RUN LIKE H**L!!! and when your tired run some more ;). But seriously all to often I hear this question and really when your up against four guys what can you do? I’d love to hear how some of you would handle the situation (hint, hint;))
“To fight multiple attacker one must attack multiple times.” - In the spirit of the Sphinx in Mystery Men.
Nah, you guys are waaaaay off.
Give each attacker a number with a pre-arranged attack to launch, then let them encircle you. Take care of each attack one at a time with the fanciest moves you can pull off, then say a lame one-liner as you walk off into the sunset.
Copied response from www.clearsilat.com
First choice would of course be to “run” but that deserves a better answer (e.g. how to become able to run) and of course you specifically asked for a non-run answer. So I’ll give both. 
)
Obviously what you want to avoid is people behind you. You also want to stay upright. There is a “jumping” class at my school specifically intended to get you to the outside of a group that has your surrounded by going through one of the opponents. It’s trained to let you get through even the people who would normally be powerful enough to stop your charge. There is also a tactic for going for the largest opening to try to get outside. The real rule is don’t stand still
Once you’ve got some sort of tennable position (haveing manuverd or punched outside of the circle) the fighting begins. You usually want to fight the most aggressive opponent. One good reason for this is he will be the closest. You need to keep moving. You need to not let them get behind you. I find that baiting attacks is useful. If someone gets in real close, beat them around and use them as a shield against the others. If they manage to make a good-effort escape or someone gets past them, let go and move to the next guy. Try not to get too tangled up in any one person.
If there is no way to manuver to escape, then you should look at relatively quick methods of removing opponents from the fight during this manuvering. What that is will vary based on available weapons and your skills / tactics. Mechanicl disables (busting knee caps), rendering unconsious or dead, and virtual disables (blinding) are all effective.
Objective is important. It is not for you to beat multiple attacker, only to prevent them from beating you. Therefore here is my most creative and out there answer (and it might work).
- Pop an Alca-selser (sp) in your mouth to create a frothing, foaming appearance and let it run down your chin.
- Start scratching under the arms and arround the neck and back as if infested with fleas
- Grunt and mutter meaningless things in a low voice
- Pass as much gas as you can to create the illution you’ve crapped you pants. (Actually crapping your pants is not recommended)
It is unlikely they will even want to touch a foaming at the mouth, flea infested, crazy guy that just crapped his pants.
Well it might work …
And I did warn you it was out there …
Oh … O.K. just never mind.
Learn to work the outside door, both of an individual and of the group. Learn to never stop moving. Repeat.
If the group is well trained specifically to fight as a group, you’re dead. Luckily, you’re more likely to win the lottary than run into a such a group. Otherwise, I don’t know what the big deal about multiple opponent scenarios are. I rarely see a real fight that ISN’T a multiple opponent scenario. And so many people here say they’ve tested their stuff on the street…
It’s all about lead tools, in 4 to 1 situation. Stay mobile. If you have to hit, use very quick eye-jabs. If it’s possible for you to regain mobility, throw lead groin strikes.
most importantly: DON’T FIGHT!! You’re not there to win; you’re there to survive.
Never confuse sparring with fighting. One is an exchange of skill; the other an exchange of blood.
I dont know about the groin strikes..
That would lead to a serious bloody beatdown man…
Eye jabs??!??! I dunno about that one. When someone is moving around, and eyejab is difficult to pull off. you want something you KNOW will get you out of the situation. not something that theoretically should. a better technique would be a bear claw. it rakes down the face. that being the case, you can poke the eyes whil raking down. I don’t reccomend either in a multiple attacker situation though. Have you ever been in a fight and kicked someone in the nads? I haven’t, but I’ve seen it, and I’ve been kicked there in a fight. Guess what? It didn’t hurt until AFTER the fight was over and the adrenaline stopped rushing. That is another technique that I do not reccomend for the street.
“A wise man speaks because he has something to say; A fool speaks because he has to say something.”
Give each one a number. Then call out the numbers in sequence and take care of each one in turn with your deadly grappling moves. Muggers are usually game for something like this because they tend to be fair-minded people and don’t really want to attack helpless people in wolf packs. I mean, where’s the fun in that?
K. Mark Hoover
Budokan
LoL like I would intentionally go to the ground in a street fight. But one with multiple partners!!! thats the dumbest thing I’ve heard. I think you got me mixed up with a gracie wannabe.
Multiple opponents
I clicked onto this thread several times, will I post or not, anyway here it is:
This is what has worked for me, along with a long list of high profile, well published and well known MA’s.
In any group fronting you will consist of the lead man, usually the mouth but not always, his back up, one but sometimes two and then the sheep.
Once you have decided to fight, line up the lead man for your favourite realistic technique that you have drilled into a flawless groove in the kwoon, dojo, or gym. Appear submissive by body language and say something like ‘Don’t want no touble mate’ Once you have switched off their adrenalin high ask a stupid question like ‘didn’t we go to school together?’ for a split second they are blind as the brain focuses on the question, then knock them out one two three if needed and the sheep will scatter, those that regain their senses to quickly should be severly reprimanded by a stamp in the sternum/face etc. to encourage the rest to run faster. Thats the way it works…Trust me.
“And the crowd called out for more”
Unless you run into those dangerous f**kers who actually train together to do “shakedowns” and organized attacks. Albeit, it takes a true sociopath to train to accomplish this, and true sociopath’s are rare.
In this kind of situation, there is no “mouth” and there are no “sheep”. If you don’t get the hell out before they get you boxed or trapped, curl up into a fetal position and hope they get bored fast.
Sunt hic etiam sua praemia laveli
“Here too virtue has its due reward.”
group dynamics
Disagree Watchman, even for organised teams the breakdown holds true.
Curl in to a fetal ball, never, you can take my freedom but you’ll never take my Wallllllettttttt!
“And the crowd called out for more”
It’s pretty scary that ppl train to fight together in street fights IMO.
G-I: yes it is. I knew some guys from Phoenix that trained together to do “takedowns” and “shakedowns” on people that owed money to drug dealers, and to do home-invasion robberies on indie meth labs.
Oldwolf: the dynamics you’re talking about wouldn’t work with these guys. They aren’t going to approach you with the whole “We’re macho and we’re going to kick your ass! I’m the mouth so hit me first and the rest of my homeboys will fold.” They work flanking tactics around the lead guy, and won’t just stand there in abject fear while you’re scooping his eye out with your thumb.
Every time this discussion comes up, the consensus seems to be to go for the biggest guy/leader first.
I think this is absolutely ridiculous. What gets you killed in a multiple opponent scenario is getting tangled up with someone. So your answer is to head straight for the guy who is most likely going to tangle you up?
Doesn’t make any sense to me.
Also, I wouldn’t go for groin, eye or similar attacks. You want something very basic which is going to take their balance and knock them back even if it doesn’t work out the way you planned.
Thats why I carry a Glock 23 
watchman
Thats why I said usually the mouth but not always. Part of the line up process is to out flank the flankers.
The biggest problem in situations like this is tunnel vision as the cortex focuses on the percieved threat, ie misses the flanking movement.
This is a system tried and tested, not just by me and I’m still here so far.
Braden: you take out the biggest threat first then the next etc, you don’t stop till there is no more threat. forget the eye jabs, groin strikes, knock outs only to jaw line.
“And the crowd called out for more”
I agree. But the biggest threat is no single person, it’s the fact that you’re outnumbed. You get rid of that threat by taking out as many as you can as quick as you can. You do that by hitting the people you know for sure you can take out fast. By definition, those are going to be the weakest. You say that taking out a “leader” will scare the others. What happens if you don’t take him out so fast? After all, he is your toughest single opponent here. On the other hand, violently dropping one of the “followers” will also frighten the others, and is much more likely to happen in a manner which is in your favor.
But besides all this, you rarely get to choose who you attack. Your surroundings and the position of your opponents dictates this for you. Typically, the “leader” will by in front of you and in the middle of the “pack.” This is the very last person you want to go for if you’re planning on out-flanking the group.