Head butts for self-defense

Everyone has seen Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Segal and Chuck Norris use a head butt. More than likely, you have cringed in sympathy for either the star of the show or his evil but under matched opponent.

The simple fact is you don’t have to be an expert in martial arts to use a head butt affectively. Even a small child can be taught to use head butts against a much older and larger assailant. Women can find it a Godsend when a potential rapist is trying to wrestle them into submission and most wives will vouch for the hardness of a man’s head.

The most effective surface areas to use for a head butt are the forehead, the back above the occipital area and the upper parts of the sides.

When deciding to use a head butt, it is important to be committed to the act. Halfway or cringing will not get the desired effect against a determined assailant. You want to make sure you strike your attacker in the nose and mouth area if you are to the front. If you are close to the side of his head, try to hit the temple area around the ears.

Often when an adult is abducting a child he will be carried in a bear hug in front of the kidnapper towards a vehicle or secluded area. The child’s back will be pressed up against the chest of his attacker so he or she will want to execute a head butt using the back of the skull. Teach your child to try to relax his neck so the chin will drop forwards onto his own chest. If possible he should even hunch his shoulders to give a greater swing range. After the chin has touched the chest your child should be taught to slam his head backwards as hard and quickly as he can. With luck, your child will hit the kidnapper squarely in the nose or mouth.

While your child is doing this, teach him to start running in mid air while trying to kick him or herself in the rear. Since the child is being held in front and hopefully has caused the kidnapper to stagger, the flying heals will often travel up between the legs and be lead straight to the groin of the captor.

This head butt and running technique can also be affective for women against much larger men. For women and men dealing with an opponent that can’t lift you off the ground, use the same dropping of chin but follow it up with a heal stomp to the attackers toes and insteps.

If you are being grabbed or choked and you are facing your attacker, you will want to use your own forehead as the striking point. The idea of slamming your face towards someone else’s often will cause hesitation or downright refusal to execute the strike. One thing that must be remembered is that when you are dead, you won’t care if you have a bruise or bump on your forehead. Besides that, it can almost be guaranteed that someone at the funeral will comment on how well you look anyway so you may as well give it your best shot.

Again, you want to hit the bridge of the attacker’s nose or if you miss that, his mouth and lip area. A good square hit to the nose will cause sever pain and bleeding as well as the swelling of both eyes. If hard enough, it will also disorientate your assailant allowing you a moment of his confusion to follow up the strike with another move to escape.

When attempting to make a hit to the side of his head, you will often be fighting with your side parallel to his. To strike him using the upper side of your head, try to drop the shoulder farthest from your attacker, loll your head as far into that direction as possible and the with the same sudden, forceful strike, yank your head into his.

Most people have heard how a blow to a person’s temple can cause brain damage or death. It is unlikely that you will have enough force to accomplish this so don’t worry about inflicting permanent harm to your attacker. You can be sure he has plans to injure you.

Everyone using these techniques should be vocal while doing so. Yell, scream, curse and do everything in your power to attract a passerby’s attention. Another way to focus your power is to exhale your breath when you make a strike. Under duress, a person often wants to hold their breath, this will not aide but can actually hinder you. A good solid hit from the attacker to your solar plexus (bread basket) will cause you to loose your breath and be momentarily disabled. If you exhale as you strike, the muscles in the abdomen will of the keep this from occurring.

After you have executed your head butt, don’t stop. Add kicks, punches, rake the eyes and face, strike them in the groin or throat and continue until you are free. Once you are free it is vital that you leave the scene immediately and go for help. Movie stars may be magnanimous by sticking around to give their opponents a chance to get to their feet and continue to the fight. You on the other hand don’t have a choreographer to set up each technique and a director to call a beginning and end to the action. On the other hand, you do have your life to give as payment if your attacker decides to get up and take another shot at you.