As a means of defence, attack is effective if it is enthusiastic. If you are cornered and threatened by a group, for example, do not make a wild and general attack. Far better to focus your attention and the side of your foot in an explosive kick at the genitals of the nearest assailant. In the moment of surprise at the suddenness and effectiveness of your attack, you have a chance to break and run.

If threatened with an attack, and if you are sure you cannot talk your way out of the situation, then get your attack in first - prevention is better than cure, and the laws of most nations allow that you do not have to be physically assaulted first to prove that your own blows were administered in self-defence.

If you have the time to prepare yourself for an attack then there are several points to bear in mind. For a fairly active man or woman, open ground offers better chances of escape than a confined space where strength of numbers will tell more quickly. Therefore, if you are walking down a narrow alley and you are chased from behind, make a break for the far end. You may be running into trouble, but if your escape is cut off by more opponents to the front, and they mean business, wait until you are a few yards away from them and charge, yelling at the top of your voice. The best line to take will probably be to your left, breaking through the man by the left-hand wall. The man facing you has the wall to his right, so he cannot take a swing at you with cosh or chain without hitting the wall first - unless he is left handed.

As soon as an assault is threatened (you may notice someone following you) make your way towards lights and people. Although it is perfectly possible for assailants to beat you up at midday in a busy street without anyone coming to your aid, you may be lucky and find help or a policeman in time. Do not continue to walk towards a cul-de-sac. However, if you are cornered, it can discourage an attacker if he sees his victim adopt an effective looking combat posture.

Any attack you make must be short, fierce and decisive. If you have anything with you that can be used as a weapon, use it. A dispatch case can be thrown, an umbrella or a walking stick used like a bayonet. A thrust into the middle of your opponent's torso (that is the biggest target) will effectively stop the toughest. A comb with a handle, ballpoint pen, nail file or high heeled shoe make useful stabbing weapons or can slash exposed areas of skin. A pencil stabbed into an opponent's hands as he grasps you from behind, can break his grip. If you are forced to fight with 'natural' weapons, forget ideals of fair play. You can kick harder than you can punch, so kick. Use the side of your foot by raising your knee, pivoting on your other foot and driving the kick home as you turn. Get both feet back on the ground again as fast as you can. A kick of this kind is hard to anticipate, so you are not likely to have your ankle grabbed. Aim at the genitals or the agonising spot just below the knee. If the fight becomes close, use your knee to the genitals, 'scrape kick' your opponent's shins, drive your heel into his insteps. Kicks are especially useful when fighting an armed opponent - your legs are probably longer than his arms - but do not try to kick a knife or a pistol out of anyone's hands. If your assailants are drunk, keep the fight at kicking distance - a drunk has a surprising grip once he fastens onto you.

Teeth, too, are a 'natural' weapon, and it is sometimes necessary to overcome one's fastidious reluctance to sink one's teeth into an opponent. If you do bite him, make a thorough job of it, do not nibble. Half-hearted nips will irritate him, but a thorough bite will upset him.

Your opponent can only hope to hit you effectively if he can see you. Throw your coat in his face and follow up with a disabling kick or punch. Stick your fingers in his eyes, and follow up with a butt to the bridge of his nose. A squirt of hair spray, face powder, small change, cigarettes, or a spit in his face will all stop him for a second, giving you time to go for his genitals. If you are out of doors, stones and soil thrown immediately followed by an attack or escape. In close fighting, too, your elbow driven hard into the lower ribs or kidneys can disable your opponent for a short while. If you are seized by a powerful opponent, it is sometimes useful to be completely passive until you have found something to use as a weapon.

Intruders
If your house is broken into and it becomes necessary to attack the intruder - only as a last resort, for example, to stop an arsonist - arm yourself first. Choose a short club if the space to attack in is cramped; a long one if you have room to manoeuvre. Use the club with a thrusting action, like a bayonet. A swinging club is easier to parry - but your jab must be decisive, or the club will be grabbed. If you can creep up on your intruder, club him in the kidneys as hard as you can, then finish the job with a thrust to the stomach and a series of short, sharp swings to his collarbone. If he sees you coming, make your thrusts to the middle of his body, and then break his collarbones with short swings. A burglar is not usually particularly violent, but if you are unlucky and he turns out to be armed with a knife or cosh, throw at him everything you can lay your hands on. Grab a light chair and keep it between him and you while continuing to bombard him and shout at the top of your voice. He should be backing away, and as soon as he shows a sign of staggering, bumping into anything or tripping, stab your chair into his face - but give him no chance to snatch it away. Once he is down, use your feet to disable him while pinning him down with the chair.

If you kill your burglar, that is manslaughter. If you have to attack, make it thorough, but not lethal. You must not kill someone unless it is necessary in order to preserve your life.

Armed Opponent
To attack a man who has a gun is something no one should do unless death is clearly only seconds away. If you must attack, distract the gunman's attention first. A quick glance over his shoulder with an expression of relief (as quickly stifled) may flaw his attention. Then, as you rush forward - and be near him as possible before you rush - try to approach outside the line of his body, not across it. If and when you grab his gun force it up and hang on with both hands. While he is wrestling for his gun, use your knees and feet to distract him. If you are remarkably lucky, you may get an opportunity to pull his gun arm over your head, holding it at the wrist with both your hands, and keeping the back of his hand facing the floor. Turn your back on him, drag him forward and pull his elbow against your shoulder. If you then wrench his wrist downwards, you stand a fair chance of breaking his elbow against your shoulder and disarming him at the same time. Kick the gun away, haul him a distance from it, then push him further still, and go for the gun yourself.

When the driver whose fender you have just dented rushes to your door and wrenches it open before you have time to lock it, do not wait for him to hit you. Leave the car quickly, spitting in his eyes as you go. You will be in a crouch already, so reach for his ears and pull him onto a butt from your head. Try to spin him round into your car and close .the door on him to trap him there.

Before you attack anyone, be quite sure that you want to go through with it. Once the decision is made, no half measures. You must win.