How to fight back if someone pushes you down?

[somehumanperson]

I am a college girl and recently got into a situation (it didn't go very far but it kind of freaked me out) and I realized I have no upper body strength to force someone off me. I always assumed if it came to it I would be able to get out of a situation if I really wanted to (dumb I know).

Is there a move or trick for someone with a slight build to get out of this kind of situation and force someone off?

Thanks if you take the time to respond!

 

[Tez3]

Hi, welcome to MT. It must have been a very scary thing for you to have experienced and I really hope you have recovered. The thing is there is quite a lot you can do but I'm afraid there aren't any quick fixes or tricks we can teach you over the internet. Some will tell you that you can do this or that but doing it without been actually shown how to is going to be difficult. You won't trust the techniques enough to be able to use them when you need to. The best thing I think would be for you to take some martial arts training, it will give you more benefits than just learning some techniques. Are you up for learning martial arts? I'd suggest BJJ if you are, it will give you confidence in dealing with situations like this as well as more strength and certainly more techniques. Choking someone out with your legs is always good!

 

[Buka]

Welcome to Martialtalk, somehumanpeson.

Any Martial training will more than likely help, but by your description, I agree with Tez, and the best part - the training is really kind of fun.

 

[Hanzou]

Yeah, Bjj would be your best bet. In training you'll have larger men on top of you trying to impose their will. Bjj will teach you how to escape, or counter them.

 

[Tames D]

I agree with all of the above. The only thing I would add is, look into a women's self defense workshop in your area. It can help you expedite what you need to know/do when/if a situation like this happens to you again. A good class can give you some "tools" specially designed to help you defend yourself immediately.

 

[Tez3]

There's often BJJ classes for women only which you might find more comfortable but I'd suggest you train with the men, you will then be more confident of your skills and that they work. The vast majority in men in martial arts are cool so don't worry too much about training with them.

 

[Hanzou]

One more thing; Try to find a Gracie Jiujitsu school/affiliate. They tend to be more self defense oriented. If there isn't one in your area, any Brazilian Jiujitsu school should be fine.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

I know most people on here don't like online Martial Arts courses but even if it's just a concept, I would always recommend the guys at Enter Shaolin, especially for women's self defense. They are very good at showing how someone weaker can use physics to overcome a stronger opponent. Take a look at some of their youtube videos and see what you think:

That said, the first step to successful self-defense is awareness. By carefully observing someone's body language and behaviour you can predict what they will do. Of course this doesn't help you if they come at you from behind, but awareness of your surroundings is definitely something worth learning.

 

[Tez3]

Frankly, it's irresponsible to tell people to look at a video and let them think they'll be 'safe'. There are a lot of reasons we 'don't like' online videos, you cannot learn self defence from a video simple as. It creates a sense of false security as the viewer tries these things out on friends and family who of course aren't going to resist, there's no instructor to point out where you are going wrong and to make that little tweak which is going to be the difference between getting out of a move and not getting out.
'Physics' means nothing to someone being attacked, they need techniques they've trained until they are instinctive, that they know work because they've tried them on resisting opponents. Women need to be confident that what they learn will work, you do not get that through watching videos, quite honestly you stand better chance playing video games.

 

[Tez3]

Women's Self Defence Programme - Gracie Barra Belfast (Northern Ireland) - Belfast's Premier Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) Academy

Self Defense for Women at Marcio Cruz BJJ Tampa


Just a couple of examples of BJJ for women especially but the normal classes will be as good.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

Frankly, it's irresponsible to tell people to look at a video and let them think they'll be 'safe'. There are a lot of reasons we 'don't like' online videos, you cannot learn self defence from a video simple as. It creates a sense of false security as the viewer tries these things out on friends and family who of course aren't going to resist, there's no instructor to point out where you are going wrong and to make that little tweak which is going to be the difference between getting out of a move and not getting out.
'Physics' means nothing to someone being attacked, they need techniques they've trained until they are instinctive, that they know work because they've tried them on resisting opponents. Women need to be confident that what they learn will work, you do not get that through watching videos, quite honestly you stand better chance playing video games.

I understand that which is why I called it a concept. Also, you can easily test these techniques our on friends and family while they are providing resistance. You can provide resistance without pain just to test techniques, just as you can spar with resistance without harming your opponent too much. As for the false sense of security, you can get the same thing with a self defense class. The danger with learning self defense techniques is they can give you a false sense of security, and as a result you do things that you normally wouldn't that put you at risk of attack. For example, let's say there is a dark narrow alley that you always avoid on the way home because you are scared of getting attacked in it. Then you go to a self defense class, learn your techniques to perfection and think to yourself, "I can defend myself now" and so take that dark narrow alley home and get attacked. Even if you manage to defend yourself from the attack and escape, your false sense of security has put you at risk. The irony is that the self defense class has put you more at risk than you were before.

 

[drop bear]

lots of moves and tricks to get up. lots of moves and tricks to hold someone down.

If college you mean America then you should be able to get world class wrestling for basically nothing.

who do tend to know a bit about holding people down and getting back up.

 

[marques]

I am a college girl and recently got into a situation (it didn't go very far but it kind of freaked me out) and I realized I have no upper body strength to force someone off me. I always assumed if it came to it I would be able to get out of a situation if I really wanted to (dumb I know).

Is there a move or trick for someone with a slight build to get out of this kind of situation and force someone off?

Thanks if you take the time to respond!

I am afraid there is no trick... Or more precisely, there are many many and they all may fail. So, at the end, you need to be able to choose the best option automatically, as well as plan B and C... (Yep, not so simple, this is why people keep studying it for decades).

Let's assume there is a trick. You would need to learn from an acknowledgeable person and practice a lot. A forum may indicate a way, at best. Good luck.

 

[Hanzou]

I understand that which is why I called it a concept. Also, you can easily test these techniques our on friends and family while they are providing resistance. You can provide resistance without pain just to test techniques, just as you can spar with resistance without harming your opponent too much. As for the false sense of security, you can get the same thing with a self defense class. The danger with learning self defense techniques is they can give you a false sense of security, and as a result you do things that you normally wouldn't that put you at risk of attack. For example, let's say there is a dark narrow alley that you always avoid on the way home because you are scared of getting attacked in it. Then you go to a self defense class, learn your techniques to perfection and think to yourself, "I can defend myself now" and so take that dark narrow alley home and get attacked. Even if you manage to defend yourself from the attack and escape, your false sense of security has put you at risk. The irony is that the self defense class has put you more at risk than you were before.

The problem with his "concepts" are that they're overcomplicated, and "kung fu'd up" from wherever he originally got them. An eye poke from behind? Seriously?

For example his defense against a choke from behind was this;

Bjj's defenses against a rear choke from behind is this;

Bjj's defense comes from old school Judo. Our Kung Fu friend probably concocted that defense on his own, not putting much consideration into the variables. His ground fighting tactics (which is specifically what the OP was asking for) are laughable, and I'm being generous.

Irregardless, Tez is quite right, you really should learn this stuff from a qualified instructor, not a video. Additionally, there are no "tricks" to any of this. She would need to practice this stuff consistently over a span of time for them to serve her reliably in a real confrontation.

I can attest to the fact that a woman skilled in Bjj is a handful to deal with. The first person to ever choke me out in Bjj was a female purple belt about half my size, and she did it by being exceptionally good at escaping my top pressure.

 

[Touch Of Death]

I am a college girl and recently got into a situation (it didn't go very far but it kind of freaked me out) and I realized I have no upper body strength to force someone off me. I always assumed if it came to it I would be able to get out of a situation if I really wanted to (dumb I know).

Is there a move or trick for someone with a slight build to get out of this kind of situation and force someone off?

Thanks if you take the time to respond!

Reach up, take there pulse, on the neck, there, and simply push. The laws of nature force his hand, or feet, in this case.

 

[Tez3]

Also, you can easily test these techniques our on friends and family while they are providing resistance. You can provide resistance without pain just to test techniques, just as you can spar with resistance without harming your opponent too much.

What nonsense. If resistance is used and I very much doubt that friends and family would do it properly, what if the technique newly learnt from the internet doesn't work, which there is a high probability it won't, what does the person do then with no instructor to show how it done?

The danger with learning self defense techniques is they can give you a false sense of security, and as a result you do things that you normally wouldn't that put you at risk of attack.

Don't be absurd. In decades of training I've never known anyone say 'ooh look, now I can defend myself I will go do lots of extremely stupid things.'

For example, let's say there is a dark narrow alley that you always avoid on the way home because you are scared of getting attacked in it. Then you go to a self defense class, learn your techniques to perfection and think to yourself, "I can defend myself now" and so take that dark narrow alley home and get attacked

You are deluded or very naïve, self defence instruction is not just physical it's mental as well, people are far more likely to be careful and thoughtful about where they walk, how they behave and what they do after training than before.

The irony is that the self defense class has put you more at risk than you were before.

Wonderful advice to give someone scared of being attacked. You are talking out of your backside, I'm sure you think it helps but trust me it doesn't.
Yes, people do train for years, I have but there is good instruction available which doesn't take years to be able to defend yourself, which is why I suggested BJJ. It's not my main style but I do train in it. I'm competent not a instructor, still lots to learn but within a short time I could certainly manage to do what the OP asked...to get a man heavier than myself off me. I have confidence in a stressful situation I can do it because of the training, I know it works, the instructor has shown me variations of things that work for me being smaller and I have other techniques I can call on if and when needed. I can recommend karate too because that's my first style but the OP wanted specific techniques for certain situations, BJJ will fulfil that wish very well and hopefully the OP would enjoy training enough to explore BJJ some more and perhaps other styles too at a much later date.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

What nonsense. If resistance is used and I very much doubt that friends and family would do it properly, what if the technique newly learnt from the internet doesn't work, which there is a high probability it won't, what does the person do then with no instructor to show how it done?

Then you go back and rewatch the video. And I'm not just speaking out of my *** here. I'm not the strongest guy by a long shot by I've tried the techniques taught by Enter-shaolin on my body builder friends who have gone at me with all their strength and had success against them. Obviously we weren't in a high pressure situation and I was given the time to put the techniques into action, but with more practice I am sure I could use them in a high pressure situation.

 

[somehumanperson]

That said, the first step to successful self-defense is awareness. By carefully observing someone's body language and behaviour you can predict what they will do. Of course this doesn't help you if they come at you from behind, but awareness of your surroundings is definitely something worth learning.

The problem is that this person wasn't a random stranger it was a person I assumed I was friends with. Apparently they were just drunk and "kidding around" but I didn't find it very funny. I'm not scarred for life since nothing really happened other than that but it just made me want to be less helpless in the future

 

[somehumanperson]

Hi, welcome to MT. It must have been a very scary thing for you to have experienced and I really hope you have recovered. The thing is there is quite a lot you can do but I'm afraid there aren't any quick fixes or tricks we can teach you over the internet. Some will tell you that you can do this or that but doing it without been actually shown how to is going to be difficult. You won't trust the techniques enough to be able to use them when you need to. The best thing I think would be for you to take some martial arts training, it will give you more benefits than just learning some techniques. Are you up for learning martial arts? I'd suggest BJJ if you are, it will give you confidence in dealing with situations like this as well as more strength and certainly more techniques. Choking someone out with your legs is always good!

Thank you I guess I should look into some martial arts courses in my area. I'm just not the most athletically gifted person and don't want to feel like an idiot there in a course that's probably mostly guys with a sporty background.

 

[marques]

I'm just not the most athletically gifted person and don't want to feel like an idiot there in a course that's probably mostly guys with a sporty background.

Any gym will understand your fitness level and demand according to (if they want to keep customers...). And they will put at the level. Not the best excuse.