Can You Fight Multiple Attackers? 

I said "exponential" instead of "quadratic." My bad. I'm sure you all get the point, though.

The techniques to fight multiple attackers is to have friends or a gun. Maybe even to have friends with guns! It was the power of friendship all along!

This reminds me of the concept called "The Conservation of Ninjutsu ". If a movie character is approached by a lone ninja, it's going to be an extremely difficult fight . If a movie character is approached by 6 ninjas, each one is getting washed by 2 punches or less. People like to imagine fighting multiple people the way it's shown in the movies, where all of the attackers are weak and incompetent

I once worked security. I’m a pretty short guy 5’5” and sort of stocky but lean. My shift partner’s 5’8” pretty lean as well. We had to deal with an unarmed intruder one night and he was a mountain of a man. Two against one. Me and my friend can both fight. This guy looked like he could hit hard. But we beat him pretty easy. Held him down till the cops took him away. That’s only two against one. He was big, both me and my partner were small guys with basic wrestling and MMA skills so yes, we presumably had a better fight IQ than him, but my point is: who’s to say that the two or more guys you’re defending against can’t fight. Almost every self defence tutorial seem to assume the multiple attackers they’ll get can’t fight.

I beat Ornstein and Smough first time so I’m pretty sure I’m more than capable of handling multiple bosses at once.

Having been jumped multiple times in my younger days, the best way to fight multiple attackers is as follows: be lucky, or get good enough at parkour that they can't catch you anymore.

While I agree with most of what you are saying, there is some value in learning tactics that only work against multiple idiots that suck at fighting. Sometimes escaping is not an option and dying is not a comfortable option either. Even an unreliable approach is better than certain death.

I think the phrase "It can happen, but if that's your plan, you're stupid." is quickly becoming my favourite of yours lol

I like how you put snippets of captured street fights in your videos to support your arguments. keep it up :)

One time I was running a karate class in my then instructor's absence. For the warmup, as there were only 3 of us, myself included, we took turns having 2 of us rain down punches on the 3rd while he backs up, covers up and just tries to keep his composure. I'm a 2nd Dan, but I ended up eating a lot of punches. Knowing what you can't do is just as important, if not more so, than knowing what you can do.

Speaking as a doorman of over 15 years and had hundreds of varied encounters I can speak with confidence that grappling is useless to you and will get you hurt or killed, the only hope you have with multiple attackers is have 1 to 3 well drilled strikes, drilled to the level of tens of thousands of times so you know you've got knock out power. Then it's about posturing and positioning. Geoff Thompson, Lee Morrison are your guys to learn from. Not from a guy who's never been there and done it.

I like that you touched on power level haha. I mean, maybe a very skilled and athletic person could potentially take on 3-4 people who have no clue how to fight, but all it takes is that one person in the group who knows an increment of what they're doing to take more attention and time (via grappling) to give their buddies an opening. Well done video as always!

I have 40 years of martial arts training as well as military and law enforcement. I have been in several fights with multiple attackers and I can honestly say, that I have not won a single fight. Oh, I take that back, there was one. I was undercover once and attacked by 3 guys. I had my duty baton in my pocket and was able to hold them off for the minute or so it took for my cover agents to get in the door and save my ass. When I was a law enforcement DT instructor I cringed when all LE started teaching BJJ for officers. While I love BJJ and there is a place for it, how do you protect your duty weapon when you are using your hands to grapple with a guy. How do you defend against the buddies who are kicking and punching you while you are on the ground (yes that has happened to me). The best strategy to beat multiple attackers is to have a knife or a gun.

Such an underrated channel.

Funny... you are dressed as The Batman but are clearly The Riddler :)

lol your such a smartass. that's a compliment- your cheeky humor style is greatly cherished. your material is very dispelling and the questions you ask and responses/answers you give are exactly what martial artists and fighters need to hear. i suspect that in the not-too-distant future, subscribers will begin flooding in. keep on truckin', my dude.

I believe the biggest factor is the commitment from the multiple attackers. Most people who have a clue how to fight don't want to fight. So your odds of fighting 1 much less 2 people who know how to fight is pretty slim if you're an average bloke. It's really easy to break the will of the uncommitted.

I agree with your comment, "I just hate when people act like beating 4-5 people is something anyone can do with a little bit of training, when it's really only something that large, gifted people can do after a crap-ton of training." Back when I was training for these kinds of fights, and consequentially winning these fights when they happened. I was part of a group of like individuals who were all professionally trained martial artists. We were all training 10-20 hours a week. Which included 5 hours of sparring. That is is after more then a decade of training and experience. Also, I was 6'5" and 400lbs. Yeah, this isn't something you are going to take a couple of classes for and magically turn into a badass. But just understanding the strategies can make a big difference even for unskilled fighters, though their chances of winning are significantly worse. Also, most of time, you are fighting fairly weak opponents. Skilled fighters aren't traveling in groups looking to beat people up for fun. It takes a lot of discipline to be good. And people with self control don't just go around attacking people. Especially not in groups. Typically it is cowards who aren't confident in their skill that fight in groups. The last time I got jumped by four guys, I just let them hit me in the face. After a minute or two, or what felt like it, I adopted a boxer's stance. Said, "I'm done screwing around." They said, "Oh shit." and ran away. No one got hurt. I had few bruises but no blood. People significantly overestimate the skill of these idiots who feel tougher in groups. And yes, all the training in the world doesn't guarantee a win but it does improve your odds.

Those videos of those MMA 5 on 5s kinda show what happens when attempting to fight off multiple attackers. After one team loses a guy, it's almost a guarantee that team loses.

Jake fighting that uphill battle convincing people that "no win situations" exist and no matter how hard you prepare there are a metric shit ton of no win situations that you can be put in and no amount of training will bring you out of it.

I really like this video. As someone who has had to fight multiple opponents several times as I live in a very violent area, I can say for me I had success due to a combination of luck, being a lot stronger than my opponents, having an incredibly lethal punch and in some of those fights my attackers were inebriated. On one occasion I got swarmed so fast It was impossible to defend myself and I nearly got kicked to death. If it wasn't for my brother and a couple friends showing up I'm convinced I would have died. 13 years on I still suffer with memory problems and severe dizzy spells as a result.

For my black belt test I had to take on 5 separate opponents, at the same time. we were technically supposed to only make light contact, so I lived. If you can beat more than one opponent, you must be Icy mike.

“Dude I had a sifu who beat 10 guys in a bar and and he ripped out a guys cheek.” This guy I worked with.

There are 2 forms I studied that are great against multiple attackers. Communications and Track.

While I agree that fighting multiple opponents is extremely difficult, that's not to say there isn't value in training it. Several reasons in no particular order: 1) You might be forced into that situation and its better to have some plan than just give up. 2) Some gangs are quite weak individuals and you just need to do enough damage that they reconsider. 3) In a training environment its a fun exercise. 4) Maybe there are multiple combatants on both sides, and while you might be temporarily outnumbered, you just need to hold your own until you buddies can help you out. I understand you are trying to debunk martial arts that claim to be "effective" against multiple attackers, but while there are no "magic" techniques, there are strategies that can improve your chances and are better than nothing. If nothing else, training situational awareness and positioning is always time well spent. Granted, if you want to specialize in ring fighting there are probably other things to focus on, depends what you are training for.

I'm glad you're basically making the point that real life isn't an action movie.

I did see a video of what looked like a Chinese man outside of a hotel being attacked by what looked like 10 to 20 other possibly Chinese men. He did manage to backtrack and knock down/out a few of the attackers while stringing the others along in a line for a minute or so. And then he was promptly overwhelmed and beaten.

There is one way to win against a group: (if you are big , so running is not an option ;) It's not about tactics, but psychologies. Pick the biggest one or obvious leader, INSTANTLY charge on him not giving the group a chance to position. All in, no defense, you only have one try. Break his nose or add significant damage to him within the first seconds, with the help of surprise. Most of the time, the group is not expecting the single guy to attack. Then turn to the rest of the group and ask who wants to be next showing no fear and move SLOWLY FORWARD to the second biggest to give the group time to leave you alone. If you directly attack the next one, you do not have the surprise anymore, so it´s very unlikely to bring him down quickly, and the other will very likely help their buddy in this case and bring you down. If they are bullies and nobody wants to be the first to take the next hit --> you made it (typical bar brawl). Done this, seen this. If they are fighters, probably you would have failed from the get go, but anyway now you are fucked.

My technique is that you could pick up objects and throw them while running and keeping the distance😂

Martial arts is the only place where a guy who's never fought anyone, can tell people who have, that the things they've done in those fights are impossible.

The best skill you can learn for For fighting multiple people or Self defense is situational awareness if You know what's going on around you you can usually avoid it

I worked in prison for 5 years, and there are some huge, very tough guys in there. Still never saw anybody defend successfully against two or more officers.

What’s funny is we always think about fight multiple people with our fists instead of weapons. You probably have a better chance of beating three people in a machete fight than a fist fight. The same way it’s much easier to kill multiple people at a time in call of duty than halo. The faster the kill time the more likely you can kill them before they can kill you. In halo it’s basically impossible to will against 2 or three people. It’s difficult not impossible in cod. A lethal weapon that allows you to disable an opponent quickly is the only real chance. Even something like a knife or screwdriver which are relatively low power weapons still mean that you can reliably end an attack with one strike providing they don’t stop you. That’s not true with any unarmed strike. Even if your wee mile Tyson it’s still possible you take his best shot. No one can keep fighting with a knife through his temple. This why we need and should use weapons.

I once worked as a bouncer in Waikiki, in the early 1970s, at the Beef 'n' Grog Nightclub. *** For its 'era', it was the worst nightclub, on Waikiki. *** Drunk Vietnam War veterans, were fighting, the drunk local street fighting thugs. *** As a bouncer, I had to separate, and eject both sides. *** You had to fight multiple people. *** Most of the Waikiki bouncers, of that era, possessed one punch knock out skills. *** We were all active boxers & active martial arts practitioners.

“If that’s your plan, you’re stupid.” A man after my own heart.

I'm a professional fighter in the national team, won multiple professional championships in multiple martial arts, been in 5 street fights with multiple attackers and based on my experience in them i want to point out a couple of things 1. You have to be lucky, if there's only one or two that really know how to fight you'll get some whooping 2. If one of them has a knife or any weapon just avoid the fight at all costs 3. Speed, power and accuracy are your best friends 4. aim to the nose, mouth, jaws and sometimes eyebrows 5. remember to hit effectively every punch counts 6. Don't kick , i cannot stress this enough, usually the pants you're wearing are not good for kicking also the ground will usually be very bad for kicking and this is coming from someone who loves kicks 7. if you're gonna kick you have to kick very low like a sweep or something 8. hit and move very fast 9. If they're more than 5 you definitely have no chance 10. If it's not worth it then don't fight, learn how to talk yourself out of a fight, it's better to make friends more than enemies

Nah man I could do it. I'm pretty sure I can totally take out my whole kids BJJ class by myself.

thank you so much for the reality check, i now feel better about walking away from fights with multiple guys knowing i cannot do it

I was with four friends and we were standing outside a pub (on a UK high street, Friday night) deciding where to go next when we were attacked by two guys. Two loud, aggressive but very weedy guys. They were so drunk and pathetic one of them fell over and briefly knocked himself out before any of his punches connected. The other one kept swinging and grabbing at a friend of mine who was an amateur kickboxing champion. My friend showed maximum restraint and only gave the guy a couple of mild shoves. He too ended up on the deck. We had to move away at this point because some passers-by who hadn't seen what happened assumed that we were the aggressors standing over our 'victims'. Anyway, as we walked off the same two guys started to pick a fight with the people who had just helped them up off the pavement. And then a group of women steamed into the fray, joined by their boyfriends. Is there a serious point to this story? Choose very carefully when and where you stand around to have a chat on a night out. Being in a group of any size and staying in one place for too long can make you a magnet or target for idiots.

OMFG the martial arts community desperately needs your channel

Good video and good points. Before I transitioned to Muay Thai, we used to spar 2 against 1, and even 3 against 1 in TKD. It was possible, with a little training, to keep the opponents in line most of the time. Sparring against 3 was almost impossible and required great movement and a huge skill advantage. Having said that, there is a major factor lacking in the equation, and that is motivation. Not everyone will always be motivated to give 100%, especially if they are in a group. Fighting a highly motivated group is, likely with extremely few exceptions, not a fight - it is an assault or an assassination. However, if you are very skilled and fight a group that is less motivated and less skilled, you may still have a chance if you can't run away. I have two friends who have beaten up five attackers - one of them was one of the best MMA fighters on the planet, and the other guy looked like Butterbean and was a national boxing champion. It can be done.

This is gospel, here. I know a "karate" guy (a 33 year old who hasn't actually trained since he was 12) who swears that the Isshin Ryu he learned for 3 years when he was a kid is enough to defeat any amount of attackers. I offered to pressure test his hypothesis in a live spar (I was training MMA and BJJ under Cesar Cabrera, Colton Smith, and Matt Larsen at the time) and he flatly refused. I offered once again while we were in a public social gathering and again he declined (and looked like a total bitch boy in front of the whole group). People love to exist inside their confirmation bias and SME (Self-evaluation Maintenance Theory) don't they?

Basically, this video is saying: ''Do not let anime or movies fool you that you can fight multiple opponents in whatever martial arts you know in a fight''

Agree completely, first thing and most important it does not workout at all like you imagined or trained for, as someone who has fought the standard drunken, soft, untrained office worker types successfully and then fought the hard, trained, partially drunk cowboys arguably unsuccessfully, I was very slowly but surely losing. They just kept getting back up and attacking, the arrival of the police put an end to a long drawn out messy street brawl. For me it was a great wake up call to the reality’s of fighting multiple opponents. Even for a very fit, trained fighter with a reasonable amount of experience it was a bruising experience. So even though I was still standing and engaging I ended up with concussion, I got hit a lot. Mainly around the back and sides of my head and body. Luckily nobody brought out a knife. So my advice to my past self is practise verbal judo, disengage and disappear, if that fails or is not practical use a force multiplier and or hope someone steps in and helps out. Heads up don’t rely on spectators stepping in they seem to enjoy watching but that’s it. Point of interest in the fight I was losing the Police were initially going to arrest me !, and it was 3 against one. So the legalities of violence in the street is another whole conversation.

Lol thank you for this. Every time I see a dramatized multiple opponent scenario, the aggressors never do it right, likely for the benefit of the demonstration or fight scene. If guy #1 ties up your arms, either by throwing punches or grappling, and while you’re dealing with that, guy #2 circles and hits you with a double leg, there’s not much you can do, and no martial art or training system will help you. Maybe a weapon, if you’ve practiced that situation. Maybe.

I can easily beat multiple attackers, I just invite my assailants to the bar and buy a couple rounds for the bois

As someone who has actually been in a two on one fight it is harder than hell. Good vid dude.

Really great video. Very informative while covering material that apparently was already covered sufficiently (when it hadn't) with just a touch of humor (without going into jerk territory).

One thing I have to say is that you might be able to fight off multiple opponents at once, because it does happen, but it often involves people attacking the group first, being damn good at fighting and practically trying to kill attackers. It won't work if you just hit three dudes in the face with power that it barely enough to make it slightly bloody. You need to be the type of guy that can take pretty much anyone in a 1v1, even if it's unfair and opponent doesn't use same martial arts / unpredictable amateur, be violent and, most importantly, BE TRAINED FOR THAT. Even if you're good in 1v1, you have to TRAIN to fight MULTIPLE opponents. Like, you master 1v1, you move to 1v2 and so on. I bet you never will win consistently, especially against TRAINED fighters, but you will be more comfortable with the situation that you have practiced before. It's easy to say "Just move like that and turn 1v4 into 4 1v1s", but what if you don't have the space to? What if there are people with you? What if you're injured / tired? There is too many variables to street fights even against ONE opponent.

Effectively, as mentioned, it sounds like the main way to beat multiple opponents is the same way you beat one opponent, but multiply the difficulty. Which honestly, I feel like you don't even need to have a very violent scenario to see how difficult that can be, all you need is to be the biggest guy in a room full of small, hyperactive children who like to wrestle. As an uncle, my nieces are about half my size each, entirely unskilled, and I could easily lift each of them with one arm- But if they're determined enough, they can hold me down and I won't be able to do anything about it. Now replace me going easy on my nieces with a life or death scenario with two full grown men, and you go from mildly difficult to nearly impossible, and throw in a third person and then you have an encounter which is dangerous even if I'm armed and they're not. You can even see this in real life, if there's someone with a knife or a gun in a group of people, 7 times out of 10, that person is going to be dragged, tossed to the ground, pinned down, and then disarmed until the police show up. The primary ways to beat a group, are to either be dramatically more dangerous than them, or to look like you are, and hope that intimidation will make them hesitate long enough to give you an opportunity. It's a fictional character, but even most reasonably written stories involving Batman fighting multiple people will say, it's not because Batman is able to overpower them, he knows he can't, it's because people are fucking terrified to fight him, and even that little bit of hesitation is an exploitable weakness, of which you'll need to exploit A LOT to stand a chance. It's not about "being stronger", it's about breaking their confidence so they don't even try. Which is how I got my nieces to stop trying to ambush me on their own- Now my nephew joins in as well. (Please send help)

Great video, and as a maths nerd I wanted to say that actually you're completely right! The square law of multiple attackers was really interesting and completely right within the simplified video game model which is probably a very suitable model for thinking about it quantitatively and gets to the crux of the problem directly: increasing N affects two factors (the attack power and durability) that multiply together to give D. Even when you do consider the effect of opponents getting eliminated one by one, reducing the "damage" output of the other side over time, the overall difficulty STILL increases quadratically because it becomes the sum of integers up to N (which has a formula 0.5(n^2+n)) which is an even more obvious way of framing it to show that the amount the danger increases by increases with each new attacker added.

Yet, people do it successfully every day. Nobody said it would be easy. It’s a fight.

I remember times when we were training such things. The main thing that I learned, is that you are buying time. Time to get somebody to help, time to find an opening to escape, time for someone to call for the cops etc etc...but eventually you're going to be out numbered. And when I'm speaking about time, I'm meaning seconds, 20 seconds is a long time in a said situation.

5:37 ahh yes my favorite video game, lazy town XD

Unless you're batman fighting multiple trained attackers that are armed with knives, clubs, and guns is just impossible.

"All that theorizing and where did it lead you? BACK TO GRAPPLING!!" 🤣🤣 literally everytime

One becomes overwhelmed quickly. Even if you can read all of them, you cant react to them all at once.

Wile it's a good reality check video. Training against multiple opponents even if it relies opponents' lack of competence is still better than not having any training at all. If you are in a situation, where you can't run away, it's good to have a strategy in mind. And you dismissing the strategy of moving out of the line is short sighted. Yes, opponents can re-align, but that's the point, you want them to be constantly moving rather than simply attacking you. Opponents that have to constantly reposition will have less balance and ability to attack effectively, than when you stand in one place. And by constantly moving away you farther protect yourself from hard hits. On top of that you can expand farther on it by taking advantage of environment you are in, in some places you can find obstacles or other layouts, where they would have to line up in order o get you.

Today i was attacked by 3 guys(18-20yrs old local wannabe gangsters) and they approached me while iv just finished my workout(this took place on the local calisthenics park). my muscles were swore and i was exhausted.(im 1.75cm 62kg lean with some boxing experience) first i tried to avoid the conflict by asking whats their problem etc when suddenly one of them loaded a big punch towards me. i was aware of the body language so i avoid it with my guard on and a stepback. Then when they all tried to attack me i used much explosive punch faints so i could take some ground and dont back up(to show no fear) and they finally left after 2mins. what i think saved me was that i could manage the adrenaline hit from experience and keep calm so i stayed focused and dont get more tired. And guys let me tell you the first thing i thought was to run. stay safe! (sorry for my english)

is the law you're talking about at 5:15 the same as Lanchester's square law?

"The square law of multiple attackers", make sure your lawyer explains this concept to the jury in your defense when you had to use seemingly excessive force when outnumbered.

If you were going to fight them hand to hand, the best method would be to somehow take them one at a time. So presumably run and get each one as they catch up.

Your success depends on both your and your opponents' abilities. You can defeat weak opponents, but moderately strong ones will hurt you.

Running + boxing saved me in a 2v1 once. Comboed one guy and dashed under his counter while the other guy was trying to grab me from behind. I ran and didn't look back, only stopped when I didn't hear their footsteps behind me anymore. The positioning thing (dont' be between 2 guys), and grappling thing (don't any of the guys grab you) aren't necessarily bad points. The problem is people picking their win condition to be beating the shit out of their attackers. The moment you give up on running away is when everything you say in this video applies.

THANK YOU FINALLY SOMEONE WITH A REAL ANSWER. If I was there at those instructor examples I'd speak up and tell them to stop with the examples and just let them go at you and lets see what happens. I bet none of them will be able to do the same thing twice.

I love your videos, but as someone that has Ben in fight with two or more attackers more than once and held my own and sometimes one, it is very possible to overcome those odds! I have police documentation and witness testimony if this is possible! Best thing that I am a better fighter than anyone, some people are unnatural at what they do, however not everyone that train can do this. Great video my friend keep up the great work

Front kick Ball shots and fast movement seems like the best option against multiple people if you can’t run.

It's because the opponents *can* attack simoulatanously, no matter what kind of tactical genius you are

I have seen many attacks during my 16 years in Fed Prisons and 2 years in county jails. Without weapons, very few people are capable of doing much of anything. A truly strong striker can easily handle 2-3 guys, if he's ready for it.

In a situation where multiple attackers is unavoidable, I would grab a weapon to improve my odds. Fighting is no joke (especially with multiple attackers) and it could end with me being dead. Yes, it's not foolproof, but I think it would improve my chances. I may be wrong.

The best defense….be like Batman and instead of grappling use a grappling hook to escape to the nearest rooftop if you’ve successfully done this you will realize it’s only a dream and you just woke up from getting viscously stomped out.

Props for using the Villain No. 1 as the example of the boss-fight

Bear in mind not all group situations involve all them attacking in unison. Often it’s one troublemaker with loyal mates. Or loose groups some of whom aren’t involved at the start etc. If you end up on the ground, winning, his mates may step in and kick your head in. But if you knock him down they may not bother. Also you also may have friends will varying willingnesses to fight. Overall, and I say this as a BJJer and Judoka, I’d still rather not end up on the ground.

Haven’t watched the video yet but my answer is... *NO* Against multiple attackers... run, just run and the cops are always an option:)

Short answer, yes. Nuanced answer, NO. You can *engage* multiple opponents, but you still have to fight them one at a time, through tactical maneuvering. Keep all of them in front of you, where they get in each other's way. Saw a guy straight KTFO his wingman that way, in a bar fight.

The key to winning a fight against multiple attackers is to get attacked by the three stooges. It is interesting to think about what you would do to give yourself the best chance against multiple attackers, but any plan is going to rely on your opponents making cartoonish blunders (all of the advice pretty much boils down to giving your opponents as many opportunities as possible to slip on a banana peel). If you're being attacked by multiple attackers who also watch youtube, god help you. Come to think of it, isn't it interesting that there are no videos from the opposite perspective? "How to win when there's two of you against a single attacker" is a totally missing genre. Almost as if everyone intuitively knows that ganging up is really easy and effective.

One guy, bring it. Two guy, Canik. Three guys, AR-15. Firearms do aid in leveling the playung field but that's it. If people are determined enough, they can overwhelm.

"Is a bad plan." JINX!!! 😂😂🤣 Also loved your boss fight analogy. Your insight is amazing keep up the good work.

The only way to potentially "line them up" is to run away, hoping they have different sprinting speed. Fear/hormones will provide you with some extra running speed and near infinite stamina, of you choose to not fight and just keep running.

I'm a fan of your videos, but I would like to offer my point of view. You make it seem like the advice given don't work (not saying you are), which they probably won't, but it is the best you got if you have to fight 1 vs many. Before I'm going all crazy and defend the common advices given like a cult member (I promise I won't, I will try to be reasonable), these are the things you could consider on your own given advice: 1. You cannot always run away and even if you do you probably don't know where to. You either hit a dead end or get catched up by the gang making you end up in the same situation as before: a 1 vs many fight. Just take a look at SenseiSeth's parkour video. I'm not saying you cannot outrun them, I am saying that the chance exists that you will end up in the fight again. 2. Coming in a group is always a good idea, nothing to say about that. Always bring good friends. Good advice. 3. You should yell for help, but you cannot assume someone will help. It is like assuming someone can't fight. You should assume someone has the skills and you might as well assume nobody will come for help because of the Bystander Effect. Someone could fall over, crack their skull and all people do is watch, hesitate, idle, record and do nothing. It is a common phenomenon. And if there are no bystanders, then they won't have the confidence or courage to help. It is a fucked up dilemma: they have the numbers they do nothing, they don't have the numbers they do nothing. Even if someone came to help eventually, you still need to stall things out until help arrives which brings you back to the fight. 4. Drawing a weapon is as stupid as fighting dirty like how you explained in your "fighting dirty" video. Best case: they are there to whoop your ass. If you draw a weapon then they will draw a weapon. Instead of an asswhooping, now you get a shankbang. Bas Rutten once decided to take a broomstick in a 1 vs many fight and then all of them decided to do the same. Big mistake he said. Your problems did not just multiply, it just grew exponentially. Just take the beating, avoid making the situation worse. Now that I illustrated that 1 vs many is a reality that is not always escapable, you need tactics to handle these situations right? These are the things I noticed on your criticism on the common advices: 1. It is true that it should be emphasized better that it is impossible to avoid grappling, but that doesn't take away that trying to strike multiple opponents is less stupid than to grapple multiple opponents. Odds are slim for both cases, but higher for striking, because when you grapple you are committed to a single person. Trying to recover from a failed takedown is way worse than trying to recover from a strike. The basic idea of the advice would still be good advice but maybe not a reality. Again, it is the best you have in a 1 vs many situation that I and hopefully you too have acknowledged is not always escapable. 2. Same for lining people up. I know it is not easy, but theoretically it is better to line them up instead of standing in the middle and... waiting for them to come at you one at a time... Yes, stacking them is almost impossible, but I rather not gamble on not getting sandwitched. 3. Same for using their bodies as meatshields, not a reality but not bad advice in case you end up in the clinch which will likely happen. It gives them something to think about and you more time to think before you will get destroyed. Best case, someone came for help. Who knows? 4. As explained before, trying to outstrike them is the safer option between knocking them out and trying to hit them with gravity. Yes you might need luck, but it is a dire situation either way. Might as well try your luck considering the alternative is turning into a smurf. Essentially, you will get your ass kicked. That's the reality. You and I both wouldn't promote trying to go 90s kung fu on them, because that is not real. But I am trying to make a case for not NOT drilling multiple opponents, because if all else fails (running and yelling, please don't pull weapons) which very well could be, you are left with a handful of desperate tactics, a sad situation and a bit of luck, blessings from the gods and hope. You are already in a bad situation, why not use ALL the skills to stall until it gets better? Keep running, keep yelling, punch and stack if you have to until you get help or they get demotivated.

A bit late to the comment of this video. I was once almost surrounded by four guys. I chose to run and luckily got away. In security work I have always made sure I have distance and/or obstacles in the way…. or not approach at all and just call the cops. Getting into a physical altercation for near minimum wage isn’t worth it. I don’t know of anyone personally that has been able to take on multiple people.

Virtually impossible...for you.😒 "The weak will ALWAYS assume their limitations are your limitations...the weak will ALWAYS try to project their weakness onto the strong." 💯💪🏾🧔🏾‍♂️👍🏾

The video length suggests what we should do in this case

Fully agree! Been saying most of these same things for a long time now and it’s always been ridiculed. Though perhaps I’ve failed to articulate it as well, these points seem obvious to me.

I saw several YT videos showing boxing used in self defense situations. Self-defense boxing advocates against multiple attackers is to take the offensive. Use the simple combination of two or more left jabs then a strong right cross to the attacker's chin. This presupposes that your multiple attackers are untrained in boxing. But the camera video footage showed it worked. A street fight showed a guy doing just that. He took down two multiple attackers with simple jabs then a right cross. He didn't waste time. Down one dude then the next. There were a few others in the crowd but they backed off seeing two of their fellows on the ground. That would be the right time to turn around and run away.

Of course, you can fight multiple opponents just learn Ameri-do-te and you will learn the Hurticane - easy.

This is also called the Lanchester's square law, developed during the WW1.

I've always wondered how many people a well trained fighter can fight if they did come in one at a time, like the movies.

I once won a 3v1 fight. The key to success was that while they wanted to bruise me, I was willing to draw blood. Here's how it went: After an exchange of words, two of the three held me by each arm and the third started punching my gut. I managed to shove the guy holding my left arm off of me and on to the ground after which, with my newly freed hand, I somehow got the gut-puncher down as well and proceeded to kick his face a few times. Once this was done, while the third guy was still ineffectually holding on to my right arm, I punched his face once and probably split his lip open - it was kind of hard to tell, since he immediately went to the floor and put his hands over his face. The two guys that were now probably both bleeding started crying and took off running. The third, realizing he was alone against someone that just rekt his two friends, panicked, and also ran away. What I didn't mention was that I was in 2nd grade and these three chuckle heads were 4th graders. If all of us were adults, things would have ended very differently and at least two of us would have been sent to the hospital or possibly the morgue.

Aha but you forget that if your attackers come from perfect 90° angles the karate master will triumph! /s god I wish this video was more popular than it is. Many a mcdojo sensei needs the hear these truths.

If everyone is equally skilled and equally invested in attacking you then you are 100% correct. However, this aspect is not addressed. The fact that superior knowledge of fighting can give a distinct advantage by simply knowing where the off switches are. Like the very tip of the chin, liver, side base of the neck. The second thing is the psychological effect of not being fully invested in the fight. What I mean by that, is attacking the leader first is key, brutality in that attack will generally make anyone not invested back down. You basically have @3s to make them believe you’re violent, capable, and willing to go farther than they are. But again, you are right, in the case of them not caring about that and being intent on hurting. In which case you’re gonna get messed up either way so you better take as many of them out as you can.

The only good advice for multiple attackers I learned from watching rurouni kenshin. Run. Just run away. Naturally one will get ahead. Use that to create a 1v1. Rinse repeat if necessary. Well that, and do whatever you can to keep them coming at you single file, don't get surrounded. Great tactic because it starts with running away and running is rarely a bad choice. Hell, honestly keep running if your in the clear. That's the problem with multiple attackers (assuming no guns involved). You gotta run. You only really need to handle anyone that catches up, if they do at all, and hope the rest are far behind. This works better if you have a weapon to quickly end a 1v1. Say you have a knife. A few cuts won't kill him, but a stab in the leg will slow him down. Also for legal reasons. If they chase you, your case looks a lot better in your favor. If it comes to that. Again. Just boils down to running away. Parkour training would be better self-defense for multiple attackers. How does a small cat win over the much larger dog(s). It's because it can get away, better mobility. If it gets caught it slashes at the dog. Not gonna kill the dog but cut it enough to get away. *Insert joke about fighting like a pussy* lol

You keep saying that you can't fight groups of people, but if your legs are strong enough you can actually use them to run away

I can actually fight a thousand men with my bare hands. *huh? What's that?* No one said anything about winning!

Takeaways. 1: Practice your self protection skills, 2: practice your escape and evasion skills, 3: carry and be proficient in the use of multiple tools.

You are making solid points and refuting people who have never done what they are claiming to teach. That said, it is possible to train it and apply it. I have a few times due to body guard work. The most important point of this is the pincer movement and even worse, the Y formation when you get a third guy to the back. Angular and circular footwork becomes really important. Head control becomes important, but staying in a clinch is stupid. You have to move into close range to their side or back, spike their head into the pavement and do it while staying in motion. Of course your natural inclination will be to vomit when you see the head bounce and hear the sound. There will most always be someone behind you trying to hit you with a tool. For the time they are horizontal and falling you have something to hide behind. That means a split second where your intent only needs to be in two places instead of three. The more you can reduce variables the faster your response time. Of course heart rate will go up so you will feel that you are in an earth quake in a strobe light within a very short time due to combat stress. It's still incredibly hard and dangerous. Another essential technique is the neck punch. It works very well. The vertebrae will kind of hug the fist on impact, aim the body down and kick out a leg to spike the head into the ground. Don't kick the balls because legs clamp and once you are caught a buddy will stab you. Do kick any heads at ground level. Teeps and side kicks to create distance are okay so long as you use them to create space for your running. Did I mention you need to basically do this at full speed? Yeah, you get to do your HIIT workout when you least want to. Then there is crowd control, morale etc. You only "win" when the crowd gets more demoralized and afraid than angry and they will get angrier the more people you hurt. Having enough of the crowd disabled or sleeping on the pavement slows the tempo, plus eventually people get tired if they aren't conditioned. This is your chance to leave if you can get to a car. Be war crime vicious or you will die. Also you need to win over the crowd at the same time or else they will get brave and join in. The blood lust of the average passive man when he gets the chance to hurt someone will make you lose faith in humanity. It's difficult and nauseating, and hard. Then when the adrenaline passes you get to weep in a third world hospital getting sewn up from the dirty knives they were slicing you with. Then you get a fever for a week or so. Then you need to change your appearance until the hit gets called off. Lying in bed sick and helpless with a price on your head is terrible plus it hurts your feelings to know that people are so mad at you. Much worse than twitter hate. With decades of training and sparring, you too can "win" vs 20 or more men with weapons. Good luck.

I watched a BILLY JACK movie where the villain, evil rich rancher Mr. Posner, sends a number of his thugs against Billy Jack in an Arizona town. At first Billy Jack is able to Hapkido kick and karate chop several converging thugs because they're still widely spread out around Billy Jack. But once the thugs tightened the circle and converged on Billy, someone whacked him on the back of the head with a stick. Stunned, two men held his arms as a third punched Billy in the face and stomach. Only the timely appearance of the town sheriff stopped the beating. My point is that at least this was an honest depiction of a multiple attack against one brave, determined, skilled man. In the end, the superior numbers of untrained men got the better of the one good man. Billy Jack's really feasible option would have been to run away. But in the movie, several of the school's students were still in the ice cream shop and Billy Jack did not want to abandon them. In the typical Hollywood fight scene, the one man would have won against the multiple attackers. But as many viewers pointed out, in the movies you see guys behind the hero just standing there. They attack him one at a time instead of rushing in to overwhelm him. So it's not realistic. Still, I think it's possible to learn how to defend against two attackers, maybe three, but after that it becomes near impossible without some kind of strong weapon. A lot of times, running away is not an option. You get ambushed and you have to fight back immediately.

What I would say in response is that multiple attacker scenarios involving “weak, cowardly idiots” are more common than you might think, and a good hard smack against one of them can dissuade the others from trying it on. I’m mainly thinking about when I was growing up and you would often get a bigger guy with a smaller but mouthy guy, and the smaller guy would mostly hide behind the bigger guy until he saw an opportunity to get involved. So tactics that wouldn’t work against really determined attackers might work against those idiots and save your skin. You’ve got to remember that most people who attack you will be untrained, and techniques that wouldn’t work against skilled (even to a basic level) martial artists can still be effective against them. You can take them by surprise, particularly if they weren’t expecting resistance at all. I’ve had street fights in which my opponents were confused by the fact that I was blocking their punches instead of just taking the punches and falling down. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think you should learn this stuff instead of stuff that works vs a determined and competent opponent - I’m just saying it has its place. For the record, I do BJJ, so I’m not biased here.

fighting multiple enemies is probably the most frustrating thing in xenoverse, the AI is manageable because if you lock onto an enemy the other ones will not attack, but if you fight multiple players or trainer bots they WILL gang up on you and make the fight nearly impossible, despite the AI being predictable and easy to handle normally. Fighting 2-on-1 where both enemies attack is harder than fighting 10 enemies in a row 1-on-1.

BUT BATMAN DOES IT ALL THE TIME