We can’t very well show you how to escape a Front Hair Grab Release without also showing you the moves that will get you out of a Rear Hair Grab Release, so here it is! It’s incredibly simple and easy to follow, just as you’ve come to expect from Sensei Anthony Britton.

Remember, when you grab your attacker’s hand, whichever side you find his/her thumb, you want to turn in the other direction because that’s the side of the elbow you want (turn the other way, and you’ll end up bringing your assailant closer to you because you’ll be naturally bending the elbow instead). More likely than not, your hair will be grabbed by someone’s dominant hand, which is also probably the right hand, so grab it with your left hand and you’ll be poised to strike appropriately. Hyper-extending someone’s joint like this is unbelievably painful, even in slowmo, so you can imagine the kind of pain that it can inflict so please exercise caution when practicing this move. I would say friends should not be recruited for such a task!

As always, once you’ve released yourself from a restraint, you can always apply the principles of Vital Point Striking.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

Keep your requests coming everyone! We love to respond to your inquiries through our video tutorials.

If you’ve ever been grabbed by the hair, you know how effective it is as a submission tool. Your attention would likely be so focused on the pain being afflicted that you will reflexively push your attacker’s hand against your skull to try and relieve it, all the while being dragged around like a puppet.

This week, Sensei Anthony Britton demonstrates a way that not only releases you from this dominating grab, but also allows you to perform a counterstrike to throw off your aggressor long enough for you to make your escape.

Remember that you can always apply the principles of Vital Point Striking, especially if you have your hands free. Don’t let panic take over. Take a deep breath and clear your head so you can focus on the situation at hand (from The 8 Steps of Conflict Avoidance).

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

Keep your requests coming everyone! We love to respond to your inquiries through our video tutorials.

As we continue to introduce more elements to our Essential Self-Defense Tips series, many of you are requesting to see combination scenarios, so here’s the first. As always, Sensei Anthony Britton ensures that the moves he introduces or builds upon can be realistically employed by those who don’t have a martial arts background. If you’ve practiced the Double Wrist Grab Release and Advanced Choke Hold Release, then the escape that Kristy performs in this video will come naturally to you.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

Keep your requests coming everyone! We love to respond to your inquiries through our video tutorials.

If you’ve mastered the basic Choke Hold Release that we featured in a previous segment, then you’re ready for a more advanced version. This new technique may seem difficult at first, but when you understand how it works, it’s a piece of cake (no matter how large the aggressor is).

Remember that you’re not trying to muscle your attacker over your shoulder but rather shift their centre of gravity so that you can tip them off balance. If you do this properly, you shouldn’t feel like you are carrying their entire body weight.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

Due to the overwhelming response we’ve been getting for our Essential Self-Defense Tips series, we’ve decided to address some of them through the videos and today’s feature is the first. Please note that because this lesson is built on the principles of the Wrist Grab Release, you may want to review it before taking on today’s element.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

Self-defense techniques and moves are certainly effective in a hostile situation, but if you can avoid the conflict altogether, you’d be able to divert the potential injury – both physical and mental – that such an experience would leave you with. This week’s lesson is important because it will enable you to diffuse a self-defense situation before it even begins.

The 8 Steps of Conflict Avoidance were created by Sensei Britton for ease of memory retention by using the letters A through H to denote the first letter of each step. Remember that this advise is to be followed in alphabetical order. For instance, you wouldn’t need to yell “Fire!” if you had Avoided the danger to begin with.

Review of the 8 steps + notes and tips:

A: Avoid and be aware of potential conflicts and dangers. This is the most important step.
B: Breathe to help you maintain mental alertness.
C: Communicate with confidence. While it’s in the verbal stage, you should be prepared to talk confidently (not to be mistaken with confrontationally).
D: Don’t make the situation worse. While you can still talk your way out of it, you should be trying to do just that. Don’t show off to your friends or the people that are around. Walk away from it whenever you can.
E: Environment and exits. In terms of suggestions for the scenario in our video, it would be advantageous if you can park closer to where you know other people are going to be parking, closer to where a security guard might be stationed, or close to an exit. Of course, always try and park in a well-lit area and if you can, avoid going back to your car by yourself.
F: Fire is a powerful word, but it’s not exclusive. Anything that brings attention to yourself would be helpful. In addition to yelling Fire!, you can also try to break a window or set off a car alarm…all of these things are going to attract attention to the situation and bring if not help, at least an audience, which is going to be a deterrent for the attacker.
G: Get away. Pretty self-explanatory
H: Hit hard, hit fast, hit first. Only to be applied if you’ve forgotten or haven’t been able to apply any of the previous steps. For this letter, Sensei Britton references an earlier segment so for a review of Vital Point Striking, click here.

Please note that these 8 crucial steps can also work backwards from H to A. Once you’ve applied H, it’s time to start G, followed by yelling Fire to get people to notice the situation that you are in. Be aware of your Environment and the exits so that you can escape. Don’t make the situation worse – if you punched that person in the nose and they fell down, you don’t need to think “Hey, I’m going to turn around and start kicking them. I’m gonna show them what’s what!” Don’t make it worse. Communicate with confidence – If you are able to find a law enforcement officer, a security officer, or if you can find a good Samaritan who can help you out, you need to be able to explain the situation to them. Breathe – bring yourself to an alpha state of mind where you have control of yourself and finally, Avoid any further danger…go home!

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing the moves shown in this video. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. The techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

For more self-defense tips with Sensei Britton, click here.

Last week, Sensei Anthony Britton taught us one way to get out of a vulnerable position from the ground. This week, we learn another technique that can be employed in a similar situation. The key to this new method is The Hip Heist and it will allow you not only to escape, but to also leave your attacker in the weaker position.

Additional notes and tips:

When you drop your guard, whichever foot you keep on the ground must be solidly planted in order to give you the leverage you need to perform your hip heist.

Use your elbow to help you sit up and your attacker’s shoulder as a way to push off once you’ve placed your foot on their hip.

Putting your foot on your attacker’s hip is important because if you don’t, he/she can continue to inch forward and keep you down; you need to do this to maintain your base. This principle is important in many different situations. For instance, if the attacker is standing and you’re down, you need to keep them a certain distance from you so what you would do is use one of your feet to push against their shin and use it to push off and get back up.

This requires practice! As the lessons become more complex, Sensei Britton will introduce moves to incorporate into your exercise routine that will not only get you in the best shape of your life, but most importantly, will condition your muscles to reflexively respond to an attack.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

For more self-defense tips with Sensei Britton, click here.

This week, Sensei Anthony Britton demonstrates an effective technique that can be used during the compromising position that is introduced in the video: Being pinned down to the ground by an attacker.

Additional notes and tips:

Please note that these moves and techniques, though seemingly simple, require a lot of training. Simply watching the video a couple of times won’t do you any good in a real life situation when panic will undoubtedly override any thoughts of a defensive attack. Anyone can successfully utilize Sensei Britton’s lessons, but as with every other tip that he has shared, only professional instruction and plenty of practice can habituate your body to these responses.

This technique involves the use of a “closed guard,” i.e. your ankles are crossed behind your attacker’s back. This gives you the stability you’ll need and also ensures that he/she doesn’t escape your choke.

When grabbing your attacker’s lapel/clothing, grab it a little lower than the neckline so that you can pull it across his/her neck to then be grabbed by your other hand.

Make sure you hook tightly on to the material or the choke will be ineffective.

In step three, Kristy anchors the attacker’s right arm to the ground. This is done to prevent the attacker from rolling out of the choke, and to give you another point of stability.

After dropping her guard position, Kristy executed what Sensei Britton called a “double grapevine,” which is hooking the attacker’s ankles with your ankles and spreading them out. It may not seem like a good idea to make the attacker fall on you by dropping your guard, but by doing so, you lower the attacker’s position and increase the leverage on the choke.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

For more self-defense tips with Sensei Britton, click here.

As attackers are generally of the cowardly sort, they often sneak up from behind, thinking this gives them a positional advantage. That may be so in those first few seconds, but with proper training, your body will reflexively know how to respond to this kind of an attack. In this week’s demonstration, Sensei Anthony Britton shows us one of the many possible ways that an aggressor can approach you from the back. Don’t underestimate the art of distraction under such a situation.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

If you should ever find yourself in this dire situation, your natural instinct is likely to try and pull your attacker’s hands away from your throat, or to strike him/her until you’re released. However, no matter how hard you try, especially if your attacker is larger than you, your success rate is quite low in your weakened position.

In this week’s installment of Essential Self-Defense Tips, Sensei Anthony Britton demonstrates two simple ways to release yourself from as many types of choke holds. These two techniques are surprisingly easy to learn and very effective in helping you escape a potentially deadly scenario.

You’ve probably noticed that Sensei Britton often refers back to our first lesson on the principles of Vital Point Striking. Be sure to learn the basics to establish a solid foundation to prepare you for later and more difficult lessons. If you haven’t already done so, review Sensei Britton’s earlier lessons so you can tackle future ones more efficiently.

IMPORTANT: Please use extreme caution when practicing these moves. Remember that with the right amount of force, you can severely hurt somebody. These techniques are to be used for self-defense purposes only. All self-defense moves and tips are to be used at the risk of the user.

Great news everyone! Due to popular demand, Sensei Anthony Britton and his skillful assistant Kristy will now be a regular feature on Dabbler.ca! Be sure to check back every Monday for more expert advice.

Our next lesson will cover a basic attack from the back. Do you know what to do if someone grabs you around the waist? Find out next week!