What if a gang attacked me?

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njtrigger

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I keep seeing a trend among degenerates to attack people 5-6 to 1, pummel/kick them to the ground and rob them as an afterthought. It seems like the victims of these coward attacks never have a chance.

These clowns surround their victim 360 Degrees and swarm them.

My question is this: Are there any current training techniques/disciplines geared specifically for this type of threat in handgun, knife or impact weapon, or martial arts?

I understand situational awareness and addressing multiple targets on the range, but being circled is something different if the situation gets out of hand or you are unarmed.

All ideas and observations welcome
 
Always try and be armed; however, if you can't be; the next best thing is to try and avoid situations like that at all costs, also, if you find yourself in that kind of situation and unarmed, go for the groin, the eyes, a simultaneous hard clap on both ears with the palms of your hands; disable the perpetrator as best you can, then run.

Also, if you can take some kick boxing or martial arts training; it would really benefit you!
 
if you are not armed then try things like throat punches, eye gouges, groin shots, etc. basically no holds barred here and you will be fighting for your life so try to inflict as much pain as quickly as you can and avoid the ground at all costs.
 
I was once assaulted by 5-8 guys my age (17) at a party. I was blind drunk and probably said something stupid. In any case, they followed me outside and surrounded me. I don't remember much, but according to a mate of mine I'd seized one of them in a bear hug wrapping my arms so tight around his neck that he could barely breathe and them locked my legs up on his legs so he couldn't get off me. I'd them fallen backwards.

Though not the best move it turned out that they were fairly surprised I did anything at all. I was able to use the guy on the ground as a shield so they couldn't kick me as easily. Fortunately, none of them had a knife - the commonest weapon in the UK.

On reflection, the best thing is to not get into that situation in the first place. I'm older and far wiser now and have never put myself in that situation again.

Interestingly a mate of mine, a black belt in tae kwon doe, was assaulted on his way out of a party last year by a group of 4 guys. He put one guys nose through the back of his skull and then kicked his way to his car.

I'd been taking jujitsu training for about a year when I was attacked and I've no doubt that it helped. However, martial arts are no substitution for being quick witted and, preferably, heavily armed.
 
Do not put your self in those situations.
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Good point.

The chances of random gang attack on any normal civilian on any given day is smaller than a lightning strike.

Murder and assault are not usually stranger crimes

WildwearalightningrodAlaska TM
 
njtrigge said:
degenerates...attack people
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First off, we don't like being called degenerates. We prefer to be called "Scruple-challenged Americans."

Another thing, we also have the same right to peaceful assembly. We don't need you "holier than thou" trouble makers hanging around breathing stale beer on us bragging, "You think you're so tough..."

The better question is, why did you provoke us? Did the chrome from my bike make your uppity Rolex watch look like what it actually is, that being, quartz jeweled testicles.

Did you mutter to your buddy about how a "real man" would put us in line? Did you leer at one of our wives? Did you try and corner one of us alone in the bathroom?

You see, I look at your whining from a different perspective. In my life, most of the trouble is actually caused by smart-azz townies, too much beer and wild bragging.

If you want to scratch with the big chickens, then take the results of your foolishlessness like a man. If not, go swagger at a Dairy Queen where the teenagers will be impressed.
 
(Still cross-eyed from Tourist's reply), I can say that you've noted a bad situation. USUALLY avoidable, but no guarantee. As for me, I'm thinking 1/2 cornered cat, and 1/2 amature linebacker. No matter the pain, whatever, I'd charge the circle with everything I could muster. Getting outside would be my top priority. If I could achieve this, I'm now looking a tightly grouped pack of jack*sses, and the tables have turned. Can't guarantee it, but it would be my fist, second, and third action.
 
I keep seeing a trend among degenerates to attack people 5-6 to 1, pummel/kick them to the ground and rob them as an afterthought. It seems like the victims of these coward attacks never have a chance.
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It is interesting that you called these "coward attacks." In watching John Walsh over the years (AMW) and reading posts on forums like this one, I have come to realize that the coward label is used to paint the bad guys in a negative light because we all know that being a coward is a bad thing and maybe even subhuman. Only lesser persons are cowards.

One should not confuse cowardice with strategic superiority. By attacking en masse, they help assure that the intended prey is overwhelmed. If the prey fights back, by having superior numbers, risk to any one member is reduced. So their chance of success is higher while at the same time their risk is lowered. It is not cowardice, but being smart.

Similarly, we called IEDs used against US forces in Iraq "cowardly acts" because the explosion is a form of ambush tactic for which US troops can't fight back because there is no visible enemy. Yet, we consider the lauching of cruise missiles from hundreds or thousands of miles distance or bombs dropped from planes that cannot be detected to not be acts of cowardice, but strategic...even though the people we are bombing have no visible enemy to fight back against when those happen. It is not cowardice, but being smart.

When bad guys are on the lamb and Walsh profiles them on AMW, he calls them cowards. When Scott O'Grady was shot down and evaded capture until he could be rescued, we called him a hero.

Rocked suggested...
Yeah, best bet is to stay away from those situations. Or travel in groups.
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If you engage in such tactics, do you consider these tactics to be those of cowardice or of being smart?

The point here is that by classifying your aggressors as cowards does nothing to help you understand the significance of the behavior/tactic being used and it potentially misdirects attention from salient insights.

With all that said, being attacked by 6 guys or more is a classic example of when 5 shots is not enough (for all those "Is a 5 shot revolver enough?" threads).
 
Double Naught Spy said:
Spouted so much bilge water, we are having to abandon ship....
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A gang attack against a lone pedestrian is not a tactical maneuver. It is not a coldly and logically planned act, done to insure numerical superiority, executed in a military manner to limit friendly casualties and to achieve an objective.

It is more akin to an attack by a pack of jackals. It is an attack en masse done by a weaker or less able (individually) animal against the oldest, weakest or sickest member of the herd. It is an attack done with the idea that they have chosen a victim that will not fight back, or fight so ineffectively that it might as well be no defense at all.

Comparing them to jackals is a bit of a disservice to jackals, though, because you don't see jackals attacking just for the joy of causing pain. You don't see jackals attacking just to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Instead, these sub-human trash only attack when they have a helpless victim; when there is no threat to themselves; when they can overwhelm a helpless opponent, inflict pain and injury and then brag about their prowess afterwards.

In short, they are petty, cowardly little thugs who need the emotional and physical backing of their thugish friends to overcome an unarmed and unwary civilian without the means to defend themselves.

As for your comment about traveling in groups for protection might be considered cowardly, that is just as much bull**** as your previous attempted defense. Herd behavior shows that traveling in groups, keeping the herd together, discourages the attack of lone predators and limits the potential damage to the weakest members.

The point here (to use your phrasing) is that lending credence to thuggish behavior by comparing it (poorly, I might add) to military tactics gives no legitimacy to the thugs or their tactics. It just makes you look like a bleeding heart idiot.
 
Well said Double Naught.

I was thinking along the lines of the first USMC Rule of Combat.

"Bring a weapon. Preferably, bring at least two. Bring all of your friends who have weapons. Bring their friends who have weapons. "
 
Tanzer said:
(Still cross-eyed from Tourist's reply)
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C'mon, Tanzer, you should know me well enough by now to know that I'll stir the pot once in a while. We have townies all over Madison who spout the same thing--and I can't ever remember throwing an offensive (the opposite of 'defensive') punch during that five year period.

Yes, there are cases of singular people being attacked by multiple robbers.

And there are just as many singular loud-mouths that should know when to stop drinking.

When I hear these claims, I like to get the back story. When his tale of woe begins with, "All I was doing was sitting on this biker's Harley when everything went black and I woke up in a dumpster. I was a victim..."

Or some mall ninja decides to take a stroll through a ghetto at zero-dark-thirty and is baffled to find crime.

Common sense, boys.
 
For the life of me, I can't see where njtrigger singled out bikers, Tourist. In fact, I rarely hear of bikers being referred to as a gang. I think he's referring more to true gangs like MS-13, Crips, Bloods, etc.

While the warning signs should be evident before someone finds himself in that situation, random attacks do happen and seem to be on the increase. Gang initiations? Simply for "fun"? Who knows, but the queston's a valid one.

In any case, this needs to be toned down a bit. History notes that wars have started over misunderstandings ;).
 
Tourist,
Actually, and not meaning to sound rude, I thought you were joking and forgot to put the smiley icon in place.
I'll give you this... There are plenty of idiots who ask for it, and are stupid enough not to know what they did. I took this thread however as relating to those few who truly are picked out as victims. I think that's where the OP was going.
 
Advice once given to me

My CCW instructor presented this type of scenario. He said that he would, "Shoot the one with the biggest mouth first."

While there is no guarantee that the cowards are not armed, they likely wouldn't need so many people if they were, and they run the risk of shooting each other if they're circling you. The idea behind his statement is kind of like the old adage, "If you cut the head off a snake..."
 
Tanzer said:
I thought you were joking and forgot to put the smiley icon in place.
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Yes, you are correct. I am among friends here, and I should have included a smilie.

But this issue has two sides. I am a tad thin-skinned about the ploy that "everyone is a victim."

I have seen labels on irons that say, "Do not iron creases while wearing the garment."

As you know, some idiot somewhere took a scalding hot clothing iron to his body and then decided to sue the company for big bucks.

And as I have told you, there seems to be something both magnetic and kharmic about me and delicious cheeseburgers. I no sooner smell that wonderful aroma of meat, cheese and lightly sauted onions when a drunken townie mystically appears at my elbow to debate 'toughness' through all eleven of his remaining teeth.

Yes, there is gang related crime. I just want the members of TFL to know that there are also mouthy idiots who just cannot sit quietly and enjoy a beverage while I eat.
 
random attacks do happen and seem to be on the increase.
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Odd fact is that around the Hampton Road area of Virginia, many random attacks are also being video taped...by the attackers.

So far, no mention by the media as to whether these attacks are initiations or just malicious pranks, but I suspect they are definitely gang related.

Regardless, there is an ongoing case here in this area where a mob actually killed a victim, probably accidentally, but dead just the same.

And these random attacks are occurring much more frequently than lightning strikes...

Anyway, my preferred method to avoid these ruffians is to to keep myself armed, my head on a swivel and myself out of "hinky" areas.

Oh...and I always look for the leader of any group that I might encounter. He/she goes with me if it comes down to it.
 
"Bring a weapon. Preferably, bring at least two. Bring all of your friends who have weapons. Bring their friends who have weapons. "
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And so you are suggested the USMC is a bunch of cowards? Of course not. You are suggesting they plan on taking their opposition successfully by overwhelming the opposition in numbers and power.
 
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