Defensive tactics training: Escaping from a bear hug from behind with your arms pinned

Having been an active street cop for the entire 33 years of my police career, as well as an active police trainer for 43 years, in this series I share some of the defensive tactics techniques that helped me prevail on the street. The series presents a variety of defensive tactics in a format that allows you to follow the instructions and practice the technique. Remember practice makes prepared.

A bear hug from behind, while pinning your arms, is one sudden assault you may face at some point in your career. When making an arrest, a cohort of the suspect may grab you in this manner to enable their friend’s escape from you. This attack could also be the initiation of a multiple assailant attack.

One good thing about this particular assault is that you are probably being attacked by someone who has very little training, because, when launched it instantly creates balance maintenance problems for the attacker.

Even so, you must react immediately to take advantage of the suspect’s imbalance or bad things may follow. So, here is one option for you to practice.

Step One

Turn your palms up, make fists and bend your arms up like you are doing a curl. Strive to securely lock the attacker’s arm’s in place.

Step Two

This is an option you can use to precipitate your move, or you can skip right to step three.

Turn your gun-side foot sideways, toes outward and find the suspect’s shin with the outer edge of your boot and scrape hard downward raking the shin. Finish with a stomp to his foot as intensely as you can. If this does not make him let go it will at least cause the attacker instinctively to shift his weight enabling your next move.

Note: If the attacker tries to lift you, hook your gun-side foot behind the bend of his knee, preventing the lift. It will also compromise his balance further when he tries to lift you while you are hooked to his leg.

Step Three

Quickly switch your feet into an elongated front stance, reaction foot forward, gun-side foot back, while holding the attacker’s arms tightly in place as described above.

Note: If you are not familiar with the front stance, both of your feet should be toes forward and shoulder-width apart. The reaction foot will shoot forward until your upper leg and lower leg are at just about a 90-degree angle or a bit less. Simultaneously your opposite gun-side leg will shoot along the outside the suspect’s leg and that foot will plant, toes forward behind, but still on a line beside the assailant’s gun-side leg. Your gun-side knee will remain nearly locked (I don’t like my joints locked in a fight) while you plant your foot solidly on the ground throughout the next move.

Step Four

While maintaining the grip on the suspect’s arms with your arms, and while supported on a good strong front stance, sharply and quickly twist your upper body toward your reaction side and slightly downward. This should be done as a shucking movement, directing the suspect’s body over your gun-side leg. (This is not a shoulder throw.)

As he begins the fall, release the attacker’s reaction arm and let him fall.

All of these movements done in conjunction will flip the attacker over your gun-side leg onto the ground. You can’t dawdle to admire your technique at this point. The fight is not over yet.

Depending on the situation and your skills you should immediately decide whether you should control, access the appropriate weapon for your defense, or disengage and call for assistance. Once you decide what to do, do it!

Falling

The ability to fall without injury is an important skill to possess. To practice this technique for repetitions the person who is pretending to attack you should know how to fall properly in training and this should be practiced on mats.

In the past, when I trained these moves with officers who did not have falling skills I would either take the falls for them or arrange to do the practice next to a large cushion such as those used to break the falls of pole vaulters or gymnasts.

Anytime you practice any techniques involving falling no one falling should be wearing any police equipment for safety reasons. Land once on your handcuff case and you will understand what I am talking about here. By using the cushion you can do many repetitions of this and any other defensive technique that ends with someone falling with very little fear of injury.

Another option is to join a martial arts club. If you join the martial arts there will be an abundant number of willing fellow students who will be happy to take falls for you while you practice.

Conclusion

With a pre-trained technique, you will not only prevail but look good while you are doing it.

One thing that I have noticed is that performing identifiably trained techniques on the street positively impacts bystanders. Its immediate effect is that it discourages others from joining in the attack because you demonstrate you are a cop that knows something. It also has been my observation that using pre-trained techniques has the effect of turning the crowd into an audience because oddly they become entertained by a police officer who exhibits this type of expertise.

There is an old adage that goes, “In winning a fight I would rather be tried by 12 than carried by six.” I have always thought that this set the bar far too low for the law enforcement professional. I prefer saying, “In winning a fight I would rather be applauded by 12 than tried by 12.”

Now, go prepare to prevail, and for those who do, let me be the first to say, “I applaud you.”

Photos by Anya Marcou. Techniques demonstrated by Lt. Dan Marcou and Aidan Marcou