THE LAST RESORT OF PROACTIVE SELF-DEFENSE, PART 3

Returning once again to the scenario I described in the June/ July 2022 issue: You've done everything possible to de-escalate the volatile confrontation, all to no avail. It's crystal clear that the aggressor is about to attack at any moment. After doing everything you can to de-escalate the situation, you make the decision to get physical.

- LITO ANGELES

As such, you ask your adversary an action-trigger question to momentarily distract him, then unleash a single pre-emptive shot-in this case, a dominant-hand palm hook to the side of the jaw. If you have an accurate and powerful pre-emptive shot, more often than not, you will render him completely unconscious. At a minimum, you will render him semiconscious. In either case, the threat is likely to be sufficiently neutralized for you (and your loved ones) to escape.

But what do you do if your adversary hasn't been adequately neutralized and is still an active threat? What if he has a weapon that he's able to deploy this time around?

If you knock down your adversary with a powerful and accurate pre-emptive strike to the head, often he'll either be knocked out or semiconsciously incapacitated. But if he somehow survives the strike and still poses a threat, the secondary physical tactic should instantly come into play. This tactic is an asymmetrical follow-up barrage.

I advocate manifesting this barrage through a boxing-based, alternating two-hand blitz to the head. If this target- the attacker's head - seems like a recurring theme, it is. For physical self-defense purposes, there is no better target than the head, specifically the jaw.

The head has other vulnerable spots in addition to the jaw. They include the temples, the base of the skull, the area behind the ears and the eyes. In reality, striking anywhere on the head with a powerful blow can incapacitate an adversary, and that generally goes for striking the neck, too. These are the only target areas I recommend for physical self-defense when your life is on the line.