How to Survive a Gang Attack... 

By Idai Makaya

A lot of the discussions we hold on the topic of self-protection relate to dealing with single opponents. The reality, though, is that the threat is often from large groups of ‘cowards’ – in line with the advice given regularly on this site about the fact that most attackers will attack under circumstances such that their chances of failure are negligible. Most attackers are risk-averse and if you are attacked, the chances of you actually winning are, by definition of the situation, next to nothing.

This is why the concept of New Age Self Defense is so heavily weighted in favour of prediction and avoidance. I will reiterate that the prediction of the outcomes of evolving situations and the avoidance of potential danger are - by far - the most effective ways of dealing with the threat of group attacks.

A group of 3 or 4 thugs (with individuals of even half your strength capabilities) will still have a good chance of beating you in a fight - if they made a decent effort of it.

This does not mean that you cannot defend yourself from large groups of attackers with success, because you can. But the chances of successfully doing so are extremely low, regardless of how well you acquit yourself in combat – it’s simply a statistical and situational reality of group attacks. That is why certain types of people tend to congregate in large gangs – doing so actually offers them genuine security in violent situations. However, being in a ‘street gang’ – by its social definition – actually significantly increases your chances of being violated.

Here are the ‘definitions.’ Being in gangs is dangerous but being in a large group can provide extra security. It’s like a play on words, but it’s the truth – the type of group/aggregation signifies the attitude and intent associated with it. Gangs are negative because a gang mentality signifies a negative type of ‘group mentality’ - whereas groups of individuals are actually a positive thing.

Back to the challenge of gang assaults. How do we deal with them? Not easily, unfortunately. All the rules of dealing with one-on-one conflicts will still apply, but with the sole aim of getting away and with no other alternative considerations. 

You must never consider any option other than successful escape in managing group attack scenarios.

Even when dealing with an ‘apparent’ sole attacker you must still remain alert and constantly monitor the full 360 degree view around you – in case an unidentified accomplice springs to action and attacks you from behind. This is why you must aim to get away from the area of an attack (or a fight) as quickly as you can (whether or not you may be winning).

Some members of a surrounding crowd could actually be allied to your attacker and may be waiting to pounce on you when you least expect it. Be alert and be vigilant. Whenever you make a run for it (after delivering a successful pre-emptive strike), ensure that you are not being pursued. If you are being chased, ensure that you are looking out for other potential attackers and are moving to safety - and not towards isolation or dead ends. Know your environment and study new ones thoroughly. Escape-techniques form the bulk of the fighting strategy for surviving group assaults.

As alluded to earlier, the pre-emptive strike is just as important as ever – once violence has become unavoidable. But your safe escape is even more crucial. Remember, even Olympic athletes will battle to sprint for more than 400 metres - despite training exclusively to do so. If you are pursued by a gang and you are not fit, you’ll be caught soon enough. Even if you are fit, some of the pursuing gang members will sprint you down - while the remaining ones follow at a more conservative pace, like a pack of wolves.

Your initial sprint escape will finish you off, eventually, in such a scenario - and you will be compelled to stop. The same will probably be true for the closely pursuing group, of course – but not so for the second group, following further behind. So although you will be as tired as the closely pursuing group, the one further back will be fresher and better able to fight. This will spell almost certain disaster for you.

So the first rule of successful escape is to know your environment well - or to study any new environment in detail in order to map out potential escape routes (well in advance of any actual confrontation occurring). Cars should be parked, whenever possible, in a ‘getaway position’ - even when you park at home.

If you are attacked and manage to flee – with or without using a pre-emptive strike first – run for safety in populated areas (not because members of the population present there will help you) - they probably wont, because they are likely to be groups of unconnected individuals (and not gangs). You should do this because populated areas are likely to offer more routes for escape and concealment - and they are also likely to dispirit some attacking groups (or limit the extent of any subsequent assault which does occur). Even serious criminals don’t want to commit crimes in full public view and the committing of serious crimes in full public view is actually uncommon. Avoid damage at all costs - but if it’s unavoidable, minimise it.

Sometimes an isolated area WILL work as a better escape route than a crowded one – if you are not familiar with the streets where you are trying to escape and you have a meaningful lead over the pursuers. You can then hide well in a vegetated area if you can keep completely still - and if it is dark – and you will still have the option to run again if discovered. Pre-emptive striking helps create a bigger gap from pursuers but it also makes their retaliation more committed – so only strike if there is no alternative and/or if you are confident that the pursuers will run faster than you can so that a bigger head-start is required.

If you are run down, or simply cornered into having to fight, do your best to stay standing and keep your head away from the ground. Look out especially for weapons and fight fiercely so that only the most committed members of the group are motivated to engage directly with you.

Another technique that can work if you are cornered and are convinced that violence is inescapable is to pick out just one member of the group and severely attack just that individual. This approach is especially effective if you are a much better one-on-one fighter than the individual you select and if the group is not very cohesive – which is often the case with gang attacks.

It also works really well if you are a very good fighter and if you pick out the leader of the group and annihilate him/her. It has to happen quickly and you must always attack first in this sort of situation. The pre-emptive attack in such situations is used to impose control and show aggression - because if the leader attacks you the rest of the gang will often follow suit moments later. You will have lost control of the confrontation if you are attacked first.

In such instances, if your pre-emptive attack is delivered effectively and with extreme ferocity and conviction - the less committed members of the group often become de-motivated and disengage from the violence. The mentality generated in instances where you single out one gang member is such that it becomes something of a personal confrontation between just 2 individuals (you and the chosen gang member), with the gang interested (but no longer motivated enough to take up the cause against you).

It is only advisable to do this when you have no other option and nothing to lose and it is only worth doing if you are able to fight (or are reasonably strong). Such an approach is not guaranteed to work - but this strategy is especially successful when the confrontation happens in a public area and is preceded by some sort of verbal engagement. It is also more likely to succeed in daylight and when one of the attacking group is particularly keen on hurting you and has rallied the others to join a cause not originally their own (the gang will be less committed under such circumstances). This strategy is especially unnerving for gangs as a direct result of gang mentality - it is not expected when a victim behaves in this exceptionally aggressive manner despite the odds being stacked against him/her and such gangs are cowardly, by definition.

My final piece of advice (and the most important piece of advice to be gathered from this report) is to “avoid being caught in multiple opponent situations at all costs.” There are no guarantees in self defense once violence has broken out and your chances are slimmer still, when you are attacked by more than one opponent.