Doors — they can seem pretty tough. Monolithic, even. But in fact doors do have weak spots, just like any other formidable opponent.
LOCATION
If you absolutely need to break down a door, first consider attacking the area near the latch. However, many doors have this area reinforced, precisely because builders know it’s a weak spot. Also, a large doorknob can block your attempts to apply serious force.
So it’s also wise to consider the door’s corners: look especially for the one with the most obvious signs of wear on the jamb and on the door itself. And failing that, consider concentrating all your power in the door’s center. If nothing else, a few blows applied there will show you in which direction the door is most likely to give — if there is one.
HOW TO APPLY FORCE
Here you have three options, really: A shoulder shove; a kick, but only with the sole of your foot (not the toe, please); or you can use an instrument of significant mass — a battering ram.
The kicking approach gets a lot of play in movies. And it’s probably your best option if you need to do the job in one sharp blow — if the door is weak, and you need go through it both on balance and with the element of surprise.
But otherwise I recommend the shoulder shove. This method does spread your force over a slightly larger area, so a single shove might not be as powerful as a single kick. But the shove is more easily repeatable. And with most doors, you’ll probably need to apply several blows — maybe dozens — before you finally get through.
And in my opinion battering rams are too tricky. They’re rarely purpose-built. When you’re trying to break down a door, you usually just grab the nearest heavy thing — you probably haven’t planned ahead this far. As a result, when you pick up an awkward, unwieldy object and use it to strike a resistant surface like a door, the weak point in that system is less likely to be the door than…your wrists, which you probably haven’t braced properly for impact. So my advice is to save your wrists, skip rams, and just use the shoulder shove.
HOW TO TAKE A PUNCH
If someone has bothered to close (and lock) a door which you’re trying to break down — then once you finally get through the doorway, you’re very likely to encounter further resistance. Probably from whoever shut the door and hid away the treasure you’re after. And that person will also receive plenty of warning that you’re coming — since breaking down a door is usually not a stealth operation. And once you’re through, you won’t be in much of a position to put up a strong defense: you’ll be off-balance, likely sore, possibly a bit fatigued. For all of these reasons, whenever you break down a door, you should be prepared to take a punch.
Most opponents, seeking to do maximum damage in one stroke, will aim for your head. There are three types of injury you can expect from a blow to the head: Brain injury (including concussions), skull injury (including to your teeth), and soft-tissue injury.
Concussions result most frequently from blows to the right- and left-temple regions of the head. The easiest way to deflect an opponent’s attention from those sensitive spots is by wearing a hat with a brim of some kind. Even a ball-cap might be good enough. There’s a good chance that this distraction will be enough to convince your opponent to aim his first blow elsewhere. The main trick, of course, is to keep the hat perched on your head while you’re breaking down the door. You want a really snug fit here.
Skull injuries, you can’t really defend against; your head is mostly bone. But you can at least protect your teeth: It may seem extravagant, but wearing a mouthpiece will definitely cut down on the number of chompers you lose during your doorbusting activities. Consider it. The best mouthpieces are custom jobs; they’re definitely worth the extra investment.
Soft-tissue injuries are really the best outcome you can expect, once you break down the door. After some research, I have determined that the most advantageous place on your head to absorb a soft-tissue blow is…your ear. The ear’s external structure (the pinna) is mostly cartilage anyway. So once you’ve burst through your chosen doorway, my advice is to try to turn the side of your head toward your attacker. No matter how off-balance this makes you. And then hope he doesn’t land a direct hit with a sharp instrument of some kind, thus puncturing your eardrum.
Also, if your opponent is smart enough aim his first blow at your midsection…well, then he’s going to drop you. Unless you wear body armor of some kind, there’s really no defense against a well-aimed punch to the stomach or kidneys. At that point you should just try to be satisfied with the fact that you made it through the door.
THE KEY
The key consideration when you’re breaking down a door isn’t where to attack, nor what type of force to use, nor even where to absorb the subsequent punch. Instead, it’s to ensure that you’re undertaking this very strenuous and risky activity for a good reason. I can think of three such reasons: Escaping someone who is trying to kill you; obtaining or protecting valuable assets (but they had better be almost priceless — anything less than gold bullion probably isn’t worth it); and trying to impress someone who previously doubted your courage, fortitude, fidelity or constancy. Breaking down a door and taking a punch is certainly worth doing in order to impress someone who likes rollercoasters, or who knows how to tell a joke, or who brings you Gatorade when you’re feeling under the weather. On the other hand, it’s almost certainly not worth doing for someone who texts during meals, who expends all their emotional effort on their pets, or who constantly friendzones you. Doorbusting and punch-taking just aren’t friendzone-level activities, really.
That’s pretty much everything you need to know in order to break down a door and take a punch. Good luck.
With apologies to the Bayon Pearnik of Phnom Penh, Cambodia — especially the (hilarious) articles in the “Cambodian Survival Series” (Note: link is to a PDF), by Gern Blensten.
