How to Take a Hit with a Baseball Bat

If you want to be confident of your ability to defend yourself against any street attack then you will need to know how to defend yourself against all kinds of weapons attacks, including improvised weapons such as a baseball bat.

In this article I will describe how to take a hit from a baseball bat or other similar blunt weapon, as well as how to throw your attacker to the floor in a counter technique.

The physics of how to take a hit with a baseball bat without getting hurt is very simple: The end of the bat moves much quicker than the bit by the handle, and so does much more damage.

This means that whilst knowing techniques can obviously be helpful, it is more important that you have courage. If you try to back away from or dodge the swing of a baseball bat this can be very dangerous, becuase you can end up being hit by th very end of the bat and getting seriously hurt.

As soon as you see someone beginning to, or even preparing to take a swing at you with a baseball bart the best thing you can do is to quickly step in towards your attacker. The closer you can get to them the better, and if you can get within about two feet (depending on how extended the arms are) of their body you will not be hurt at all. In addition to this there are two other things that you can do. If the strike is coming toward your head then bring your arm up so that the heel of your open palm is over your ear, your forearm is held tight to your head, and your elbow is pointing directly forwards. If the strike is coming towards your torso then it is all about increasing the surface area of the impact to dissipate the force. A strike to the side will be more concentrated and so more damaging than a strike that is flat against the front of your stomach or chest. Your amrs should be lifted out of the way.

Once you know how to take a hit with a baseball bat without getting hurt the next step is to learn how to counter-attack, so I will now describe a technique that you can use to throw your attacker to the floor.

The following description presumes your attacker is right handed, and that therefore is swinging the baseball bat at yourleft hand side. Just reverse it if they are left handed.

As soon as you see that they intend to swing at you step forward quickly with your right foot, turning your body to the side. At the same time you should raise your amrs up and as you get in close your right arm goes over their shoulder and behind the neck, whilst your left hand comes down over the handle of the bat, or if possible over their wrist. The twisting motion you began as you stepped forward should continue in one long, continuous movement so that as you make contact you are already going with the flowof their swinging and twisting motion. You should not resist their force, but rather combine your movement with theirs into one movement. As you reach the point where you have turned 180 degrees to face the same way as them bend forwards (whilst continuing to turn) and use your right arm, and the momentum of the turn, to pull them over your hip and throw them to the floor. If you are not in the right position to put your hip against them and use it for leverage to pull them off their feet (perhaps if you don't get close enough, which can often happen), then you can also use your right leg, which should now be the back leg, to sweep their legs out from under them.

If you need to control and disarm your attacker it is important to instantly follow them to the floor so they don't get the space to swing at you again, but if it is possible you should make your escape as soon as the throw is complete.