I am terrified of the open ocean. Just the idea of being swept away into the endless expanse of the raging waves, never to be found again, is honestly terrifying. I always stay out of the ocean and prefer the calm of the pool. However, since I am scared of the beach, I always find myself reading more about it, especially some of the risks such as getting caught in a rip current. Anyone who is being swept away in this current is instructed to stay calm and not fight it. This is mostly because fighting it would be a waste of energy because it is so strong, and it is better to conserve that energy. Instead, you should go with the flow as it pulls you and then try to swim parallel to the shore where you are not directly fighting against the current.

I found this very helpful in calming my fears but also with other things such as in self defense when facing someone who is much stronger than you are.

Imagine you have one of those huge and scary bodybuilding buff dudes after you. Unless you are wearing some hefty armor, a powerful punch is likely to break a few ribs or leave you severely injured. So, what do you do when they start charging after you? Well, you have to treat it like you would a strong current. Instead of fighting against it, redirect your energy to evasion.

Lesson #9: Deflection

In a previous post, I mentioned how important it is to move out of the way of an attack. However, sometimes you do not have the time to move completely out of the way. So, you are forced to either take the hit, block it, or deflect. Taking the hit will just be a lot of pain that could affect you later in the situation. Blocking it can sometimes work, but it can still hurt a lot. For example, you could block a strong kick with your forearm. However, I’ve seen powerful kicks break 3-4 inches of wooden boards. I do not think that your forearm wants to take that force directly. This is why deflection is essential to learn.

Just like when facing a rip current, going straight against an attack may be futile, but you can move to the side. For a linear attack such as a straight punch, it’s momentum is straight forward, so getting out of its path is the most effective strategy. This can be done by simply shifting your weight and moving to the side. You can also indirectly block it to the side.

In the image, you can see the defender shifting to his left to first get out of the path of the punch. For extra security, he is doing an open hand push block to the punching arm, redirecting it to the side opposite of where he is moving. This also leaves the side of the opponent open for you to retaliate or an opportunity to catch them off balance and run away.

It is important to note that this type of deflection only works well with linear attacks and can be ineffective against a more sweeping attack like a hooking punch or a spinning kick. With these attacks, sometimes stepping backwards and out of reach can work or try to redirect the momentum away from you.

Whatever the situation, knowing how to deflect attacks will help you to escape without any major injuries and can be used by anyone no matter how strong you are.

Picture links:

https://www.offgridweb.com/survival/street-fight-self-defense/

https://kidsofthewild.co.uk/2018/07/04/riptide-survival-how-identify-escape-rip-current/