Extreme Close Quarters: Elevator Self-Defense Move
What To Do If There’s No Escape?
Confined spaces are all around us. This video demonstrates how an everyday place like an elevator can become a no-holds barred fighting cage in the blink of an eye. One of the keys to successful self-defense training is knowing how to handle a variety of situations. This includes scenarios you may have never thought of before, like in an elevator.
Incapacitate Your Attacker
For the most part, how you handle a fight in a confined space is very similar to any other self-defense situation. Your goal is to end the conflict as quickly as possible by getting in close and using damaging self-defense weapons like knees, elbows, eye gouges, and throat strikes.
The difference is that you can’t quickly escape a confined space. This means that instead of taking an attacker out just long enough to escape, you must keep an attacker incapacitated for as long as the situation dictates. There are a variety of self-defense techniques which can accomplish that goal.
An Important Distinction
Before we dig into the technique in the video there is an important distinction that must be made between control and compliance tactics and self-defense tactics. Don’t let anyone tell you to focus on control tactics only in confined spaces.
True, aside from choking or knocking out an attacker, a confined space will likely require you to control your attacker after he has been taken out. The key is that you only have to control him once he is taken out. You don’t have to use control and compliance tactics from the start.
Control and compliance tactics are great for rowdy brothers-in-law, not for attackers in confined spaces. You’ll notice in the video above Ray disrupts his attacker and takes control of the situation using strikes, not pain compliance move or complex joint locks. Both pain compliance and joint locks work well to keep your attacker incapacitated, but in most life threatening situations they should not be your first instinct.
The video above shows a great combination to use if your attacker grabs you with your back to a wall. This technique comes to you from Ray Ellingsen. If an attacker has you held up against a wall in a tight area this technique can save your skin.
Breaking It Down
Step 1:
The first thing you want to do is get your hands up to protect your face, while at the same time lowering your center of gravity and driving your knee into the inside of his thigh. This first step and the one that follows are meant to disrupt your attacker’s plans. He didn’t expect to be attacked and that’s exactly what you are doing. You’re not trying to muscle him off you.
Step 2: Next you want to follow up that knee strike with an elbow strike across his face. Hopefully it will put him in some pain, but at the very least it will further disrupt his plans giving you an opening to finish the job.
Step 3: Once you’ve hit him with the elbow strike you next step is to reach your arm up and around his, locking his arm in a joint lock. While you are getting the joint lock you want to grab your attacker by his throat. This throat grab should provide more distraction and pain while you secure the joint lock.
Step 4: You should now have him in a joint lock and be holding his throat. At this point you can take him into a wall or onto the ground.
Depending on his pain tolerance and strength his free arm may be a concern. Taking a tighter grasp on his trachea should neutralize the threat. Wrapping your fingers around his windpipe and squeezing is a great way to keep him from being able to effectively strike with his free arm.
Click here for more close quarters combat training by Ray Ellingsen!
Smooth
Very good demo .This is a move that anyone can use.
Good one, these free videos are a great bonus to us out here in the “World”.
Thanks again,
Ken
Excellent great response!
No doubt, Speed is of the essence, excellent.
Not bad, but that convoluted move to get the elbow lock gives your attacker plenty of opportunity to counter and hurt you. Krav Maga has much simpler and more effective counters that do not require you to maintain contact with the attacker.
nice action. nice counter.
Great Move Guys !!! That gives him a lot of pain and, disables him fast !!!
great move!~
Brilliant stuff.
Brilliant stuff.
I’d knee him in the groin and after the elbow on the return rake him across an eye'(s) with the fingers. Just saying. Nonetheless, seems effective to me as is. Thank you.
keep out of elevators in bad neighborhoods,but great info.
Excellent Moves, an extra move to keep in mind is an eye gouge when the “attackee” is breaking the attackers grip.
Nice, however why not go into the arm/joint lock when the hands are already inside and in position? Just seems that the elbow strike is a lot of wasted movement/time going directly to arm lock and choke would seem more effective, my $37.29….
Great video, broken well which makes it easy to understand. Personally I would have grabbed harder on the throat and lifted up body as I threw him into wall, then squeezed the life out of him. Recently had local girl raped in my town and 911 response was “can you get someone to help, we don’t have available officers right now. She ended up getting beaten and raped. Defend yourselves people, don’t expect help to come.
This form of self defence is very well broken down and explained. Well done
The review of this tech. is to ongoing when u can just nail him in the balls using ur inner leg.
Now this one looks very helpful thankyou very much for this video.
Man! I like that video! I’m 70, feel 30 or 40, but because of my older
looks, I get targeted, mostly with attitude. Because of what little
I’ve learned from Bob’s site, I carry myself with confidence, and I
get into very few confrontations. I’m 5’6″, 180 lbs. I workout on a
regular basis…Anyway Thanks again…And don’t mess with me on an
elevator!….EDDIE
this works but there is a lost of wasted motion
EXCELLENT TACTIC
Nice…In the spirit of a fight fast we would have also the target the throat (first move) or if the attacker closes and restricts arm movement go hard to the groin and leg targets (e.g. inner knee)?
I enjy al ur blogs right at this moment unemployed living in shelter one day i will join your website thank u for giving me samples
Mary
nice moves
good stuff
Nice Job of close quarter combat!!!
Thank You !
Great Training.
awesome,totally awesome,hahahahaha!!!GetSome.
Lately, many news videos show police officers out of control and beating civilians for no apparent (legal), reason. So, how do you protect yourself from those tactics?
I really enjoy your video thanks for your support.
Very good sequence of techniques. Thanks very much.
Awesome very good stuff
Thank you! Now I know I don’t have to be afraid to get into a small space by myself.
Now I can enter elevators and know precisely what I can do. Thanks a million, Bob!
I have Ray’s Dvds that showed how to defend yourself in a Prison environment. They were excellent.
Another good example of closed quarters self defense demonstrated by Ray Ellingsen.This dude just gets better and better with his practical self defense videos.Thanks to both Bob Pierce and Ray Ellingsen.
I like this guy’s “jail” moves. I’ve only seen 2, but they’re both relatively easy, quick moves. Keepers.
thanx for all the videos I share them with my son and sometimes practice them as we are both in security. I prefer not to be armed and would rather end a situation as quickly as possible. at age 66 im just not as nimble, fast, or strong. keep the videos coming.
Your videos are second to none great job as always
This seems to be a pretty effective manuver to use in a confined space. I will keep it & show my daughters this so we can practise . It’s 1 more useful move we have now in case Thank You Very Much agian . Getting hooked up with you has definately been a winning decission
EXCELLENT
good video and advice
Nice!
excellent video tape thanks
Good one!
That technic seems to be ideal for a smaller person defending against a larger
How would you practice this move with a partner safely.
Great move especially in close quarters for self defense great demo thanks
Thank you how about if you are using a rotator in that situation.As I once did .