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THE THREE GREAT ELEMENTS OF SELF DEFENSE

1. GET MENTALLY CONDITIONED – Conditioning yourself psychically is actually easier than it sounds.  Matter of fact, your mentality is one of the few things you can exercise control over before, during and after a physical confrontation with a predator, bully, abductor or assaultive attacker.  Also, understanding that there is an unmistakable and crucial connection between body and mind should motivate you to spend some private time getting your mind and body (spinal) tuned to fight to your maximum ability – or, in many cases, above what you now consider your maximum skill level.  Simply put, you can Spinal Tune (a Warrior Science term for being mentally conditioned) yourself by thinking actively, not reactively. Do this by forcing yourself  to be AWARE of your surroundings at all times, to sense (see, hear, smell, touch, your instincts) changes, subtle and major, around you.  You must make yourself ASSESS what you see, hear, smell, feel and sense.  Assess body language and trust what your instincts are telling you.  ANTICIPATE. Meaning, simply, you need to ask yourself questions (I’ve talked about playing the “What If Game” in previous blogs to tune your mind in your relaxation time in order to create a “Warrior’s Mind”) challlenging yourself to decide what you would do if a worse-case scenario exploded in your face.  Always have a Game Plan and even a Failure Plan.
2. MAD DOG IT. Consider these facts.  (A)  Self Defense Is Not an Injury Free Activity.  (B)  The Bad Guy’s strategy often involves hurting you immediately, scaring you and intimidating you immediately, and causing you humiliation straight off, so you will be frozen or cemented to the spot on which you are standing!  A rapist might order you to take off your shirt, blouse and/or dress/pants in order to”freeze you in humiliation.”  A man seeking to control you might slap you hard across the face to stun you and scare you into frozen surrender.  What I ask you to consider, if you choose to defend yourself, is to Mad Dog It. Reach deep inside you (see the last post) and find that Bad Ass Beast that lurks within you.  It is there inside me, I know. It is there inside you.  Mentally accept the fact that punches, kicks, grabs, slaps, and tackled are going to hurt like hell, but you can stand the pain.  You can prevail over the hurt and deflect the pain & the fear – cause you have no time to be reactionary.  Understand that, if need be, you can fight in a state of undress instead of feeling  embarrassed You only have time to shake it off and fight!
3. BE THE PAIN. Seconds after the strike, the slap, the attack, you have to realize that you are still alive, probably still standing.  I have done this.  I have mentally conditioned myself to take the pain and make it part of me, of my fighting agenda.  Believe me, there is hardly anything more liberating and empowering than that feeling!

Until the next post, stay safe.  “Okay, Now Your Spinal Tuned.  Now, Kick His Ass With the Fighting Arts.”

Hammer

In my Fighting Arts for Women classes the theme is always this:  Reverse the Predator/Prey Principle. Simply put, I advocate taking the attacker’s mind set and expectations and totally flipping the mentality upside down by invoking the Element of Surprise on our part!

In any “life or death fight” where one side is dramatically overmatched, I say, Surprise is probably the only thing that can change the game in the woman’s (or child or teen facing a predator, bully, etc) favor!  Think of this:  when a woman is attacked, more often than not, her attacker is larger, stronger, faster, armed, in the company of an accomplice, plus, is often prepared with an attack plan.  Not only that, the bad guy has often tracked his prey for minutes, hours, days, sometimes months.  He has given this attack a lot of thought, even to the point of waiting to assault you in an environment with poor lighting, poor footing, and in a space where his victim has little room to escape or fight.

OKAY, ALREADY.  WE GOT THE IDEA:  WE’RE SCREWED!  SO, WHAT THE HECK TO WE DO?

Good question.  A little tempremental, but, still, good question.  What you do – what you must do – is do the unexpected. Believe it or not, you have an edge.  Not a big one, but an edge nevertheless.  And what is that Edge you have?

The Bad Guy’s Expectations.

In 97 to 98% of the attack scenarios, the bad guy expects you to be meek, to surrender without a fight, to beg for your life.  He often gets off on your fear, on the look of terror in your eyes. That look of “recognition” that you are the prey about to be dragged into an isolated corner of the world so the predator can torment and torture you until he finally rapes, robs and murders you.

INVOKE S.N.E.A.K.!

Open up a big can of Whoop-Ass on the monster by using the element of surprise.  Sensei Michael Pace used the acronym “SNEAK” to describe the process.

Surprise is the first and most important element.  Surprise is activated by fulfilling the bad guy’s expectations initially, and, then, suddenly exploding in his face!

Non-Violent is the 2nd element.  Before counter-attacking, you must appear non-violent.

Explode is the 3rd element.  You must “explode” from non-violent to ultra-violent in a split second.  When you explode, go nuts, liberate the beast.  You are all over his ass!

Aggressive:  Incorporate an aggressive attitude.  No longer a nice girl.

Knock the Bad Guy out of the fight.

Okay, you might be saying, that’s nice, but how the hell do I do this? In the next few posts I will be going over a few strategems, but, how about trying this one on for size?

The Bad Guy approaches with that “look” in his eyes.  Despite your protests he steps into your space.  Your gut instincts are screaming at you to get the hell out of there, but when you try to move he blocks your exit.  You know for sure you are about to be attacked in some way.  Put both hands up in front of your face, palms facing the guy’s face – the universal “Compliance Stance” – and you even “beg” him to let you go.

Then, suddenly, you bend your knees for power and drive both hands hard and fast into his head, driving up as if trying to knock his head off of his shoulders.  Before he knows what is happening, his head snaps back and he is off-balance and all his Primary Targets are open for a follow-up strike!  There are no apologies or excuses in self defense:  Show No Mercy and hit those open targets with everything you have until it is safe for you to escape.

Even if the Bad Guy has one of your hands under control.  Use your free hand and go for his head.  No head can withstand the power of your entire body.

This will work.

Until the next post, stay safe.

The Hammer

But, here’s the dealio.  If ever you face an attacker, before the debilitating element of fear sets in and paralyzes you, first you must get your ass in gear!  You see, this chi or ki is there, but it cannot be released like some ancient genie by simply rubbing in some arcane manner on your center.  It is up to you to have the courage, fortitude and willingness to get yourself  in action ASAP!

Your ki/chi works like the ignition of a car – from nothing to full throttle, according to Gervasi.  Instant power and energy!  Explosion from the inside-out!  But, like the key in the ignition of a powerful automobile, you must first turn it on!

TURNING THAT KEY

So, how do we explode from the inside out?  How do we pull our energy and power source to the surface?   Actually it is dog crap simple.  Release your power and energy right from the get-go.  Get moving and use the sheer power of “fierce and immediate movement from the core of your fighting spirit (which is within every one of us).”  Get moving and turn that ignition key.  In other words, instead of standing there frozen, trying to analyze what the attacker is saying and/or about to do, you need to Do Something Now! When you act definitively and immediately, you do several things that will help you pevail:

• You invoke the Element of Surprise.
• You get the attacker back on his/her feet & weaken his potential attack.
• You transcend the debilitating element of “Fear.”
• You flood your body with Stress Hormones and take advantage of an Adrenale Dump, which empowers you to fight harder and better, to run faster, to endure injuries and pain.
• And, finally, it empowers you to Unleash That Animal – that Beast – Inside!

Deep inside you, in a place where you must go mentally, is a beast.  It has been there for 250,000,000 years.  Give yourself the permission to grab onto it and become it. Yes, BECOME THE BEAST!  Turn that fear into sheer energy and power.

1. When your gut instincts tell you something is wrong, believe it always!
2. Breathe.  Get oxygenated blood flowing to your brain.
3. Move now.  Do something:

• Put some distance between you and him.
• Put a barrier or barricade between you and him.
• Say something.  “Stay back!”  “Nine-one-one!”  “What do you want?”  “I don’t have time for this!erbal SelfDefense (more on that in a later post).”
• Verbalizing also serves the purpose of unlocking that hold fear might have on you, plus, it let’s the goofball who is threatening you know that you are not going to allow him to intimidate or bully you.  Use Verbal Self Defense (more on VSD in a later post).
• Have an idea ahead-of-time, what you will do, if he gets aggressive, and, then, do it!
• By all means, keep moving.  Don’t allow yourself to be cemented to the floor when he attacks!
• If possible, strike first and use the element of suprise!

In the next post:  Using the element of surprise with your first strike!

Until then, stay safe.

Hammer

January 31, 2010

WINOLOGY 101 – KICK THE PERVERT’S ASS USING IMPROVISED WEAPONS!

We talked about using the element of surprise is the last two posts.  Comes the time to talk about using whatever it is that you happen to have handy when the pervert jumps in your face and expects you to fold like a $2 pup tent in a hurricane.

Improvised Weapons are at times better than real weapons per se (guns, knives, impact weapons) simply because when you are the victim of a spontaneous, close quarter surprise attack, your “real” weapon is likely not available, even, at times, if you are a cop (in my Spontaneous Knife Defense classes we assume that an officer will NOT be able to draw his weapon when attacked by a Bad Guy with an edged weapon).

WHATEVER IS IN THY HANDS CEASES TO EXIST

Predators love to attack women and children who have both hands full of items and/or who are first going in or first coming out of a location (that is when they are most distracted).  It is essential that you stay as focused as possible at all times.  If you are ever attacked with articles in your hands, my philosophy is that you must release whatever it is, so your hands are free to defend yourself, to fight!  However, if you have any of the following items in your hand, you are in possession of a deadly Improvised Weapon (IW)!

• Dog leash;
• Camera;
• Cell Phone;
• Wallet;
• Purse;
• Hard Backed Book or Soft Backed Book;
• Newspaper;
• Travel Mug;
• DVD Case;
• I-Pod;
• I-Phone;
• Car Keys;
• Spatula;
• Umbrella;
• Notebook;
• Handful of Coins;
• Pencil or Pen;
• Hatpin;
• Eyeglasses Case;
• Makeup Compact;
• Fix-A-Flat Spray Can (or, any kind of Hairspray Can).
• Icescraper;
• Magicmarker;
• Kubaton, or Another type of wooden or plastic key-holder.

Believe it or not, there are many other types of ordinary, every-day things that can be used as weapons.  I just don’t have the time or space to go into all of them.  I’m sure your imagination will work for you now that you understand the principle.  Damned near anything hard or even soft can be used to hurt an attacker, or, at the very least, distract him so that you can escape.

For instance, you probably carry a cell phone at all times.  Great!  If you have one nearby, take hold of it. Don’t hold it like you would a weapon.  If you do that, the Bad Guy will know what is coming and he can easily block your strike, etc.  Hold it as you normally would , but allow it to slide into the heel of your hand for counterpressure.  It does no good for you to hit the bad guy with it if it is going to fly out of your hand.  Now strike with the hard edge of it against your other hand.  You can feel how powerful that would be as a weapon.  Now, all you have to do, if you are ever confronted is to hold it low and innocuously so he will not even focus on the phone as a weapon.  More likely than not, the Bad Guy will close the distance, and, at the right moment drive that cell phone up through his Blind Spot (the space between his chest and his throat) and drive it into his throat.  Try it on yourself – just a touch, a soft touch at that – and you’ll see it fits perfectly.  The throat is the best target possible because the Bad Guy will likely drop like Toyota stock, but there are other targets, once you gain the edge.

IDEAL CELL PHONE TARGETS

• Jaw
• Forearms
• Hands
• Ears
• Eyes
  
• Side of Neck (Brachial Plexus Nerve Motor Point)
• Clavicles (Shoulder Blades)
• Jaw Bone
• Nose
• Back Of Head
• Groin.

One more thing.  Essential to converting an everyday item into an impact weapon is speed and explosiveness.  You have to explode into the attack with wicked suddenness and evil intentions!  You cannot be reluctant to use it.  Hit hard.  Remember S.N.E.A.K., the formula for success:

Surprise

Non-Violent (the key is to appear non-violent).

Explode (into the target)

Aggressive

Knock the Bad Guy out of the fight!

Stay Safe

Hammer

In case you did not read my post yesterday – “Load Surprise into your Self Defense Game Plan, Part I” – The Element of Surprise is a staple for any predator’s attack plan.  It may come in the form of a distraction, such as asking you a seemingly harmless question, or dressing like a lawyer or a businessman and/or acting like a child’s uncle or preacher, or teacher until the horrifying second where he turns from a benevolent spirit into an abject minster

Well, how about turning the tables on this jerk by using the same strategy against him?  How do we do this?  By reacting to him the way his – The Predator – psychology expects his victim to respond.  Simply put, the bad guy in many cases is confronting you because he – for whatever reason – sees an opportunity for an easy score.  Therefore, most likely, he has marked you as a victim, and, after testing you by trailing you or asking a few questions, he is now in your face because he expects you to cave.  The way I see it, you have two good options here. Actually, three (it is just that the third, giving up, saying nothing, and begging for your life, while still your choice to make, is unacceptable to this blog post.

1. Immediately, upon recognizing that the Bad Guy is organizing an attack upon you, tell him to “Stay Back (or some other statement of outrage and verbal direction)!”; get into a fighting stance and prepare to defend yourself.
2. Try to keep your distance so he can’t grab or assault you, tell him to lay off you, now! But prepare a survival strategy.  If he grabs you, use a Surprise Counterattack.

THE SURPRISE EQUATION, PART I. BUILD UP THE BAD GUY’S EXPECTATIONS. The best way to Reverse the Predator-Prey Syndrome (where you become the predator and he suddenly becomes the prey) is to build up his confidence that his plan will succeed and allow him to relax his guard (false sense of security).  So, what does the Bad Guy expect?  Simple.  He expects you to “fight like a girl, “ whch, when translated, means he expects you not to fight, or, if you do, to lash out aimlessly and powerlessly.  So, Part I of this “Surprise Equation” means you will initially act as if you are terrified and have no idea what to do after, and only after, he grabs you, strikes you, etc.

THE SURPRISE EQUATION, PART II. PHYSICAL ACTING JOB. This is a key to the whole strategy.  After he grabs you, pulls you closer, or grabs you and attempts tio pull you into an alley, car, or other secluded spot, your initial physical act is orchestrated to influence him to lower his guard and contribute to his own failure.  A few Examples of this:

• The predator grabs you by the wrists or arms and starts dragging you toward an alley.  Your first action is to do what he expects, and that is to pull away and lean back as you do.  This ties in to his expectations and he will – believing that his arm strength is far superior to yours – try to break your foolish resistance by pulling you as hard as he can toward himself.
• The predator grabs you by the throat and/or shirt or hair and pulls you in close to him.  He expects you to melt in fear.  Allow yourself to be pulled in close (as much as this will be frightening) and appear to go limp.  Feign crying and lay your head on his shoulder or neck, which is what he wants you to do.  Chances are this will influence him to relax his guard a bit because this is what his “fantasy scenario” had scripted you to do.
• The predator grabs you by the shirt, neck or hair but does not pull you close.  Instead, he keep you at arm’s length and makes a fist as if about to punch you.  Appear to submit.  Raise both hands in a Beg-For-Mercy Stance, waving both hands, palms outward in front of your face.

THE SURPRISE EQUATION PART III.  THE S.N.E.A.K. ATTACK! The SNEAK Attack is where the surprise explodes in the Bad Guy’s Face.  For instance, in the first scenario above, you have pulled away, knowing that the Bad Guy is stronger.  When he uses his superior power to pull you toward him, use all his power to propel you into his Center-Line Targets (eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus, stomach, groin).  Chances are good that he will not be prepared to block as he will be taken by surprise and he will be set back on his heels.  Deliver as many strikes as fast as possible to open targets using your hands, head (butt), knees and feet.  In the second scenario, once the Bad Guy pulls you close, he has put you in position to be the predator, no longer the prey.  Go limp, maybe whimper, and, now, take the hand closest to his face and place it on his opposite shoulder.  Quickly, and without warning (duhhh), hook your fingers inside his jawbone and drive your thumb hard into his eyes.  If you succeed, he will undoubtably release his hold on you, at which time you need to nail him in the groin with a knee, and, after you gain some space, hit whatever Primary Targets (Groin, Eyes, Throat, Knees, Nose) as often as possible.

The third scenario is a dangerous one, but he has you in a perfect position for a choke or a punch to the face.  The Bad Guy expects you to submit and to beg you not to hit him.  This is why I have asked you to assume the “Compliance Stance (Please Don’t Hit Me).”  From the compliance stance, beg the Bad Guy not to hit you, while slowly taking your strong hand and place it over top of his hand – the one that is holding you.  Now, quickly, tighten your grip and secure his restraining hand to your body while simultaneously driving a Palm Heel Strike to the attacker’s face with the same side hand as the one that is restraining you.  This will work because there is no way that he can block the incoming strike because his blocking hand is tied up.  Keep hold of his hand and, now, drive your shin or knee into his groin or another target.

Part III< Improvised Weapon Surprise.  Until then, Stay Safe

Hammer