Usually when we talk about street self defense and tactics we talk about how to control an aggressor when they actually attack you. What many martial artists don't often talk about is what to do in the run up before the aggressor attacks, what to do when the situation is hotting up and violence is about to rear it's ugly head.
What if you could gain complete control of your opponent before he even gets a chance to make any kind of move on you?
What if you could control someone in this situation without them even knowing it? Well, with The Fence, you can do exactly that. Not only will you be able to control your opponent with this technique, you will also be in just the right position to counter any attack that is made against you.
It's All about Control
So in basic terms, the fence is all about control of your opponent, physically and psychologically. This what Geoff Thompson, the creator of The Fence concept, had in mind when he came up with the technique. He worked the doors for a long time and he wanted a way to completely control a potential attacker and keep himself safe at the same time, and to Geoff's credit, he has succeeded on both these fronts.
In one of my previous articles I talked about the three A's of self defense, which are: attitude, awareness, action.
The Fence is brought into play at the action stage, when your attitude and awareness haven't allowed you to escape the situation at hand and you are left with no choice but to stand and deal with it.
I have always advocated escaping potentially violent confrontations, by whatever means, first of all. This isn't always possible though. Sometimes, for whatever reason (not for egotistical reasons I hope) you have to stay and confront whoever is being aggressive towards you. You simply don't have a choice and this is were The Fence comes in.
In a street self defense situation you usually have someone in your face, shouting and being abusive towards you, building up to smacking you one. Most people react to this kind of abuse and posturing by being abusive right back and getting involved in a stare of or pushing and shoving contest before the fists start to fly. Reacting to aggression with more aggression is only adding fuel to the fire. Not only that, it draws you into the red mist and your thinking skills go out the window. When you get to the red mist stage you begin to operate on pure adrenalin and rage. Tactics go out the window and all you want to then do is beat down and dominate whoever is in front of you. You become an animal, in other wards, and you don't want that, because animals don't have much control, which as we know is bad in a self [quote]defense situation, especially when you have to deal with the law after wards. "I just lost it," will not stand up in court when you try to explain how you went from defending yourself to fighting. So we use The Fence instead, to control the situation and keep our cool. Without your thinking skills still present the technique will not work because you have to consciously control whoever is in front of you.
The basic technique consists of you laying your hands on both arms of your antagonist, effectively trapping them, but doing so in the most natural way possible. It's like when you are trying to calm someone down, you would usually place your hands on a persons arms. It's a natural response most people have to someone who is on the verge of loosing control. It's the same thing with The Fence, you still have to come across as being natural, all the while talking your antagonist down, reassuring them that there is no problem here, why don't we all just calm down. the only difference here is that you are ready for an outburst of violence. If they go hit you your hands are already in place to block the attack and counter it with one of your own. Your opponent has no chance if you do this right because you should be one step ahead of them. You should be expecting them to strike and you will be ready. Sometimes just controlling them in this way will be enough and they willlcalm down and the situation will be over. If it leads to violence then at least you are ready for it. You are in place to take them down, rather than standing at a distance and giving them the chance to hit you.
The technique takes some practice to get right so that it all feels natural and it doesn't come across too much like you are trying to control your antagonist. You have to stay loose and not grip your antagonist's arms too much. It's very simple, yet difficult to really master.
Get to Know The Fence
If you can master controlling an opponent in that way then you will have no need to get into drawn out confrontations because you will have controlled and dominated your opponent even before they have thrown a single punch. This to me is the ultimate self defense tactic and beats all others hands down without a shadow of a doubt.
The only situation I can't see the fence working in is one were there are multiple opponents involved, as you obviously can't control them all at once. Your options are severely limited here. If you can't run the only option is the preemptive strike and to try and take out as many of them first before they all crowd in on you.
Get to know the fence and its intricacies though. If any street self defense technique is worth learning it's this one.
Trust me, you won't regret the time you spend on it.
For more street self defense techniques visit my site: urbansamurai.org.uk
Neal Martin is a writer and martial artist with over twenty-five years training experience. He also runs his website Urban Samurai, the martial arts resource for urban warriors containing expert training tips and advice as well as quality articles on technique, martial arts culture, thought and opinion. Visit the site at urbansamurai.org.uk and be inspired. All styles/experience welcome.What if you could gain complete control of your opponent before he even gets a chance to make any kind of move on you?
It's All about Control
So in basic terms, the fence is all about control of your opponent, physically and psychologically. This what Geoff Thompson, the creator of The Fence concept, had in mind when he came up with the technique. He worked the doors for a long time and he wanted a way to completely control a potential attacker and keep himself safe at the same time, and to Geoff's credit, he has succeeded on both these fronts.
In one of my previous articles I talked about the three A's of self defense, which are: attitude, awareness, action.
The Fence is brought into play at the action stage, when your attitude and awareness haven't allowed you to escape the situation at hand and you are left with no choice but to stand and deal with it.
I have always advocated escaping potentially violent confrontations, by whatever means, first of all. This isn't always possible though. Sometimes, for whatever reason (not for egotistical reasons I hope) you have to stay and confront whoever is being aggressive towards you. You simply don't have a choice and this is were The Fence comes in.
In a street self defense situation you usually have someone in your face, shouting and being abusive towards you, building up to smacking you one. Most people react to this kind of abuse and posturing by being abusive right back and getting involved in a stare of or pushing and shoving contest before the fists start to fly. Reacting to aggression with more aggression is only adding fuel to the fire. Not only that, it draws you into the red mist and your thinking skills go out the window. When you get to the red mist stage you begin to operate on pure adrenalin and rage. Tactics go out the window and all you want to then do is beat down and dominate whoever is in front of you. You become an animal, in other wards, and you don't want that, because animals don't have much control, which as we know is bad in a self [quote]defense situation, especially when you have to deal with the law after wards. "I just lost it," will not stand up in court when you try to explain how you went from defending yourself to fighting. So we use The Fence instead, to control the situation and keep our cool. Without your thinking skills still present the technique will not work because you have to consciously control whoever is in front of you.
The basic technique consists of you laying your hands on both arms of your antagonist, effectively trapping them, but doing so in the most natural way possible. It's like when you are trying to calm someone down, you would usually place your hands on a persons arms. It's a natural response most people have to someone who is on the verge of loosing control. It's the same thing with The Fence, you still have to come across as being natural, all the while talking your antagonist down, reassuring them that there is no problem here, why don't we all just calm down. the only difference here is that you are ready for an outburst of violence. If they go hit you your hands are already in place to block the attack and counter it with one of your own. Your opponent has no chance if you do this right because you should be one step ahead of them. You should be expecting them to strike and you will be ready. Sometimes just controlling them in this way will be enough and they willlcalm down and the situation will be over. If it leads to violence then at least you are ready for it. You are in place to take them down, rather than standing at a distance and giving them the chance to hit you.
The technique takes some practice to get right so that it all feels natural and it doesn't come across too much like you are trying to control your antagonist. You have to stay loose and not grip your antagonist's arms too much. It's very simple, yet difficult to really master.
Get to Know The Fence
If you can master controlling an opponent in that way then you will have no need to get into drawn out confrontations because you will have controlled and dominated your opponent even before they have thrown a single punch. This to me is the ultimate self defense tactic and beats all others hands down without a shadow of a doubt.
The only situation I can't see the fence working in is one were there are multiple opponents involved, as you obviously can't control them all at once. Your options are severely limited here. If you can't run the only option is the preemptive strike and to try and take out as many of them first before they all crowd in on you.
Get to know the fence and its intricacies though. If any street self defense technique is worth learning it's this one.
Trust me, you won't regret the time you spend on it.
For more street self defense techniques visit my site: urbansamurai.org.uk
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