

In other words, getting punched, kicked, hit, thrown to the ground (these types of things), these are just not fight-enders.

If you see fights in real life (or online) you’ll see one-punch knockouts occasionally happen on the streets, but the interesting thing is you have to actually search specifically for “one-punch knock-outs”!

If you just search for “fights” or “street fight videos” (real fights, not in a sporting events), you will see in real-world fights, there are frequently a lot of blows that are exchanged and it doesn’t stop anybody! It doesn’t determine who wins or who loses.

You’re able to take a lot of punches. Of course, so is the bad guy. The good news is, in an apprehension or arrest type of situation, you’re usually not going to need to punch and kick at the person because you’re trying to restrain them not hurt them.

So, keep in mind, getting hit is not the end of the world. Sure, there are the freak accidents. There are the one-punch knockouts. There are the times when one punch kills somebody. You’ll see this in the news…

Someone’s in a fight outside of a bar. They hit the ground and the way their head hits the sidewalk, they die. Maybe not right then. Maybe the next day, but it’s so unusual that it does make the news as opposed to the hundred other bar fights that happen that night that don’t make the news.

You can absorb a lot of this random blunt force trauma. These punches are generally not going to be fight-enders. Don’t be afraid. Be wise. Be smart! But you don’t have to be afraid of being hit.

1. Your “go-to” move will not work.

You have a move or moves that are your “go-to” moves when you need to defend yourself. Maybe it’s a punch to the throat. Maybe it’s a kick to the knee. Whatever. You’ve gone over it in your head a thousand times. You’ve practiced it a hundred times in the dojo or with your mixed martial arts instructor. But here’s the thing… It ain’t gonna’ work in real life.

I want you to know on the streets, in the real world, your move will not work. It simply won’t.

I can hear you now, “Oh, Larry. No. This works all the time. It’s physiology. That’s the way the human body reacts. It’s a leverage. It’s math. This works!”

No, no, no. Pain compliance moves, pressure points, joint locks, whatever it is, your move will not work on the street. Here’s why…

There’s a million different things that happen on the street that don’t happen when you learn or practice your move. That’s just the way it is.

How about pain compliance moves? Everybody who’s been there and done that knows, there are people who are too high or too drunk or too whatever.

What about joint locks? There are people who are stone cold sober who will take the broken arm rather than “submit”. A junky who needs to score might let you break his arm. What’s he got to lose? He’s going to get meds. He’s going to get treatment. Heck, maybe the charges will get dropped!

There are a million scenarios I could list, but the point is, your move will not work on the street.

That’s a really easy thing for me to say and I could leave you with that, but I won’t leave you there.

HUGE TIP: Have the back-up move for when your go-to move doesn’t work.

Have that second and third move when they slip your “go-to” joint lock because they are literally covered with feces and urine and you didn’t practice on a slippery opponent. What is your go-to move after that?

Have multiple moves and combinations that you’re going to go into when your move doesn’t work.

If you do regularly make apprehensions, arrest or get into fights (and I mean very regularly) you may have something that you know works really well.

When you work on the streets, when you have to make apprehensions, if you get in fights, you will eventually learn there are moves that when you grab point x, everybody pulls away from the point of the grab. Or when you reach toward point y on their body, they turn toward that point. Take advantage of that when you’ve learned it in the real world. Then you’ll have a move that you can count on a lot more.

I have my real-world moves. I know the way the person’s going to move. Everybody does it. It’s human reaction. I’ll give you a really good example where you can see this in a non-fight situation.

The next time you’re in a restaurant (or anywhere), ask somebody where the restroom is and notice what they do. They always look and point. Always. There is no exception to this. (Okay, maybe one-in-a-million people won’t react that way, but maybe that just proves my point that you need a back-up move!)

BONUS TIP

I do have one more thing I want to share with you that’s even more important than my number one tip.

If you are in a fight and your opponent is sincerely trying to hurt you, you have to continue fighting even if you’re injured.

You have to continue to defend and protect yourself.

Now, for security guards, loss prevention officers and others who work in the private sector, a lot of times if you’re getting hurt, you can simply let go and your opponent will run away.

They are not really genuinely looking to hurt you. There are exceptions, of course. (Been there, done that.) But if your opponent simply wants to escape rather than truly injure you, you can frequently let go of them and they will flee leaving you alone. But if that’s not what happens, you have to continue to fight to defend yourself even through an injury.

If you are Law Enforcement you have to win every fight.

We cannot have a cop’s side arm and their badge going lose on the street. It happens too frequently as it is. Law enforcement has to win even time, even if they’re injured they have to continue fighting through that no matter what.

A note to everyone else…

If you’re reading this as a citizen who is the victim of a violent crime be sure to note… complying will usually be the safest course of action for you. But if the criminal will not disengage from you, if they decide their goal is to hurt you, then you have to fight through the injury just like the rest of us.

In conclusion…

Certainly don’t miss out on that very key point, being injured does not stop the fight. You may very well have to keep fighting, even injured.

Please take a moment, right now to check out my free report: If You Want To Be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do Theses Three Things. Just reading my report will teach you about some of the really important basics you need to know.

You can get it for free right here…

Stay street smart and safe,
Larry Kaye,
Private Investigator