Martial Arts Defense When the Carjacker Comes

This article deals with the martial arts defense against the fellow who tries to steal your car, your children, your wife, your life.

Ten feet from my kitchen window, the man with the gun screamed, “Give me your wallet!”

Trembling, my neighbor, who had just exited his car, and who didn’t know any martial arts defense for carjacking, handed the gunman his wallet. The gunsel hopped into my neighbor’s car and started backing out of the driveway.

Unexpectedly, a car stopped in the street. The driveway was blocked and the carjacker was trapped!

Quickly, the carjacker hopped out, fired several shots, jumped into a getaway car, and disappeared into the night.

This scene is not a Hollywood movie. Furthermore, my neighbor is not the only fellow I know who has experienced a carjacking, who has had his car stolen (attempted, in this case) right out from under him.

So, what do you do when somebody wants your car, and that some one has a gun or a knife? What kind of martial arts defense are you going to rely on?

The first thing you can do is jump out of your car, comply with the carjacker, and know that your life is more valuable than mere possessions.

However, what if you have children in the car?

Or, what if the fellow demands that you drive him somewhere?

Now you have to fight. You have to fight because children are worth more than mere possessions. Or, in the latter case, because you never, never, never let somebody take you into a remote area to complete a crime. They are not interested in your car, in such a circumstance. They are interested in pursuing psychopathic power, in making somebody a victim. They are interested in rape, torture, murder.

So you have to fight; now is when you must use those self defense skills you have been practicing.

But how do you fight when you are sitting a car? You have no stance. You are not in a position of mobility.

What do you do? What kind of defense moves do you know?

ATTACKER ON THE DRIVER’S SIDE

The first scenario is the carjacker is attempting to enter from the driver’s side. If he is pulling you out you can go with him, and try to take advantage of the situation by throwing your body into his, forcing the weapon into an unusable position, and using weight and momentum to drive him to the ground.

If he is pushing you across the front seat of the car then he will be unstable during his own entry to the car. Also, it is going to be hard for him to drive and aim a gun at you at the same time.

You might try a self defense move while he is bending his body into the car, but, as you might be being forced into the passenger seat, your body may not be in an optimum position for a counterattack.

If you choose to wait until he is driving then you must stop the carjacking before the car reaches a high speed, or when the car is traversing roads empty of obstacles (other cars, ditches, has flat fields, etc.)

The shape of the counterattack must be specific. It is fun to watch Hollywood movies and see the hero flatten the villian with a single backfist, but the truth of the matter is that the human body is resilient, especially when it is pumped full of adrenalin. Thus, your counterattack must, in addition to making sure that the car doesn’t splatter into a building, immobilize the weapon while rendering the carjacker incapable of countercounterattacking.

Okay, let’s put away the fancy words and get down to the nitty gritty.

You must not try that powerful front punch that works so well in tournaments.

You are in close quarters, and you must use close quarter weapons. The best defense, assuming your knees are unusable and your body is turned awkwardly, is to hug the carjacker’s weapon arm while you pummel him with elbows.

Hugging the arm will stop him from drawing back and shooting you (remember, he is in close quarters too, and he has to drive), and elbows are fast, hard, and easy to put your body weight into.

Push, with the big muscles of your legs, and propel yourself at him. Use your weight, and KEEP HITTING!

He drops the gun…don’t stop.

He begs for mercy…don’t stop.

He says to let him out…don’t stop.

I would argue, in a court of law, that as long as he is in the space of your vehicle he is an intruder. You are not interested in talking with him, or arresting him, but in ejecting him from that vehicle.

He bleeds? Great. But don’t stop hitting.

He breaks? Great. But don’t stop hitting.

He opens the door and falls out you can stop hitting.

Once he is out of the car you can drive to the nearest phone and call the police. Hopefully he has broken a leg in falling out of the car and is waiting for an ambulance.

Don’t throw your car into reverse and try to drive over him. Once he is out of the space of your car he is no longer a threat, and that would be murder. If he still has a gun and is shooting, simply duck down so the bullet has to travel through layers of metal and car seats to reach you. To turn around and try to drive over him, even if he is shooting, takes too long, and would open some interesting law books. You, however, don’t want to spend your time explaining to a jury why revenge (that is the way his lawyer will describe your actions) is the best medicine.

Okay, enough about the first scenario. Let’s take a look at the second scenario, which is much more likely to occur.

ATTACKER ON THE PASSENGER SIDE

A smart carjacker (I know an oxymoron when I see one) will attempt entry from the passenger side. He doesn’t want to drive and risk a fight at the same time.

If he orders you out, go.

If your family is in the car you have to take them with you, or fight.

 

If he wants you to drive him to some desolate area, you must fight.

Again, you must be impeccable in your timing if you are going to counterattack.

Throw yourself at him, using your legs to push, hug his arm in a way that, if the gun is fired, bullets will not strike anybody.

If the car is in motion you have two specific options. One, hit something with the car while you go for the carjacker. The collision will, shall we say ‘distract?’ him, and better enable you to overpower him. At the very least, he will lurch forward while he is trying to shoot, and thus, hopefully, his aim will be bad.

Two, if you have decided not to risk a collision (maybe you don’t want your children flying over the backseat and through the front window), or perhaps you don’t have anything available to run into, crank the wheel as you thrust into him. Hopefully this will disorient the carjacker, make him panic or otherwise be concerned for his own safety, and, at any rate, give you better oppertunity to close with him. You know the car is going to spin out of control or hit something. He doesn’t.

Now, whatever the circumstances, hug his weapon arm and use your elbow with all your body weight and DON’T STOP HITTING until he is out the door.

If he becomes unconscious don’t hesitate to open the door and shove his unconscious body out. You can always argue, in a court of law, that he was conscious when he left your auto.

And don’t go back to paste your treadmarks across his tee shirt a few times.

Okay, end of scenarios. A couple of things, however, you should know about these martial arts defense tactics.

One, if the carjacker enters from the backseat, oops, the doors weren’t locked. Keep all doors locked at all times.

Two, and this is very important, when you are fighting somebody with a weapon, and a carjacker will usually have a weapon, there is a fair to middling chance that you will be cut, shot, or whatever. Okay. This is a decision you must make on the spot. If your family is at risk, or the carjacker wants to take you out to the woods, then you must determine whether the trade of a flesh wound for the ultimate protection of your body is warranted. Hopefully, you will not take a bullet, or knife, to a major artery and bleed to death. But if he is holding a roll of duc tape in his hands, making sexual innuendoes that have nothing to do with sex, but everything to do with rape and torture, then this is your choice.

Three, and this is by the way, if somebody bumps your car from the rear, and you are in a desolate area, or if you just don’t like the look of the fellow who gets out of his car and advances towards you, drive away. Drive directly to a phone or police station and report what has happened, and why you left the scene of the accident. You may risk court action by leaving the scene of an accident, but I would suspect that when judge and jury understand your motivations they will not be overly vindictive.

Also, if a police officer pulls you over late at night and doesn’t look like a police officer, drive to a well lit, well populated area, or a police station, or until you see other cops assisting the first officer.

If you drive safely and, when pulled over, explain your concerns to the officers, they will probably be understanding. At any rate, it is better than having your body discovered in a shallow grave some months later.

In conclusion, it is the sincere hope of this writer that none of his friends, including those reading this article, will ever have their car stolen, and will never be put in a life or death situation such as is described in this article. If you are, however, I hope this article ensures your survival. It is definitely a step in the right direction…Learning the Martial Arts Defense moves against a carjacker!.