It often amazes me to see people come to the aid of a family member or friend who is on the ground being savagely attacked with half-hearted attempts to grab the assailant by the shoulders. I am reminded of an extremely violent video circulating on the internet in which a man brutally beat and stabbed a woman on a sidewalk in a large metropolitan area with many people standing around not knowing what to do. (And obviously, one person was left there filming the entire incident.) I applaud the few who took action and tried to stop the man as he continued to beat and stab the woman who was literally bloodied. Anyone who studies combative arts and warrior ways would not sit still, especially filming for YouTube, but would get involved to stop the brutal beating and assassination attempt. But that’s a bias I have and share with many other warriors. Why train if you don’t use your training to stop mistakes and evil?
But let’s get back to the point of this article. Why run and try to pull the shoulders of someone who is attacking someone on the ground? This is especially true when I see women trying to pull a bigger man out of a friend or relative without the strength to do it.
This is what I teach people in my classes and seminars. First, I have them try to get a larger person out of a fellow participant in a scenario of helping a friend or loved one who is being raped or attacked and they are on the ground. They usually do exactly what I mentioned above, they try to grab the person somehow and pull them out. It’s usually unsuccessful and sometimes I’ll have the attacker turn on the helper and take him down, to illustrate that his attempt wasn’t the best course of action.
Then I teach them a way to help another person without putting themselves at risk. In almost every case where a person is on the ground attacking someone, one limb is sticking out. I start the scenario over with me being the helper and find the available limb, usually an ankle, and simulate stomping on the ankle by stomping right next to it. Hands, elbows, ankles, and knees can be great targets to stomp on. For the most serious situations, stomping on someone’s head can stop an attack, but it can also be deadly. Even a smaller person can generate a large amount of force with a stomp. I have people who practice stomping like crushing a can with their feet.
A couple of keys to stomping are to keep your weight on the object you’re stepping on, squat down slightly to put your weight on the stomp, and keep your leg slightly bent so you don’t hyperextend it as you perform the technique.
Stomping is easy and doesn’t require a lot of practice. It is effective and can be used if you are the one in the altercation or, as I have described, to help someone else. Work hard at your practice and you’ll have an effective tool if you ever need it.