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Faking Out Your Attacker

Fakes and feints help you to out-think your attacker as opposed to having to depend solely on strength or speed....

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Faking Out Your Attacker

Fakes and feints help you to out-think your attacker as opposed to having to depend solely on strength or speed

What is a Fake?

A fake is the beginning of a strike in which the intention is to redirect your opponent's attention toward the uncompleted attack.



What is a Feint?

A feint is a body motion implying the beginning of a strike in which the intention is to redirect your opponent's attention toward the implied attack

The goal in a fake or feint could be defensive by confusing your opponent just before he/she (watch your opponent's weight shift, tension and eyes for this) or as a part of an attack to attempt to get your opponent to move his/her guard away from your target area.

How Obvious?

Basically the more experienced the opponent the smaller the motion of the fake or feint. One of the best Fakes that was pulled on me was a reverse punch towards my face followed by a kick to the groin WITHOUT her eyes dropping at all when executing the front kick to my groin.

Examples of Fakes and Feints

Many of us saw the youtube video in which the martial arts instructor protected the hooker from being beaten by her pimp. As the pimp approached him the martial artist raised his right hand away from his body shaking his wrist slightly then executing a knife-hand strike to the neck of the pimp. This was more of a redirect but I believe qualifies as a feint since no beginning of an attack was executed.

Looking down and executing a quick backfist is a feint

Raising your knee slightly and sliding in as though you were going to execute a roundhouse kick then executing a quick backfist is an example of a fake

Stomping the ground with both feet setting yourself often will generate the same reaction from your opponent. Naturally you execute an attack right afterwards while your opponent is still in a set, stable stance.

A favorite fake of mine is to execute an easily blocked hooking punch. Then wrapping my arm around the my opponents blocking arm and executing a backfist into his/her unprotected face. It's amazing how many people think they only have one hand with which to block. If you do anything to get that arm busy you'll often execute a successful attack. See my ebook Bringing The Martial Artist Out from Within for some excellent blocking drills.

Stutter Steps

Stutter movements are an example of a fake in which you may actually end up striking the same area you faked toward.

Raising your knee and sliding in with a front roundhouse kick, pause,then kick

Double jabs and backfists also work this way as well. Though these may not technically be fakes if the initial strike is meant to make contact with your attacker. A good example nonetheless.

Multiple Fakes and Feints

Don't be afraid to double or even triple up on your fakes and feints. Remember the more you can get your opponent's arms moving the better chance you have of a successful attack. Conclusion

Please do not just practice your fakes and feints during sparring. Sparring is fun and wonderful exercise, but there is not enough repetition and focus to improve any particular aspect of martial arts and self-defense. Fakes and feints are an important addition to your arsenal. Be sure to practice them individually then combined with an attack. Again see my ebook Bringing The Martial Artist Out from Within for some good drills.


About The Author

Hunter (now Rylan) Jan and Rick  at their favorite restaurant the Ocean Terrace
 

J. Richard Kirkham graduated from Eastern Illinois University as a dual certified teacher. He is the author of Bringing The Martial Artist Out from Within and Step by Step Learning Martial Arts Internal Energy Strikes. Recently he's written several $2.00 books with resale and giveaway rights including some martial arts books.

Mr. Kirkham's also a martial arts instructor with over 30 years experience in martial arts and self-defense and has expertise in alternative teaching methods and positive reinforcement methodology. He currently resides in Honolulu with his wife Jan and son Rylan. Feel free to visit his website at http://KirkhamsEbooks.com or you may email him at help@kirkhamsebooks.com . This material is copyrighted but may be printed or reposted in its entirety.

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