man vs. nature: how to kill animals in unarmed combat

econophile · #1 11-10-2006, 03:44 PM

This thread about man vs. dog asks whether an average unarmed man could beat a dog in a fight to the death. I'm interested in the best strategy to beat a dog and other animals that we might fight.

Obviously some animals, such as elephants or lions, beat us no contest. And we crush other animals, such as hamsters and canaries. But some animal vs. man fights would be pretty good, even if the odds are not exactly even. To win close matches, we must use the right tactics. I imagine with training we could defeat most snakes, for instance. So speculate on which animals we can beat and how we should beat them.

I will restate my plan to break a dog's neck if it latches on to on of my limbs.

miajag · #2 11-10-2006, 03:47 PM

I have often thought about what I'd do if I got attacked by a pitbull/rottweiler/etc. while running and it seems like it would be fairly easy to get on the dog's back, grab its front legs and snap them by yanking out to the sides. Someone tell me I'm wrong before I actually get attacked and try this.

Phresh · #3 11-10-2006, 03:49 PM

Shouldn't a snake be easy to beat? They don't [censored] with you unless you bother them first or they're mating. It seems that in order to initiate the fight you'd have to expose yourself to his attacks and totally screw yourself. If I was in a cage with a snake and the Hindu looking dude from Bloodsport said HAJIME I'd just creep up and grab it, game over.

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I will restate my plan to break a dog's neck if it latches on to on of my limbs.

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Don't most dogs latch on and start shaking their head furiously, like they're gonna rip something off? What if it grabs your arm? You're gonna break his neck with 1 hand while this thing is shredding your arms? I'd probably gouge it's eyes out or some variation of [censored] with it's eyes so it'd let go.

TheNoodleMan · #4 11-10-2006, 03:50 PM

Against most dogs, your best bet is to force your forearm to the back of its jaws. If you can get your arm wedged behind its back teeth it can't do much damage to you and you still have another arm and both legs to beat the hell out of it. Obviously this only works against a lone dog. Against 2 or more you're in trouble.

econophile · #5 11-10-2006, 03:50 PM

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Shouldn't a snake be easy to beat? They don't [censored] with you unless you bother them first or they're mating.

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Assume that all of the animals are trying to kill us.

Phresh · #6 11-10-2006, 03:51 PM

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I have often thought about what I'd do if I got attacked by a pitbull/rottweiler/etc. while running and it seems like it would be fairly easy to get on the dog's back, grab its front legs and snap them by yanking out to the sides. Someone tell me I'm wrong before I actually get attacked and try this.

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I know jack [censored] about dogs, but do you really think that if a healthy pitbull is running at you full speed, you're going to do anything other than get lunged at and mauled? If you somehow don't get snagged when he comes at you, I would think he'd be so quick/squirmy and small that you wouldn't be able to hold him at all. Plus he'd be nipping at you constantly.

Out of instinct I'd just try and soccer kick the thing.

econophile · #7 11-10-2006, 03:52 PM

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You're gonna break his neck with 1 hand while this thing is shredding your arms? I'd probably gouge it's eyes out or some variation of [censored] with it's eyes so it'd let go.

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The idea is to move the bitten arm upwards and the free arm down just below the base of the dogs neck to try to break it. I don't know how much force a dog's neck can withstand. Maybe this would require unusual strength.

Phresh · #8 11-10-2006, 03:53 PM

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Assume that all of the animals are trying to kill us.

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Well that's the problem, snakes don't just randomly try and kill you. But for the sake of the argument, if I'm chillin' with J-Lo and Ice Cube and a snake attacks me, I'd probably run. If my objective was to kill it, I'd try and grab something to hit it with while staying as far away as possible, and if I could, I'd try and grab it by it's neck.

If it was a constrictor, hmm, tough. I'd put it in an armbar.

bobman0330 · #9 11-10-2006, 03:55 PM

I think a dog's neck might be too muscular to be easily broken. Crushing its throat might be easier, but I don't really know about dog anatomy.

Rearden · #10 11-10-2006, 03:56 PM

I think kicking is a reasonable option here (esp if OP is wearing solid shoes). Punching risks too much and puts you in closer. Going to the ground gives up the advantage imo (If you're against an animal with good clawing technique [tiger] its an insta lose). I think clawing is a key aspect overall here... bears and other animals swipe with their paws... with a dog for example their only real weapon is their mouth. Clawing is huge imo for keeping the fight off balance and forcing us into bad positions.

I think you underestimate fighting the snake. If its a venomous snake any move into striking range is risky. They have us on reflexes and in some cases attack range. Coiling snakes are slower in general (I think?) or atleast lack the whole one shot one kill aspect of say a cobra. But I've seen nifty Discovery channel specials where an expert is holding a snake in one arm and it begins to coil itself around his arm working up toward his shoulder and eventually his neck. I think they need some time to bite and secure their position before such a move, but in short if you wait and let that happen you may be screwed.

Oh yeah and we lose every fight in the water. Punching a shark in the nose... ok.. right... that can buy you another 30 seconds of life before he circles again. Gator/Croc... might as well just let it happen.