How to Defend Yourself in a Riot

While the overwhelming majority of protests in America last week were peaceful, a few exploded into riots. While we’re all for some chaos to force the establishment’s hand—“the tree of liberty must be refreshed…with the blood of patriots,” Jefferson once said—some of the looting was done by people who admitted it had nothing to do with George Floyd (God bless his soul). While I personally felt a tinge of satisfaction watching corporate outposts burn down, minority small business owners also lost a lot—some tearfully mourning their losses on video—as the graphic images compounded: a respected Black community leader and retired police officer shot in cold blood outside of a pawn shop, a woman dragged out of her car and beaten, Countere’s own coverage of the Manhattan riots and NYPD Brooklyn beatdowns.

While the American riots are quelled in the short term, we’re in for hot one summer, and who could forget the upcoming election? The civil unrest may get worse before it gets better. The political skirmishes that flared in Berkley and Charlottesville will continue. Regardless of your narrative—whether you live in fear of ‘literal Nazis’ or Soros-funded Antifa—you need to have some moves when shit hits the fan. No one wants to get hit with a milkshake, a brick, or a pair of handcuffs.

To learn how to protect ourselves in a “protest,” Countere called up Nick Drossos, one of the most renowned self-defense experts in the world. Drossos focuses on “real world self-defense”: on real moves for real situations. He has been training for over 20 years and has a Youtube channel with over 30 million views.

Drossos taught us how to use improvised weapons, get out of a grab, avoid getting arrested, and, if you’re getting beaten on the ground, how to protect your vital organs. Whether you’re a journalist, passerby, or protestor, this guide (and companion video below) will help when reality morphs into Super Smash Bros.

Situational Awareness

Situational awareness means being aware of the space around you. It’s like social distancing—you want to keep a good amount of space between you and other people. Where is the crowd moving? Who’s coming close to you? Who are you getting close to? What are their intentions?

If you’re in the middle of a protest and things suddenly start to get violent—you see a small group starting to get rough, or people holding weapons—instantly move away from that group. Even at a peaceful protest, if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, you could get caught up. Violence is contagious. And at that point people just start attacking each other. They might attack for you no reason other than you look weak or you don’t fit in.

I was watching a video of the riots and there would be 10 people looting a store. Nobody’s attacking each other, but the minute somebody says anything, they beat the shit out of them. In those situations, the most important thing is to create distance. Don’t stick around and film people looting. Some people are antagonistic about being filmed—they don’t know if you’re going to post it somewhere. I could easily see the crowd turning on someone filming. A mob will attack anyone of any gender or race.

Let’s say a group of people are starting to attack and circle you. The first thing is to bring up your hands and create distance. Look at your environment: is there a safe place you can go? Are there other people around that will come and help you? Unfortunately, a lot of times people will be scared to help. So make sure you’re not going to be surrounded at any point where you’ll be stuck in the middle of the group.

Don’t challenge and threaten the group unless you’re ready to go at 100 percent. You want to try to defuse the situation. De-escalate in a way that makes them think you’re not against their cause—that you’re actually a part of their group and not against them.

Surviving vs. Winning

In riot situations, we’re almost always looking at multiple attackers. It’s not a street fight. It’s packs of four to eight people who are attacking a single person.

This isn’t the movies. You’re not going to turn around and take on six guys. You need to strike one or two guys then run because you don’t know how long it takes before more people get involved. And eventually you will be outnumbered.

I want to emphasize the difference between winning a fight and surviving a fight. Winning is submitting the guy, putting him in an arm-bar, finishing him. But you’re not going to do any of that fancy stuff because you don’t know the crowd is going to see it. Maybe they will see you as the aggressor. Maybe his friends are coming around the corner.

Surviving is striking or throwing something at someone and finding an opening to escape. You need to do whatever it takes necessary to get home safely. The only objective in that situation is to evade and escape. You hit them and you get out.

Now, if your life is in danger and you have no choice but to fight, then you’ve got to stand your ground and do whatever it takes. But the longer you stay there, the higher the chance of you eventually going down.

Using Weapons

When you have multiple attackers, you need an equalizer—any type of improvised weapon you could pick up. Anything that can give you range or you can throw: a stick, a garbage can, a bottle. There’s no fair fights in this so pick up anything.

I’m not crazy about bringing and concealing weapons. Because at any point they could be taken away from you and turned against you. And if you have them you’d better be ready to use them. If you’re carrying a gun, are you ready to shoot someone? Even if it’s in self defense, you could still end up going to prison. If you’re carrying a knife, are you trained to use it? Are you ready to pull it out and stab five people?

If you’re going to carry anything, I would say maybe carry pepper spray. But don’t be surprised if you start pepper spraying people and someone turns around and hits you.

Quick Moves: Striking

If you have to fight, attack vital targets. Strike the throat, strike the eyes. Keep it simple. Keep it effective.

You could use a palm strike or punch the throat. I like open hand strikes because you have less chance of breaking your knuckles and better follow through. They allow you make to several strikes at once—you can eye gouge, you can pull the hair, you could grab the throat. They allow you to strike faster than a closed fist punch.

Another great strike is the hammer fist. Basically, you make a fist, but you’re striking it like a hammer—you’re not using your knuckles, you’re using the bottom of your hand. So there’s a lot of power behind it.

Quick Moves: Grabs

If somebody grabs you, the benefit is that both their hands are tied up. So the instant the person makes physical contact, strike them in the head. It doesn’t matter where: into the nose, into the side of the head, underneath the jawline. Hit their head fast and hard and as many times as you can. You won’t have time to be too specific in terms of hitting precisely, so keep it simple.

Again, think of it as survival. The objective is not to beat them up. The objective is to hit them and get out.

When All Is Lost

Let’s say you got jumped and you’re already on the ground and there’s a group of people attacking you. You’ve got to whatever it takes to survive.

Make yourself into a small package. Curl into a little ball—cover your head with your arms, tuck your knees to your elbows. It’s the same principle when you have to defend yourself against a bear: cover your vital organs, your neck, your ribs, your head.

Make sure you don’t get in the head. And if you do, that your head doesn’t go bouncing off the floor. All it takes one hit. One brick over the head and your life is completely changed.

Defending a Business or House

Unless you're armed with a gun, don’t be there. That’s my best advice. These are mobs of people with the intent to steal and create chaos. And anybody in their way is going to get hurt.

If you do have a gun, you better be ready to shoot. Because if you’re not, two seconds later, you’re on the ground.

If Your Car Is Surrounded

Let’s say a mob surrounds your car. And they’re breaking windows and trying to drag you out. What are your options?

Option 1: You sit there until they smash the window, pull you out, and do who knows what.

Option 2: You find an opening to reverse.

Option 3: You drive right through them. Floor it.

I can’t tell people what to do because there’s too many things that can happen. So at that moment, you’ve got to assess your level of threat and make a decision. If there’s six guys around your car with a machete and bat and they’re smashing your windows, I’m personally going to drive right through them. I’m not going to wait to see what happens. Even as a trained fighter, I’m not going to get out of my car and fight six armed people.

If you’re a woman, you have to wonder: are they going to beat you? Are they going to rape you? Maybe they’ll stop. Or maybe you’re alone and you’re surrounded and you’ve got your kid in the back. In that moment, anything goes. There might be legal implications, but you’ll figure it out later.

Dealing With Police

I spoken to officers that I’ve trained and they said that if you’re around the crowd that’s looting, it’s hard for them to know who is good and who is bad. So if you’re trying to not get arrested, stay away from those people.

If police officers are telling people to move back or leave, and no one’s doing it, then they’re going to use force. So my advice is always to keep a distance.

Before you decide to protest at an event—and this goes far beyond what’s happening in the news—listen to what’s happening beforehand, get a feel for the event. if you go to a highly charged political protest, it’s part of what you’re signing up for.

If you’re in any type of group and you’re going to go face-to-face with another group, know that at some point it might get violent. If you’re in a gang and you go meet another gang—you might get jumped. You might get with hit something. You might get shot.

For me, what’s important is protecting the innocent bystander, the person who wants to have a peaceful protest, the person who’s driving to work. It’s about survival, it’s about about the average man and woman. That's the person I want to protect.

Follow Nick Drossos on Twitter.