How to read an attack?

In my karate class, including today, we sometimes do an exercise in pairs when one attacks and the other has to react in some way. The challenging part is that you don't know which arm is the attacker going to use, but have to react in time - dodge to the right side or block with the right arm.
Once we did something similar the attacker could choose whether they'd attack head or feet and the defender had to either duck or jump. This doesn't sound too difficult, however, I have real trouble 'reading' the attacker in time and react well. I think it's safe to say that when I managed to react accordingly it was just because of luck and the 50% chance I'll do the right thing. :bang:

My question is: Is it possible to learn to read the attack fast enough to react appropriately? Can you do it? Do you have some trick to learn it or does it simply come with experience?

For example when doing the partner drills, we usually stand in a way that shows which side we're going to attack with. But when you reach the black belt level, I heard that you're (at the grading for example) forbidden to hint this in any way. A black belt should be able to react well and fast. Once I practised a bunkai with a bunch of people, there was a friend who's a shodan and she probably forgot she should go easier on us and she also attacked without hinting which arm she's going to attack with. Of course I wouldn't complain about it and took it as a challenge. I think I did quite well only that time, but I'm not sure how and why anymore. And I'd really love to be able to react well...

I'd love to hear any tips and your own experience, too.

 

Reading an attack is a skill that is best developed through unscripted sparring. Not only does this allow you to learn to react to attacks, but you will also be able to judge if the defenses that you are being taught are realistic.

 

It's worth mentioning that in both sparring/fighting and self defence, a proactive approach is preferable to a passive one. Positioning, distancing, the fence, active rather than reactive head movement, probes, set ups angles etc. Just being stood there anticipating an attack without taking any defensive action is the worst strategically and suboptimal from a training perspective.

 

Yes, that sounds like a good solution. However, in sparring, I somehow manage to react somehow. Not always in the best way but at least somehow. Perhaps because I don't think about it too much or perhaps the person gives hints unless they know it? Not sure. Anyway thanks for the advise, I think I'll try to focus on the feeling of anticipating attack when sparring.

You're probably right. However lets say, in a real life situation, in case someone gets angry and hits me, it doesn't sound too bad to be able to read and recognize something is going to happen, I think. We only did this exercise a few times and I think it could be useful for a situation like this or for sharpening one's senses and ability to read the opponent's hints. I just want to know how, because I'm angry I'm really bad at this, although it's probably not the most important thing
In self defence, I'm not sure if a proactive approach is the best solution. Or is it? If someone threatens me, do I really go and hit him first? I'm sorry if I misunderstood, this is probably not what you meant(?)

 

Although best practices in a dynamic situation, footwork and shoulder motion are good tells when reading an opponent. I like to keep my eyes on the upper chest.

Sparring will auto correct you over time.

 

Doing it a lot helps, but ultimately if you wait till the other guy makes his move, you waited too long. When a boxer slips a punch, it's not (always) because they have amazing reaction speed, it's because they started moving their head before the punch was even thrown.

 

If some one is going to hit you then you can tell before they ever commit to a swing. Being proactive means addressing the hostility before the blow happens either non physically or through the fence or through preemptive aggression. For sucker punches from your blindside its when awareness has failed and the point for 'reaction' was robbed from you.

 

Ok, that sounds reasonable. I'll try that, although I'm sure I'll need much more experience.

I'm not going to pretend I have much experience with violence, so what I'm saying is purely my thoughts and maybe curiousity for answers:
Can you always really? I don't know. Take an ordinary slap. If someone was showing how he was going to slap me (or someone), I would never get hit if it was too easy to avoid. Of course, that is if I can't talk them down (I can't always, right?)
Haha, that's just useless rambling I guess. I probably can't learn to always read a person perfectly, but sparring is a good answer, I suppose. So thanks

 

Yes, unfortunately, as today's exercise proved to me, I can indeed move first in anticipation of a strike, but if I don't anticipate it well, I can very well move into the strike or in a way that may compromise my potential counter attack... That's why I asked my initial question how to know how to react. So I guess it's experience?
And that is only in a sparring or somewhere you expect someone will attack you somehow...

 

It is possible to read intent, but by that time it is probably too late to make any big movements. I suggest you go by the principle, "minimum movement and maximum mobility".

As an exercise, try not to overreact to the first movements, instead, wait until the last possible moment to move and then move the minimum amount necessary. By the numbers it looks like this:

1. Realize that moving as little as half the width of your body can evade the majority of strikes. So moving a few inches is often all that is needed.
2. Maintain your mobility so you can move in ANY direction needed.
3. Use whatever method that you prefer, such as watching of any movement, change in breathing, where one eye looks, etc. to indicate an attack.
4. Wait until the last possible moment to move
5. Always protect yourself
6. As you move to protect yourself, attack the attack (striking is faster than blocking and parrying, so make your blocks and parries into strikes).
7. Align your body for attack through kuzushi, counter strike through the attacker

At first you will get hit a lot and you will have to accept being hit. In the end it can look like you've been hit hard, but really they are near misses or glancing blows.

Edit: It takes a lot of bravery to wait until the last possible moment to move. One thing that can help is to keep your hands where you need them, so that you can use your elbows and forearms to cover vitals (for mid-to-high attacks) and your palms to parry (high strikes). You should always feel you are doing something to protect yourself, even if it is very minimal.

 

It depends on the distance between you and your opponent.

Is your opponent

1. outside of your kicking range?
2. inside of your kicking range but outside of your punching range?
3. inside of your punching range?

If it's 2 or 3, you may not be alert enough, you may allow your opponent to get too close to you. If it's 3, in order for your opponent to attack you, he has to move in. When your opponent moves his leading leg, it can be a good indicator for his attack.

IMO, a

- toe push kick,
- foot sweep, or
- low roundhouse kick,

can be your best 1st line defense. The reason is simple. Your leg is always longer than your opponent's arm. After your kick, your fists can then land on his head and put him in defense mode.

If your opponent is already in your punching range. Should you wait for his attack and then respond to it, or should you attack first? That decision can be hard to make sometime. If you don't want to make that initial attack, you should prepare to establish a "clinch" when he attacks you if you are a good wrestler.

In the following clip, when his opponent pushes him, he grabs on his opponent's arm and take his opponent down. If he attacks first, a good 45 degree downward haymaker on the back of his opponent's head can take his opponent down almost the same way.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs_kdGe8Ljc"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs_kdGe8Ljc[/ame]

 

Thanks a lot. This is the type of answer I was looking for It all sounds well, I'm most troubled by the third point. Wait until the last possible moment. I tend to move as soon as I spot any movement, but if I don't know precisely what to do, it tends to be too late. I could probably try to grab a friend and try this type of exercise.
Minimal movement etc. to avoid an attack or using a block as an attack, attacking an attack are things we are practising, but I'm unable to apply them in this kind of situation.
Also, watching for a change in breathing didn't come to my mind. I will try to observe if there are any. It sounds cool! (although I'm sure not easy to do)

 

In sparring you probably are "warmed up". Going from zero to 100% in an instant is where you are seeking more experience. I bet you are overreacting and trying to do too much off the initial movements.

You initial movements need to be as small as needed to buy you the time to survive to make bigger movements. So you are going from zero to 100% but only as small as necessary to assess the situation and align yourself for attack or escape.

Self-defense and real life situations are not the same thing. For real life situations, it helps greatly to have applicable experience. For self-defense, you want experience and lots of luck or backup. When you take the proactive approach, you need to have backup or be in a position of authority, otherwise, a minute later, the other guy could just get really angry, come back with his buddies and weapons... so you hopefully had an escape plan and aren't there anymore for them to find. Or is the proactive approach to buy them a round of drinks? Less likely they get angry over that. Less self-defense and more real life situation. IMHO.

 

On the third point, you cannot help but to move... call that instinct or the flinch response. However, rather than movement, let's call this a trigger. Your trigger should not be to overreact. Learn to move as minimum as necessary once your trigger goes off.

Sometimes you will move a foot, sometimes a few inches, depending on the threat perceived. However, at first you might move a foot for what only needed a few inches, so you basically over reacted. Just try not to over react or second guess yourself. Try to make it natural. Once it is natural, then instead of instinct, we call it intuition.

What might help is that all mid-to-high karate blocks are done with two hands. The first hand parries and the second is the blocking hand/arm. So the initial parry is like slapping the incoming arm... this is done with the mental focus of a strike for speed. It is not a complete strike as that covers too much distance, it is a parry, done as a strike.

The follow-up block is then a strike or a shield, depending on the context. What I mean is it is a strike, but the strike is used to deflect and protect you like a shield.

Trick taught to me by my Sensei. You watch their throat. This is when you are very close to them. When further away, look into their left eye (never both eyes). By far away, I mean far enough that when you look at the eye, you can still see the feet. As you get closer, to see the feet, your gaze drops some. Also, always look at the hands for signs of weapons.

 

Thanks a lot for this answer, too! It sounds good. What we've been practising was usually with the attacker close enough for exchanging punches.... so the attacker didn't really need to step forward. Which is what makes the whole thing particularly difficult.

I saw that video some time ago. Pretty awesome in my opinion
My problem would probably be that I don't want to attack first nor wrestle. I don't think I'm a good wrestler and chances are if I ever get attacked somewhere, it's more likely to be by a man and chances are he'll be stronger and bigger than me, and maybe a better wrestler, too. Some decisions can be tough...

 

I see Well, today's drill for example was for the attacker to throw a punch to the chest, defender was supposed to only move one foot around to end up only turning sideways. I indeed managed to avoid the fist just enough, my partner usually touched my gi, while my body was barely out of range. In those terms, I did avoid the atack most of the times. But it was difficult to discern which side to turn to in order to end up "inside" of the opponent for a better counter attack. So I hope I wasn't overreacting, although I probably would, had it not been a pre-described exercise.

Oh, I do tend to mix these up. Thanks for claryfying

 

When you detect that your opponent starts to punch you, if you move in your

- left arm between his right arm and his head,
- right arm between his left arm and his head,

you can pretty much interrupt his punches toward your head.

 

Right. I have a long way to go

Ok, now I'm a little lost in the terms (sorry) or my imagination just isn't as good as I'd hope . The blocks as we learn them do use both hands. The one closer to the body protects the body if the blocking one fails - you get hit in the arm instead of chest, for example. In goju-ryu the blocks are circular - they should come in contact with the attacker soon and change direction of the attack. It's not usually as hard as to be called a strike, as it is, I think, in Shotokan, for example. Recently though, I've been show a way how to use the inside arm to strike the attacker and lead the attack away with the blocking arm. It looked quite difficult, though. But I wanted to try, anyways

Cool, thanks! Is there any specific reason why pick the left eye over the right?

 

...erm, why?

The 'last possible moment' is right next door to 'too late'.

There's a lot of dicey advice sneaking into this thread now. The OP should go and read Geoff Thompson.

 

Signs of overreacting are if you unbalance yourself or make it so you cannot immediately counter attack. One of the best ways to tell is add in fakes/feints. If for instance, the opponent stabbed at you with a training knife in the heart, you turn to evade the first strike but they FAKE and only go halfway, then change direction and slash you across the stomach. You over reacted if the second strike gets you good.

I would say the exercise you did was part of training and I don't know the exact context, but I don't think it matters which way you turn. You will always be predisposed to turn one way or another depending on where your feet are and how your weight is shifted. If turn and end up on the outside, but you want to be on the inside, or if you turn and end up on the inside and want to be on the outside, as long as you are engaging the opponent's elbows, you should be able to PASS from one to the other.

Are you doing any particular training to engage the elbows of the opponent as part of this turning? It might be easier to start with engaging the forearms, then progress to elbows... I'm pretty sure with your blocks you are striking the forearms, so you are already doing it... just not been told to engage the elbows.