Kuk Sool Won of St Paul | Twin Cities Martial Arts with Classes for Kids, Adults, Families, and Workouts

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Almost every month I get a comment or outright asked in our Martial Arts Studio, “But will this work on a Big man?” or “How do I take someone down that is bigger than me?” This tutorial will deal specifically on How to Take Someone down that is MUCH bigger than you.

Regularly, tutorials are a step-by-step process leading to an end goal. However, when defending yourself, if you perform one of these steps well, the scuffle could end very shortly and you have just taken down someone that is MUCH bigger than you.

* This tutorial is only for self-defense and in a situation you have already tried to leave and talked your way out of. This tutorial is used as a last resort.

In my mind there are two ways to approach this:

1. I have never had any experience in any sort of combat and just want to take this Behemoth down and get out of here.
2. I have a reputation to uphold and will use my combative skills to slay this beast.

So lets go both routes. We’ll start the tutorial with someone who has never had any Martial Arts or combat experience and is being attacked. When you take them down, get out of there to safety.

I have no Combat Experience and Need this Giant Slain (5 Steps)

Step 1: Strike the Soft Spots on this Giant

Hit those vulnerable spots with your fists, palm strikes, kicks, fingers, nails, and anything else you can get to the soft spots that hurt a lot.

1. Eyes
2. Groin
3. Floating Ribs (bottom two ribs)
4. Ears
5. Nose
6. Temples
7. etc…

Step 2: Find a Weapon

Sometimes it is easy to find a weapon in the general area, sometimes it is impossible, sometimes it takes a little imagination. Here are some ideas for you to end this fight.

1. Club (table leg, metal bar, thick branch)
2. Staff/Bo (Sign Post, Fence Rail)
3. Knife
4. Mace
5. etc…

Step 3: Use your Speed!

If you are smaller than this Mammoth I hope you may be quicker. If you don’t think you are you may want to skip this step, but if you are, use your speed.

Run around and try to bring your opponent down and out with quickness. Strike and circle. Strike and take down. Do what is takes with your speed to end this skirmish.

Step 4: Use all your available Bodily Weapons

Your body is a weapon. Use it well:

1. Punch
2. Kick (make sure you have enough time and enough distance)
3. Palm-Strike
4. Scratch
5. Rip

Step 6: They’re Down! Call for a Ref and Count Them Out!

They should be down by now. You have down four different, high-pain, maneuvers. If they are not down, this is the time to start yelling for “HELP!” Maybe someone that can bring this Monster down will come to your help? You need it.

I have Combat or Martial Arts Experience and I have a Reputation to Uphold (2 steps)

Step 1: Use your Skills

Use your combat or Martial Arts Skills:

• Joint-Locks
• Striking (Kicks and Punches)
• Weapons
• Grappling
• Throws
• or whatever you do…

If you are doing this part of the tutorial you should be good enough and confident enough in your skillset to take this person down.

Step 2: The Earth Shakes

Your opponent is down. Did you expect anything different? You are a skilled musician of combat.

* If you wish to use the second part of this tutorial and are a resident of the Twin Cities, Minnesota you may want to check us out: Twin Cities Martial Arts - Kuk Sool Won of St Paul

Kwan Jang Nim Dickson Kunz sent me an email today kindly correcting me on my Sept.7 Blog post Kuk Sool Won Weapons - Complete with Pictures with regards to what was posted about Straight Swords and Curved Swords. The email from Master Kunz was too good not to share so below is Kwan Jang Nim Kunz explaining the difference between a Straight Bladed and Curve Bladed Sword.

The reason you only see curved blades in cutting demos is because the tempering process changes the crystalline structure of the metal, causing it to ‘bend.’ Only double edged swords are straight (the curve on one side ‘cancels out’ the curve on the other). In olden times, practice swords were only made of wood due to the expense of metalworking. Nowadays, it’s still considerably cheaper to own a metal practice sword than one that is tempered for cutting, just as a wooden practice sword is far cheaper than one made of metal.

Metal practice swords are typically made of a blank bar of steel (or aluminum), merely having a sharp edge ground into one side, so the shape is still that of a ’straight’ bar of steel. Only recently have I seen practice swords made with the curved shape resembling an actual tempered blade. As a result of the extra shaping involved, these newer versions of a practice sword are more expensive than the previously available generic type. The bottom line of all this is that you will never find a single-edged quality cutting sword that is straight instead of curved.

So there you have it. Thank You Kwan Jang Nim for clearing that up for us. As with anybody who contributes to this Blog I happily pass along a little Link Love. Master Kunz currently is instructing at Kuk Sool Won of Costa Rica.

As you know Kuk Sool is founded with Buddhist Martial Arts. Here is a video from the Korean National Government on Korean Martial Arts connection with Buddhism. Kuk Sool Won members are featured training at a Korean Temple.