Inflict Serious Damage

The headbutt is one of the most damaging strikes you can use on an attacker in hand-to-hand combat. The crown of the head is extremely strong, and if used properly, you are putting your entire body weight into the blow. The result is crushing power that will easily break a nose, knock teeth loose, or fracture cheek bones.

Breaking It Down

The biggest thing to remember is to use the top of your head and not your forehead. Using the top of your head strengthens your blow and allows you to put your full body weight behind it. You are not slapping or whipping your forehead into your opponent, you are driving your head into his face.

The other key to this move is to grasp your attacker’s neck to pull his head into your blow. This not only makes the headbutt more powerful, but also allows you to maintain control of the attacker after the blow.

As you saw in the video, Paul Vunak’s assistant was pushed backward after the headbutt. If this were a real street fight the attacker would have had a chance to recover and continue fighting (although a really solid headbutt is more than enough to put them down most of the time).

Holding the back of his neck allows you to deliver powerful elbow strikes after the initial headbutt. Hitting him with a combination like this greatly increases your chances of success, and keeping him close prevents him from punching or kicking (the basic tools of most fighters).

CAUTION!

As you can see in the video, the only suitable protection for this kind of punishing blow is a full-face motorcycle helmet. Due to the devastating nature of this move it should only be used in situations where you are in serious fear of someone causing you harm. That being said, here are the basics of how to use a headbutt for self-defense.

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