How to Get Out of a Headlock: 8 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (2024)

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Co-authored byDerrek Hofrichter

Last Updated: May 15, 2024Approved

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1. 1

   Turn your head toward your attacker. Turn into your opponent's body so your airway is no longer constricted.^[1] This will allow you to breathe so you can escape the headlock.

2. 2

   Stun your attacker. Use your hand closest to the front of your attacker's body to strike their testicl*s (if your attacker is male). Also try to strike your opponent in the gut or ribs with your elbow. Striking your attacker in the gut and ribs works for both male and female attackers.

   • Keep your outside hand free to attack their testicl*s, or to protect your face if your attacker tries to hit you.^[2]
   • If it is a life-or-death situation, biting is totally on the table and it is an excellent way to injure an attacker if they are not set up properly.
   • However, do be aware that if they have you in a proper chokehold (elbow joint is aligned vertically with your esophagus, and their choking-arm hand is on their opposite bicep, with their opposite hand on the base of your skull), attempting to bite will give them an easy chance to pull your neck towards themself, rendering you unconsciousness.

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3. 3

   Reach to your attacker's head. Use your outer arm to reach around and up to your attacker's face. If this is a life-or-death situation, use your fingers to try and gouge their eyes, reach underneath their nose with your hand or fingers to pull their head back, or reach underneath their chin with your hand to pull their head back.^[3] Keep your other hand on the arm or hand that was head-locking you.

   • The body has to follow the head. That is why pulling their head back will render them unbalanced.^[4]
4. 4

   Stand up and attack. As you pull back your attacker's head, stand straight up to disarm them even more (his back will be curved). Use the hand that was holding onto their head-locking hand and arm to attack him again in the ribs or groin and push them away from you.^[5]

   • This would be your time to run and escape.

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1. See Also

   How to Do a Sleeper Choke Hold (With Pictures)Lancaster students put in headlock and dragged by security after interrupting senior meeting

   1

   Protect your airway. Turn your head toward the side from which your attacker is choking you. This will ensure that your airway doesn't get cut off. Use your hands to grab onto your attacker's arm, with your fingers on the inside of their arm, near your chin.^[6]

   EXPERT TIP

   

   Derrek Hofrichter

   Self Defense Specialist

   Derrek Hofrichter is a Self Defense Specialist and the Founder of EVKM Self Defense & Fitness in Tempe, Arizona. Derrek specializes in Krav Maga, Personal Safety, and Boxing. Derrek is a Krav Maga Third Degree Black Belt, a Senior Certified Krav Maga Instructor, and a Krav Maga Alliance Executive Board, and Training Team Member. EVKM Self Defense & Fitness was named the 2014 Krav Maga Alliance School of the Year and the 2017 Best Gym/Workout Studio in Phoenix. Derrek was named as one of the top 30 Health and Fitness Leaders in Arizona under the age of 40 by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com in 2018. He also holds a BA in Government Public Policy from Patrick Henry College.

   

   Derrek Hofrichter
   Self Defense Specialist

   Be strategic in order to escape a headlock. When put into a headlock, tuck your chin towards where the attacker's hands are. You can lessen the impact of a headlock if you keep the attacker’s arms from getting on your windpipe.

2. 2

   Tuck your chin. Raise or shrug your shoulders so you create a space where you can tuck your chin down to your body and get your fingers into the space between their arm and your chin. Aim to tuck your chin into the crook of their elbow; that is where there will be the most wiggle room.^[7] Sink down in his hold by bending your knees.

   • This will make it more difficult for your attacker to lock their arm onto your neck.^[8]
3. 3

   Step back. On the side that your attacker is choking you, step your foot back behind their foot to lock in their leg.^[9]

   • Don't arch your back backward. Instead, keep your back curved forward. If you lean back, you render yourself defenseless with no balance.
   • Do not step out to the side, but back, behind their foot so your legs are calf-to-calf.
4. 4

   Turn out and throw them down. Bend your knees and turn 180° toward your stepped foot.^[10] Your hands should still be on their arm, in between your chin and their arm. Once out of the headlock, pull diagonally across your body to throw your attacker to the ground.

   • Keep your opposite foot (the foot that didn't lock behind your attacker's leg) strong so as to trip your opponent as you throw them to the ground across your body.
   • If you can't throw your attacker, keep turning your shoulders and hips inward to create more leverage. Eventually, this should create enough space that you can pull your head out.^[11]

   EXPERT TIP

   

   Derrek Hofrichter

   Self Defense Specialist

   Derrek Hofrichter is a Self Defense Specialist and the Founder of EVKM Self Defense & Fitness in Tempe, Arizona. Derrek specializes in Krav Maga, Personal Safety, and Boxing. Derrek is a Krav Maga Third Degree Black Belt, a Senior Certified Krav Maga Instructor, and a Krav Maga Alliance Executive Board, and Training Team Member. EVKM Self Defense & Fitness was named the 2014 Krav Maga Alliance School of the Year and the 2017 Best Gym/Workout Studio in Phoenix. Derrek was named as one of the top 30 Health and Fitness Leaders in Arizona under the age of 40 by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com in 2018. He also holds a BA in Government Public Policy from Patrick Henry College.

   

   Derrek Hofrichter
   Self Defense Specialist

   Use leverage to escape a headlock. If you're in a headlock, rotate your body inward, moving your shoulders and hips to create leverage. If you keep working at it, enough space should open up for you to pull your head out.

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