Unarmed Combat
October 1, 2008 by HQ
Filed under Unarmed Combat
Safety level of engagement: Critical
Combat skill required at this distance: Extremely High
Percent chance of infection at this range: 80-90%
In a world filled with walking nightmares, this is the most hellish of all encounters. Whether due to poor planning, unfortunate circumstance, or just plain bad luck, you may find yourself at some point not only at close quarters combat distance with the undead, but also completely unarmed.
There is no more dangerous fighting situation than engaging in unarmed zombie combat (perhaps with the exception of such combat with multiple assailants.) To escape an unarmed encounter uninfected and with your life intact is extremely difficult, but not impossible. The better your skills are and the faster you act, the greater your chance of surviving.
In these particular combat engagements, the primary goal is not to neutralize your attacker, as it is extremely difficult to do so with only your bare hands as weapons. The goal is to remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible, and then, and only then, to think about eliminating the threat.
This is pretty interesting idea and I think it’s often overlooked. What do you do when confronted with a zed and your unarmed.
I think I agree with you here. I would think that a good shove should give you enough time to bug out. IF you have multiple zeds I would try to shove the “one” into the others. That should slow them all down long enough to bug.
This is one area where you really have to think about what you’re wearing. It has to be strong enough to protect against a bite, yet unobtrusive enough to let you get away.
This article is very incomplete, it actually does say anything at all about hand to hand combat. In fact, my comment should be added to the article above…
The way I try to envision unarmed combat with a zombie is that its not unlike combat with a large dog. Teeth are concern number one, claws number two. It will be a grappling competition, not a boxing match; zombies aren’t going to square up against you, they’re going to try to knock you off your feet and eat you.
To get you into the mindset, say quietly to yourself: “To fight a zombie with my hands - DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE! My blows will not harm a zombie.”
First and foremost, if the zombie is still relatively fresh or a reanimation of a large person, it should be assumed that it is physically stronger than you and your tactics should reflect this disadvantage. Do everything you can to avoid the altercation but if its an unavoidable combat (IE zombie “surprise”) and you must fight, place your thumbs squarely on its forehead above the eye brows and your palms on its temples on both sides, pressing its face (and mouth) away from your skin. Shove with all your might and hope that he/she/it falls. If you’re on the ground, use your legs to kick it off of you while performing the fore-head grab. Evade and escape. Another hold to keep the zombie from biting you is by grabbing its throat/neck with your arm outstretched, but this places your arm dangerously close to its mouth and should only be used in an absolute emergency. Grabbing its hair, though it will not work like on a human, can also keep it from sinking its teeth into your flesh. Remember, hand-to-hand against a zombie is not an offensive art but a DEFENSIVE one.
Striking a zombie in the head with your fist is not going to do anything at all to the reanimation. Even with brass knuckles (if you’ve even ever held a set) you’re not going to do enough damage to stop even a small zombie and furthermore, the zombie is not even likely to be remotely distressed by your weak hand-delivered blow. Striking a zombie without a weapon is not going to do anything at all, not unless you’re a heavy weight boxer - and even then, your blows would likely not inflict the necessary head trauma to end the fight immediately. Shoving is the only truly effective offensive maneuver barring a basic trip. Kicking its feet out from underneath it is also prudent. Once the zombie is momentarily incapacitated, RUN!
You should never be caught without a weapon, even in day-to-day life without zombies. Anywhere I’ve ever been in the US allows you to carry a small knife in your pocket; here in St. Louis, MO you can carry a knife concealed as long as the blade is no longer than 4 inches. Even a paltry pocket knife is more effective against a zombie than your hands. Ever thought what would happen if you had to immediately cut your seat belt off whilst stuck in a vehicle? Your odds without a knife are similar to your odds against a zombie without a weapon - almost zero.