I have conducted nearly 2000 Self Defense For Women classes since the mid-80’s. That’s thousands of girls and women coming to me for guidance and training on overcoming threats ranging from personal/professional harassment to sexual assault all the way to lethal attacks. In almost every case, the student feels insecure about her ability to prevent and/or survive an assault.  While each comes to me with different levels of strength, power, athletic skills, mental toughness, the key almost always comes down to the student’s willingness, not necessarily ability to not only fight back when the time comes, but to do what is required to do what the attacker least expects – to preempt the assault by taking the fight to the Bad Guy (or girl) with all-out viciousness (see past blogs where I talk about Fighting A-socially).

If you haven’t already puzzled it out by perusing past postings, to me the key to knocking the aggressor out of the fight is the willingness and readiness to recognize the pre-attack signs, to mentally and emotionally gird yourself, and then to have the courage to quickly and decisively explode into the attacker, to take the fight to him, to knock him back on his heels, and to keep attacking until you can escape.

Unfortunately, what I think it comes down to in many of my students is a willingness to examine how theyreally think about self defense, and, of course, making changes where it is required in order to by really prepared to successfully prevailing in a fight for their lives.  I can safely say this, not only because it is my personal belief, but my professional observations and other empirical research shows that of the thousands of women I have trained over the years, over 85% of my students, when tested during scenarios, questionnaires, etc:

• During scenarios, even when they know that the trainer is portraying a stalker or predator, when approached and asked a question (Testing, Distraction Tactic, Pre-Attack Posturing by the Bad Guy):
  1. Freezes in place or fails to move.
  2. When asked, tells the stranger her name and gives other information.
  3. When predictably grabbed, does nothing, and, worse, freezes and stops breathing,
• In scenarios where the woman is surprised by a male popping out of nowhere:
  1. Almost all hesitated before acting.
  2. When the woman did counterattack, over 96% struck once and did not follow up.
  3. A large percentage hesitated then attempted a perfunctory and ineffective counterattack.
  4. A large percentage closed their eyes and began wildly slapping, mostly at air,
• In scenarios where a woman who was on a cell phone when a man, who had been stalking her and now sidled up next to her, only 5% immediately gained distance, verbalized defiance, etc.
• Only 5 to 10% (not sure) of women, who were grabbed from behind or the front “by surprise,” used an improvised weapon that they were holding at the time to aid in their escape.
• 100 Percenters:  With rare exceptions – and most of those were distaff law enforcement people – zero percent of the women:
  1. Verbalized or screamed )”Kai!” “Back off!” ).
  2. Moved tactically as she fought or responded to a threat or pre-attack sign.
  3. Used barricades in the environment to evade or escape or at least buy time, or, better yet, to throw at the attacker, strike him with, etc. (chairs thrown at his feet/waste baskets/tables/desks/knapsacks and backpacks/books/trees/cars (scenarios in parking lots).
  4. 100% failed to try a second tactic (Failure Drill) when the first thing they tried failed.
  5. 100% froze when confronted with an “attack” that was not scripted or trained in a previous class.

There are more empirical data and observations, but I hope the message is clear.  Knowing the profile of the attacker you can do the math.  The above noted responses to male testing and his dependence on Victim Compliance to give him the courage and confidence to wage an attack. It is clear that in order to prevent and prevail against an assault, women have to consider changing the way she thinks about defending herself.  

Stay Safe.

Hammer

TIME for some tough talk about seriously hurting another human being.  Up until now, these postings have explored issues surrounding avoidance and prevention, which is 95% of successful self defense for women, perhaps 90% of self defense for men.

BUT NOW you have been cautious, employed “soft eyes,” even used distance and assertive language, but, still, the huge, belligerent drunk growls and rushes into your personal safe zone (psz) and now his hands are on you and you know he is so much stronger than you.

What do you do next?

IF YOU are like 9 out of 10 victims, you hold your breath and freeze.  You try to formulate a countermeasure, but your mind scours your Short Term Memory for a plan of action but there isn’t one because a plan is only effective if it is done before a critical incident.

You snap out of it about two seconds into the assault, but the drunk’s confidence has escalated because of your passivity and he is choking you with one hand and opening the door to his van with the other and you feel yourself too tired, too numb to even try to defend yourself now and you are giving up, silently praying that somehow he will show mercy on you, even though you keep hearing that mantra in your head:  “Never ever go with him.  If you do, you will never, ever return.”

BUT THEN, maybe you are a man, woman, or teenager who has trained in one of the Martial or Fighting Arts.  Maybe you, like me, are committed to becoming violence when abject violence is the only thing that can save you.  It is what I call The Greatest Blow On Earth, capable of leveling the playing field, of Blowing the Bad Guy Away.

THE GREATEST Blow on Earth involves a chain of actions linked together by Surprise, Speed, Power and Location.  The Survivor Philosophy is Two Eyes For An Eye.  After all, the stupid drunk asshole grabbed hold of you  I urge you, the intended victim, (The Survivor) to disintegrate any thoughts of regret about what you must do, which is, frankly, to destroy one or all of the assailant’s Primary Targets.  After all, the Bad Guy’s hands are latched onto your chest, so his hands are not hitting you and they aren’t able to block the eyes, throat, groin and/or knees.  The Survivor also understands the mentality of the attacker and when the Bad Guy pulls you in,you use the Bad Guy’s power to propel you into his personal safe zone.  From close quarters you can do many,many bad things to the assailant and there is very little he can do about it, at least for the initial few seconds.

COMMIT yourself to the tactics of multiplicity and follow-up, once you are inside his safe zone.  That means hit as hard as you can in vulnerable areas that will do some damage.  Do not stop until you can safely disengage.  Christopher Pagotto, a MMA competitor with whom I work out from time to time, suggests that anyone fighting a serious battle for his or her life should think in orbits.    He explains:

“Instead of singular and linear strikes to a target followed by returning the hands to the guard position only to repeat the stroke, I believe in smooth looping and straight punches, but let’s add another element.  Any sub-targets in the lane or zone of the primary target should be destroyed or at least struck on the orbit home.”

Pagotto demonstrated his orbit philosophy by driving a looping right fist “into” my right forehead (a touch drill which landed like a feather, thank goodness) and, then, as the punch returned on its path, he deftly clapped a Palm Heel (touch drill) into my right ear.

“Heck, Hammer, Pagotto concluded, “the thing is to hit as many targets as possible in as few strokes as possible.  Here we have a nice hook to the temple.  You got the Bad Guy reeling a bit, but he’s not out. Next thing he knows, his ear is ringing and his balance is messed up.  Follow up with an elbow or a kick and the clown is down.”

Next Posting:  More Scenarios and Survival Strategies.

By Hammer

SSPEED -A Dynamic Self Defense Equation Against Bullies and Other Predators.

IF YOU have been following my posts, you are familiar with my Tough Target Techniques for avoiding (evading) an attack by a bully, or, in the case of women, a stalker/ predator.  The important thing is, if possible, to evade the attacker without having to fight.  Preparation, Planning, Practice and Prevention – The 4 P’s of the Fighting Arts – comprise about 95 to 98% of successful self defense. 

OF COURSE, we all know that is not always possible.  Predators (for the sake of this post, I will restrict “predators” to bullies and male attackers of girls and women) almost always “tune up” for attacks through Verbal Testing.  Michael Pace, a highly respected self defense expert, agrees, noting that “the preliminary for an attack is The Interview – the threats, questions, insults and/or the ‘woofing—”  Most attacks start off with a “verbal assault because the predator wants to find out what he or she is up against – an easy target or someone who will give him or her a real fight.  A Target Person (TP) who ignores these threats, insults, or questions”will open the door for an immediate physical attack.”

S.S.P.E.E.D TO THE

RESCUE:

MICHAEL PACE calls it “Faked Compliance,” and I call it Feeding the Beast.  Call it what you like, but by faking compliance we are feeding the beast’s expectations.  He is verbally accosting the victim and his/her Tough Target words and body language have not deterred him, so when he grabs the TP (Target Person), he is relaxed, overconfident and certain that the TP is a “free lunch,” or an easy target. 

WHAT FOLLOWS is the SSPEED Counterattack Plan:

1. The Predator grabs the TP by the collar & shakes the “victim.”
2. Upon First Touch (by the Bad Guy) the TP raises both hands higher than the attacker’s, palms out, shaking them side to side in a “please don’t hurt me,” gesture and even says “please don’t hurt me!”  This is Faked Compliance or Feeding The Beast’s Expectation at its best.
3. The Bad Guy – expectations fulfilled – gains confidence in his assault’s inevitable success -moves closer, determined to throttle the victim.
4. At this point – which is First Touch by the attacker- the Target Person (TP) should Explode forward, driving both hands from their “Compliant Position” into the Bully/Predator’s face, striking hard and often quickly (Speed), connecting unexpectedly (Surprise) using quick Palm Heel Strikes to the most painful, vulnerable targets – the nose, eyes, mouth - and/or, combining the very hard heel of each hand with slashing fingertips and nails (to be used for Deadly Attacks only/attacks by bullies are not usually lethal in nature) strikes to the chin and/or nose followed up with eye strikes and gouges.
5. Palm Heel Strikes are ideal for quick (speed) surprise strikes to the face because one can hit from wherever the hands are without changing one’s hand position, plus, the heel of the palm provides a hard and powerful striking area which is both easy with which to strike and a injury-friendly area, even for a novice fighter.
6. If the attacker has grabbed the TP with both hands, there is no earthly way he or she can block these strikes.  Even if  there is one hand free to block, though,  I say go ahead and rain the bully with a storm of strikes – one strike will never ever do the job – until the threat is over.  And, as the bully lets go to protect his vital targets, I guarantee other targets will open.  I say, do it.  Hit them and hit them hard.

S.S.P.E.E.D:  Breaking It Down:

Speed:     Although Power is important in knocking out an attacker, getting to a target first is essential to winning.  There are aspects to speed that I will address is another posting, in this scenario, speed is manifested by striking with the hands exactly where the Bully sees them in the Compliant/Begging For Mercy Position.  In other words, strike from that position without telegraphing the punch by drawing back either hand, which would effectivelt destroy the element of surprise.   

Surprise: The element of surprise is the key to a successful counterattack.  The TP has set up the bully by using the “Compliant Position” and the predator has “taken the bait.”  In my Self Defense classes, the Palm Heel Strikes are Stunning Techniques, and Stuns are described as the “stimulation of overwhelming sensory input that is sudden, intense and unexpected–”  Simply put, this means that the delivering a cluster of speedy strikes to open, vulnerable targets will weaken a bully/predator through a devastating series of Mental Stuns that effectively weakens the attacker, destroys his or her (false) confidence and opens up vulnerable targets.                 

Power:  More on how to create and sustain pure Power in one’s techniques in the next posting.

Explode:  Explosiveness differs from Power in many important ways.  Look for another posting

Escape :  I will address crucial E & E strategies in another posting, also.

Dynamic:  I had to come up with a concept to complete my catchy “SSPEED” acronym.  Being Dynamic, though, means, once a TP is approached, accosted verbally, and set up for an attack, he or she must be Willing (being willing is as imporatnt as, maybe more important than, being able) to carry out the SSPEED Plan of Action with 110% commitment.

HARRY HAMMER

I introduced
the concept of Winology in my opening posting with
true stories about one of my adventures as a state parole agent as well as some
heroism of one of the women from one of my Self Defense For Women classes who
had been violently attacked. Now I thought would be a good time to relate the
stories to the phenomenon of raw violence and what you can
learn about not only surviving it but even prevailing against it.

In other words,
The Basics of Threat Management Skills. Keep in mind, what follows is The
Basics in relationship to the abovementioned stories and illustrations
only. In the next few posts will be a myriad of tips, guidelines, principles,
skills, strategies and techniques designed to arm you, your family, friends
and/or children against violence in almost a hundred various specific areas
of threat (Domestic Terrorism; Domestic Violence; Home Invasions; Counter-Bullying;
Counter Child Abductor Strategies and Techniques; The Fighting Arts For Children;
Teens; Women; Men and/or Seniors, et al.)

Technorati Tags:violence, domestic, bullies, basic, school of winology

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