When it comes to disagreements or confrontation, violence should obviously never be the first answer.
However, as anyone who has experienced trouble will know, sometimes certain situations don’t give you a choice.
Whether you are cornered and forced into a fight, or outnumbered by multiple attackers, sometimes you have to confront them physically.
But what is the best way to ensure you sustain minimal injury, and end the violence as quickly as possible?
Key Things To Remember
When it comes to fighting, be it a street fight or indeed organized competition, the most important things to consider are your own protection, the vulnerable body areas of your opponent, and maintaining calm and balance.
Consider Your Stance
First and foremost, you want to adopt a stance that will keep you and your vital components safe from harm.
Take on a side facing stance, giving you an opportunity to defend your throat, face, genitals/groin, and other sensitive areas like the stomach and chest.
Secondly, ensure your stance is lower.
This will make you harder to topple, and will give you a sturdier grounding when fighting your opponent.
Consider Your Priorities
If you have attempted to defuse the situation, but your opponent still pushes you into a confrontation, then the first priority has to be your own defense.
You should expect any sudden move from your opponent to be the beginning of an attack, and should be ready to act accordingly.
When they begin the attack, attack at the same time.
The aim should be to beat them in making contact.
More than likely they themselves were trying to knock you out, or end it equally as quickly, so they won’t be anticipating you to be aware of that (or to be able to beat them to the punch).
Another key thing to remember during the confrontation, is to respond dynamically to your opponent’s attacks.
If they use a right hook, and you block with your left hand, the thing you should be immediately doing is attacking back with your free hand.
Consider Legality
Of course, we can’t talk about physical confrontation without discussing the potential for legal consequences.
If you are attacked, and the attack is physically unprovoked on your part, then within reason you are legally allowed to defend yourself.
But self defense has its own limits, and reasonable force should always be employed during any confrontation.
If you knock the attacker to the ground (or out cold), then the fighting should stop, and defusing (or deescalation) should then become the priority once again.
When someone falls down and remains down, the fight is over.
Self defense doesn’t mean you can then attack them on the ground. In that case, it is assault, and in essence the roles have reversed from you being the victim to being the attacker.
Useful Techniques
Now to the fighting itself. When it comes to ending a fight quickly, there are several simple and effective methods that can be employed.
Avoidance
Avoiding the fight should be the first choice. But as we discussed, sometimes this is just not an option.
Often when confrontations occur, alcohol or other substances are in play, and as such judgments are often impaired or completely hindered on the part of the attacker.
The Throat
The throat is an effective point of vulnerability, and as such it pays to exploit it where possible.
One technique is a hammer fist strike. For this, make a fist, turn your arm to the side, and strike them with the side of the fist.
This style not only adds more force and sturdiness to the attack, but makes it harder for them to twist or block your attack.
This could also be replaced by a “karate chop” using a flattened hand with the same motion.
This is easy and can be just as effective, although you put your fingers at risk of damage by keeping them unballed.
Obviously, the most common attack would be a straight punch, but under poor circumstances, this could be blocked easier than other attacks, and relies more on their surprise.
The Nose
As anyone who has bumped their nose will attest, it is not a pleasant sensation.
This can be one of the quickest ways to stop a fight, and is something of a classic for a reason.
When we get hit in the nose, we are brought to a literal standstill in seconds.
Our eyes water, our vision blurs, and depending on the force, we are either bleeding or in a lot of pain.
The same techniques can be employed as with the throat attacks, and this can provide ample time to then defuse or flee the situation.
The Groin
Effective against both genders, due to the sensitive nature of that area, a well placed kick/knee to the groin can end a fight pretty quickly.
This is generally done in closer quarters, and is effective in getting them to drop or let go of you during grappling.
Hit hard and fast, and pretend you are kicking through them, not at them.
The Eyes
The eyes are also a good area to attack.
A good punch can swell an eye shut and deprive them of sight.
Similarly, a thumb or collection of fingers can be extremely unpleasant for the attacker, especially when they are jabbed with force.
Remember though, your outright goal isn’t to blind anyone, just to cause enough temporary pain to stop the fight in its tracks and avoid further violence.
Final Thoughts
And there we have it, some of the best ways to end a fight as quickly as possible.
Whilst we can’t stress enough how important avoidance and deescalation are to ending fights before they begin, these techniques should prove effective when employed with force, calm, and mindfulness of the situation.
Most importantly, be safe out there!
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