This clip (courtesy of World Star Hip Hop, of course), illustrates several concepts I’ve covered in detail in a previous article and video, which you can find at the bottom of this post.
In the video we’re looking at today, a topless black male in blue jeans performs exceptionally well in terms of managing multiple opponents.
After knocking down his first opponent, he sees another male stepping forward and crossing the line of bystanders. He identifies this as someone who intends to intervene in the fight.
Typically, the plan of the bystander is to attack from the side while their target is focused on someone else.
Our main character immediately target switches. Target switching is a key component of fighting multiple opponents. He hasn’t completely taken the first man out of the fight, but he now has to prioritise the man who is moving forward because that is now the most serious threat.
As he approaches the second man he takes a wide angle, keeping the rest of the crowd in his peripheral vision. This avoids having the crowd behind him, completely out of sight.
At this moment, a third man approaches, but he’s on the side of our main character, and they form a line standing roughly shoulder to shoulder.
Main character sees his first opponent coming back to attempt a flank while he’s focused on the second man.
Main character correctly switches back to him, prioritising the opponent who is approaching from a dangerous angle.
This is exactly what I talked about in my multiple opponents video. An excellent demonstration of target switching.
The second man then crosses the line, which is often a big mistake because it exposes the flank, but main character was not in a position to take advantage of it.
It then becomes two individual fights which is a very common occurrence in a brawl.
While you’re dealing with your own problem however, you should try to remain aware of what the others are doing, because one of them is going to transfer over to your side when their problem is dealt with.
Which is what main character does. When he gets the chance, he transfers to the hoodie and blindsides him in exactly the same way they were attempting earlier but didn’t have the skill to pull it off.
And here you have the contrast between one man who could remain situationally aware enough to target switch, and another man who could not.
The other failure is wearing a hoodie in a fight, which can be for control in grappling.
This is why I advocate for spending at least some time grappling and sparring in a gi. People do wear jackets and other clothes that can be gripped in a fight.
Another video I’ve made which is relevant to this is about issues around bystanders, you can also find that below.