Dressing for Street Combat

Footwear

Footwear should not heavy or bulky, or have overly thick soles or high heels that prevent you from having free movement. One may think that spiked heeled shoes may be useful when stomped on the top of an attackers foot, but hitting a foot with such a tiny weapon is be difficult when both parties are moving around, and especially so then you are defending against other attacks. The soles of the footwear should offer good traction on most surfaces to keep you from slipping or over rotating on a kick, but they should not have so much traction that they prevent purposeful sliding or rotating. Leather soles are a bad choice under most conditions; they are slippery on practically any surface.

Jewelry

A heavy chain around the neck may be used to choke you. Jewelry draws the attention of attackers, so only wear it in relatively safe situations. The party you are going to may be safe, but the streets outside may not be safe. When in unsafe areas, remove or conceal jewelry.

Ties and scarves

If a thug wants to strangle you, he needs to get something around your throat. When you are resisting, this is difficult to do. However, if you already have something around your throat, the job is half done.