A fight with another person is an adrenaline-infused conflict in which you may or may not emerge victorious. There are a lot of factors involved when verbal taunts turn to pushy hands and pushing turns to fists flying. The size and speed of the individual, their skills at fighting, possible weapons in their hand, and a sometimes formidable environment where you’re throwing down can all determine the outcome. Now, take all this and multiply it by two, as in two aggressors coming at you for an unfair, yet highly possible scenario. You may think you’re finished before it even begins, with the unbalanced odds not in your favor, but you would be wrong. You can come out unscathed in a fight when the odds are against you; here’s what you need to do to win a 2 against 1 fight!

Winning the 2 Against 1 Fight

Avoidance

To be honest, the best way to survive an unprovoked street fight against an aggressive duo is not to get into the fight in the first place. True, you can’t control the actions of others, but if you stay aware of your surroundings and use common sense as you make your way throughout your day, you can avoid conflicts before they start. For example, if there’s a group of questionable people hanging out in your path, just take another route. If a car just cut you off, resist the urge to send a hand gesture their way, and if you notice one or two people eyeing you as you walk, head straight to a highly populated public area and lose them in the crowd or seek  out help. Basically, if you can avoid a conflict then a two-on-one fight scenario, most likely, won’t occur. 

Keep Moving

If a fight can’t be avoided and you’re facing not one aggressor attacker, but two, then it’s time to stay moving. This doesn’t necessarily mean fleeing from the scene (but that should be your first strategic move, forget your ego and run), but rather you need to stay moving within your confined fighting space in order to gain the advantage. You need to avoid, defend, and strike (more on that soon) on the move. By being always mobile, you will accomplish two things, First, they won’t be able to lock onto a specific area of your body such as your face or torso section, and two, they may become winded during the chase to hit or grab you. If they tire first then you definitely have the advantage moving forward and a great chance to survive the skirmish. 

Strike Smart

As you move, you need to defend yourself from your attacker’s punches, kicks, and grabs, but you also must hit your foes to hopefully end the fight quickly. In order to accomplish this, you need to strike them properly as you move. You cannot stop your movement, plant your feet and throw a wide, knock-out shot; you’ll have no time. Instead, short, quick and precise attacks to your opponent’s vital areas will help slow them down and allow you to overcome the uneven odds. Vital areas include the throat, the bridge of the nose, the eyes, and the groin. You can cause both great pain and immobilization of your attacker with little force on your part by targeting these areas. These vital areas can be exploited with your fingertips (to their eyes), one knuckle (to their throat), and a hammer motion of your closed fist (to their nose.)  

Human Shield

As you move and strike, always keep one attacker between yourself and the other attacker. This should be done to accomplish two important things. First, this allows you to “deal” with only one aggressor at a time, and second, you can use that person as a shield against the other. In fact, your “shield” may take an unintentional hit from his buddy as he or she tries to get a strike on you. Being in a a two-on-one fight doesn’t mean you fight both at the same time. Using one attacker as a barrier will force them to take turns coming at you. 

Avoid the Grab & the Ground

As if moving constantly and striking smartly wasn’t enough, you’ll need to also avoid being grabbed and taken to the ground. If you do get grabbed, either by your clothing or your arm, head, or body, it will be almost impossible to continue the fight against the two attackers. Most likely, one would hold you while the other would take some shots and soon you’d be hurt or worse. Also, It should go without saying that once you do get grabbed, you’ll be taken down to the ground, and face a barrage of hard-to-defend-against kicks. To combat this, keep your hands always up as you move and parry away your foe’s attempts at a grab. Never let your hands drop. Additionally, as you parry their hands away they leave themselves open for a counter strike against their vital areas, so it’s a win-win for you. 

Even the Odds

To help even the odds a bit, it may be wise to carry a weapon with you throughout your day, or at least when you’re traveling through unsavory neighborhoods or city streets. This weapon could be a knife, an extendable baton, or a kubaton (a short metal or wooden stick for striking and pressure point application.) Any one of these could help turn the tide. Be sure to learn how to properly use your weapon, as well as being able to move and strike with it while you carry it. Bear in mind that a weapon is no substitution for following the aforementioned tips for a two-on-one fight. You’ll still need to move. You’ll still need to strike smartly, and you’ll still need to avoid being grabbed and taken down. A weapon is only an addition to your multiple attack defense repertoire, not a replacement. 

Get Some Professional Training

Though one could survive a two-on-one fight with no training, it’s not the norm. It’s wise to take some self-defense or martial arts training so your movements and strikes become second nature and fluid. Many martial arts, like Aikido, Japanese Ju-Jitsu, and Krav Maga, incorporate multiple attacks, weapons, and evasion tactics into their regular teachings. It’s best to research, watch, and try some classes in a variety of martial arts to find the best one to suit your needs.