In my last admittedly wonderful post (“Make Your Attacker GASP – Core Secrets To Dynamic Self Defense”) I introduced you to the concept of GASP (Great Attacker/Asshole Stopping Power).  Nothing new, really, just a catchy training mantra.  I imagine that I have talked up the core secrets of generating power through hip rotation, locking all joints on impact, hitting and sticking on your target at least a half dozen times in my 35 posts.  Not to mention anticipation, or asking yourself what would I do if “A” happened before an attack; springing into action and, finally, pinpointing power (high-dollar) targets.

Of course reading the secrets and putting them into action are two different things.  If you have the desire to get real good at GASP, commit yourself to hours of practice a week, then, heck, Tough Girl or Roughneck, whoever you be, we got ourselves a deal.  I can come up with a neat little training agenda – simple stuff, too, that will do the trick.  I can make you good.  Real good.  In the studio or dojo, that is.

Putting everything together in a real dead-bang attack scenario might be another dealio.  Developing the necessary mentality and heart to fight – the willingness to do what is needed at the time it is needed, is, in my mind, the most important thing.  But that is up to you – beyond my control.  What is within mine, in the context of this post are a few tips on what strikes can work for you in a jiffy when your ass is on the line.

GASP STRIKES THAT WILL END THE FIGHT NOW

I must caution you.  The following are all Deadly Force, Lethal techniques that you must only use when you perceive that your attacker is about to cut your wires.  Shut down your computer, for, like good.

BEAK STRIKE TO ADAM’S APPLE:  Grip your index and middle finger tight to your thumb.  Blindfold yourself, hold your breath, go out and get blind-ass drunk. Doesn’t matter. Once you learn this configuration, you will be able to do this under any stressful or dysfunctional circumstance.  If the attacker’s throat area is open, the Beak Strike cannot help but stop him cold!   Not only that, it is easy to do from the “Surrender Stance (both hands up in front of you, palms facing the attacker, fingers spread).  Drive that beak hard into the throat area.  It is possible this strike can cause serious damage, even death, so, once again, use it only if—

WEB STRIKE TO THROAT:  Another semi-lethal strike that works perfectly from a Surrender Stance (which lulls the Bad Guy into dropping his guard).  Stretch your fingers taught, away from the thumb, forming an “L” laying on its side.  Drive the strong web into the throat area.  Should be easy when you place the palm of your hand on the Bad Guy’s chest when he pulls you close and beg him to let you go.  Impossible to stop if the Bad Guy’s chin is even slightly up.  Drive the web up through the Blind Spot that extends from his chest to his nose.

HEAD BUTT:  A good head butt driven into the Bad Guy’s nose or forehead may not stop the fight now, but it will most likely stop him in his tracks.  Once again, simple and easily doable.  Just drop your head using dead weight into the target (or, if the Bad Guy grabs you from the rear, the back of the head driven to the rear works amazingly well.  Your skull is durable, build for survival, so chances of an injury are minimal, much less than the Bad Guy’s chances, if you can pull this off.  Enhance the Head Butt by grabbing both sides of his head and holding it there for counterpressure.  Lots of times when men attack a woman, they hope for a woman reacting in this way; it is part of their fantasy script.  Feign tenderness and go medieval on him!

INVOKING SINGULARITY OF FOCUS:  What the hell is The Hammer talking about? You are probably muttering.  Well, don’t you worry about The Hammer; he knows about what he speaketh.  Singularity Of Focus simply means for you, the Good Guy, to maintain upper body or facial eye contact with the Bad Guy to make him certain that whatever counterstrike you are about to unleash will be coming with your upper body.  In many cases this surprise move comes off of a grapple where the attacker moves in close, grabs you and starts to unleash a flurry of upper body strikes, slaps and grabs.  Surprise the Bad Guy with one of more of the following lower body counterattacks:

• The Front Kick:  Used effectively by the Israeli Army, who dynamically enter an enemy building with their rifles chest high.  When the Bad Guy grabs the rifle *(invoking Singularity Of Focus), the Israeli drives the instep and/or toe of his foot hard into the lower shin of the terrorist, who loosens his grip on the rifle.  This kick shuts down the Central Nervous System for a second or two, opening up other targets.  You can do this much the same way.  Imagine you have just stepped in a muddy puddle with your new  shoes.  Now, imagine shaking the water off your kicks.  That is exactly the motion of the Front Kick delivered to the lower shin, just above the tongue of his shoe (Superficial Nerve Motor Point).
• The Knee Strike:  Drive your knee hard into either the groin or Femoral Nerve Motor Point (inside of the leg, halfway between the groin and the knee).  Follow up with more knee strikes.  Power your knee strike by driving the hips into and through your target.  Don’t bounce off it, stick on it and through it.  Feel like you are sitting in a Barco Lounger.  You know how it feels when you pull the rods and your ass end slides forward.  There you go!

A WORD OR TWO ABOUT THE DEVASTATING EYE GOUGE:  No doubt, the Eye Gouge or Tiget Claw is the number onbe counterattack in my Playbook.  In an attack against a woman a man often pulls her in close.  Take that opportunity by getting even closer and performing one of two tacts:

•            Drive a Palm Heel strike up through his blind spot into his chin.  Drive his head straight back, as if trying to rip his head off his shoulders.  As you are doing this, ehnace the whole shooting match by curling your fingers and dsriving them into his eye(s) This is the Tiger Claw Counter Attack.
•            Surprise the crap out of the a’hole.  When he pulls you in, not only go with it, but get even closer.  Place your head on his shoulder with the back of your head wedged against his (creates great counterpressure.  His head cannot escape).  Now, take your inside hand and at first place it on his opposite shoulder, then, suddenly,slide your thumb just below the earlobe and inside the manbible (jaw bone) for leverage.  With your thumb locked in, simply allow your fingers to locate the Bad Guy’s eye and gouge away!

Enough For Now.  Stay Safe.

Hammer

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

The great majority – if not all – of those who come to me for self defense training are men, women, boys and girls who, without actually saying it, are forever looking for what I have long called the Self Defense Silver Bullet.  The Silver Bullet, in case you’re not a fan of the old werewolf movies where the hero, when all else failed, would kill the beast with a silver bullet.  The Silver Bullet has become a law enforcement and self defense training metaphor for any one technique or concept seen or hoped to be a simple, easy and total solution to a threat or problem.  Insecurity and a sense of vulnerability are key motivators for those coming to me.  I rarely get those who feel secure and powerful, fearful of no predator, who come to my self defense classes.

So it makes sense that everyone is “seeking the bullet,” as I like to say.  And I am not saying that is a bad thing, either.  After all, most of my classes are only about 8 hours long, spread over 4 weeks.  They are looking for something they can learn, something they can wield, in the least amount of time with the least amount of effort that will be The Great Equalizer against a bully, sexual predator or psychopathic and violent criminal who they perceive will almost always be much larger, stronger, combat-hardened and confident .

There are many Great Equalizers, to be sure.  For instance, a firearm is probably the best.  There are pros and cons to the gun, which I will go into in another post, but, with or without a gun, knife, bat or other real weapon, I have advocated the Element Of Surprise as my Great Equalizer/Silver Bullet For Prevailing in a Fight for years.  Even if you are armed with a powerful weapon, real or improvised, in order to vanquish that hulking, feral and/or psychopathic attacker, you need to invoke the Element of Surprise.

Explosive Surprise as the Great Equalizer:  The Formula.

1. Distraction:  Distractions weaken the Bad Guy’s motor actions by changing his mental process.  Change his mental channel from channel 6 (what he intends to do, what he is attempting to do) to, say, channel 34 (what you are doing, which is totally unexpected).  This fragments his physical being from his mental process, therefore weakening him.  As a PPCT Instructor Trainer, I teach officers to distract the Bad Guy by focusing his attention to one’s upper body and then attacking him low.  I call this Invoking Singularity of Focus by getting the subject to expect either no counterattack or to expect one high.  When the low counterattack comes, then, the Bad Guy is more often stunned, weakened and even temporarily frozen in surprise!
2. Preemptive Attack:  I call this using the Principle of First Touch as a Trigger To Explode into the Attacker.  The great Self Defense Guru Bob Pierce calls this principle the Preemptive Attack.  Either way, combining the elements of Distraction with this Explosive Action is the Great Equalizer.  As Pierce says, “Hitting first is the great equalizer for a weaker opponent—“

For years I have been teaching students to set the Bad Guy up with a series of meticulously contrived actions designed to give the weaker “victim” that temporary edge that can make the difference between getting bullied and humiliated, beaten, injured, raped or killed and ending the fight quickly and going on with your day.  This reaction sequence basically consists of::  Being aware of oneself, one’s environment, etc.; threat recognition – assessing danger and cascading signs of an imminent attack; a pre-determined survival strategy – having a plan of action based on one’s assessment of the threat, distance, time available, etc.  Breathe Don’t Freeze and Take an “Athletic Stance” and tell the Bad Guy to stop where he is. 

Once a Bad Guy enters a “victim’s space and makes contact (First Touch), however, the “victim” invokes a distraction by doing what the Bad Guy expects (Channel 6), eg:  pulls away and/or begs to be let go.  This builds the confidence and feeds into the fantasies of the Bad Guy, who pulls the weaker victim toward him.  This is when the “victim” attacks first, hopefully driving the attacker backwards and on his heels.  Once this attack begins, the “victim” must not give up his or her edge.  Attack Open and Vital Targets as they open up.  Never Lock-In on only one or two targets.  Create an Overwhelming and Continuous Attack, sustaining one’s counterassault to whatever level it requires to end the fight.

One of the key differences between a victim and a warrior-survivor (I profile these in my classes) is that the victim almost always harbors thoughts of injury, death, humiliation and of “paralyzing sorrow (they are frozen, in other words, in thoughts of their fear, their helplessness) but the Survivor (Warrior)

·         Converts fear into determined action.

·         Thinks only of how to survive and/or prevail against the attacker.

·         Concerns self with hitting open targets and escaping.

And that brings me to my final points about the Silver Bullet.  While there is no such thing is self defense against a larger, meaner and stronger attacker, there are Equalizers.  If you distract the Bad Guy, change his channels, so to speak, and then explode into him when he least expects it, you will be following up with a sustained attack on vulnerable targets, one after the other, you will also be concentrating on hitting targets, one after the other as they open up, and you will not be focusing on what can be debilitating fear. 

So, in a situation when your child is facing a much larger bully, or your daughter is facing a dangerous sexual predator think of this:  Your son/daughter holds out both hands, palms out, in a “Surrender Posture.”  “Please,” I don’t want any trouble,” he or she pleads, hands waving.  As the attacker confidently strides forward and touches this “forward barrier,” the intended-victim drives a strong palm-heel strike into the attacker’s nose, and the other hand pistons forward and the predator is back on his heels and the intended victim takes the fight to the stunned bad Guy.

By Hammer

Guess I have preached a lot about the element of surprise in many of my posts. There’s a good reason for that, of course. people close their eyes, hold their breath and either pray the attacker goes away, or flail away pathetically at the attacker.

More likely than not, the Bad Guy will try to distract you before he attacks you. He wants to attack you as your thoughts are fragmented and you are looking away at either your watch (”You know what time it is, Lady?”) or a peripheral object (”Excuse me, Lady, you know where the bus stops?”). Next step is he will grab you and grab you quickly and expect you to freeze. I advocate a state of readiness when you know the man is approaching you and that gut feeling hits you that something is not right. Prepare a good verbal response, prepare a good physical response and will yourself to carry it out.

HERE IS THE ALL-IMPORTANT HOW-TO-WIN PART. RULE 1: Take what the Bad Guy gives you. If he grabs both your hands or grabs one hand with both his hands, you know that he has given you everything! He cannot punch or block with either hand, so every target is open. If he grabs you with one hand, over half of his targets are open and you can anticipate he will slap or punch with that hand.

· Let’s say the Bad Guy is a belligerent drunk, a-hole who suddenly transitions from a desultory conversation into a full scale attack where he closes the distance, grabs you and pulls you in. Take what the moron has opened up for you, I say, so, act compliant and even allow your arms to rest near his chest and pretend you are hugging him. Now, turn the surprise on him and quickly drive both hands through the open space around his armpits, lock your hands behind him, and dive in. I guarantee the attacker will be surprised, his thought process fragmented, and he will be weakened. You can headbutt his nose several times, probably breaking it. Simultaneously, you can knee him in his groin by driving it straight up like you are in a marching band. Quickly follow up with other strikes. Now, disengage, escape and get help.

o The Bad Guy has encroached on your PSZ (Personal Safe Zone) despite your protests and now he is in the process of intimidating you. Your instincts are throbbing, telling you something bad is about to go down, and, as much as you would love to ignore them you know you cannot. You also believe that if you tried to turn and run, he would be on you quickly and things would get much worse quickly. Here is what I would love you to do: Adopt what I call the Praying Mantis Stance by forming a steeple with your fingers in front of your chin (looks like you are begging him for mercy) and ask him to let you go, which he most likely will not do (Hey, if he does, then go). This should invoke a false sense of security in him and cause him to relax his guard. When this happens, drive your right arm and elbow as hard as you can into his face, making sure to pivot your hips and use your body weight. The elbow is our strongest striking area on our body. It is very hard, very durable and a good strike with it can be a dead bang knockout blow. To perform this knockout strike from the Praying Mantis Stance, imagine taking your “prayerful hands” and driving them toward your left shoulder and allowing that elbow to rotate from next to your floating rib cage horizontally through the attacker’s face. Perform this move in slow motion by yourself using an imaginary or real target or with a partner either holding a pillow (target) or making his or her shoulder as a target. Practice the shoulder strike in slow motion, also, making sure that you rotate your hips and shoulders but only hitting your partner’s face with a very light touch drill. Of course, practicing this strike under the supervision of a good instructor using strike pads and Red Man Gear would be ideal.

· BACKHAND ELBOW HOOK STRIKE: Going back to the above scenario, you have fooled the attacker with the deceptive Praying Mantis Stance and have drilled him on his chin with a good horizontal elbow. Chances are, though, he will still be up. Groggy, but up. Since you are in position with your right hand touching the top of your left shoulder and your sharp elbow poised near his face, drive that (right) elbow as hard as you can back toward his face (a gorgeous Backward Elbow Strike) and drive the sharp point into his jaw, cheek or chin. Thing is, he will have recoiled from the original strike and his face will have turned that way.

· DESCENDING DROP-ELBOW STRIKE: Remember: Always think in terms of follow-up and multiplicity, which is what we are about to do now. You have hurt him with your two elbow strikes and instinctively his head has dropped toward his chest. If that is what this Bad Guy has given you, then take it and beat him into submission with it, I always say. As his head drops, the back of his head and the top of his spine becomes a tantalizing target. Form a loose fist and hold it above your right ear (if you are a left-hander, then it would be your left ear and your left fist) and drive your strong elbow straight down into that target, throwing your weight behind the strike.

· ASCENDING KNEE STRIKE: In my perfect (training) world, the Bad Guy is almost out on his feet and after delivering the descending elbow, you grab his head with both hands and push it toward the ground while driving your strong-side knee hard straight up into his face, By holding it with your hands, you have created counter pressure to make the knee strike twice as powerful and effective.

· ROLL THE BAD GUY AWAY AND ESCAPE, IF IT IS SAFE TO DO SO,

THE 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

I ADMIT, there is a perverse and counter-intuitive relationship in all of my Fighting Arts (Self Defense For Women; Escape and Evasion For Children; COMET-Kids (for teens); Self Defense For Seniors and Bully-Be-Gone classes) programs I conduct out of the local community college and school sites.  By perverse and counter intuitive, I mean that I know for a fact that 98% of successful self defense for women, teens, children and seniors is prevention and awareness; yet in my classes about 98% is hands-on Fighting Arts , leaving almost no time for crucial Techniques Of Avoidance.  You could say, then, with little argument from me, that I am not really teaching the True Secrets To Survival.

WHY?  AVOIDANCE AINT SEXY.  Nobody, it is apparent, wants to waste his or her time sitting and listening to a litany of axioms about awareness, assessment, anticipation, avoidance and a Shakespearian drama full of other principles when they could be on their feet, blocking, punching and falling to the mat and grappling.  Women and children are the first to walk out of my trainings, which is ironic, really, since avoidance and prevention are their best bets for life preservation.

TECHNIQUES OF AVOIDANCE

INSTEAD of a litany of avoidance techniques and principles, I am going to limit my list of Avoidance Techniques to just a few critical skills and elements that can influence an attacker to eliminate you as a target and move on to another victim.  As cold and heartless as the concept of the Bad Guy moving on to another victim instead or yourself sounds, it is still Survival of the Fittest.  It has been for eons and will continue to be long after I am gone.

1. Look Like a Tough Target.  Get fit and stay fit.  See my previous two postings on a Fighting Arts-Specific Workout Program.  Develop confidence and/or act confident when you are in public.  Stride and look around.  Develop an appropriate Assertive Personality, which means to communicate to a potential attacker that you are aware of him without purposely antagonizing him with challenging and profane language.  Send he primary message that you are not a Free Lunch or easy mark!  Avoid the Passive and Aggressive Personalities.  Peruse some of my other postings for more tips on being a Tough Target.
2. EYE CONTACT is terribly important for successfully avoiding an attack.  I am going to move past this issue for now, but I will return to it at the end of this posting with some crucial details.
3. CONTROL YOUR SPACE.  A bad guy will test you by moving in and out of your PSZ (Personal Safe Zone).  A good rule of thumb is to never allow another person inside your PSZ without your permission.  Anyone violating your PSZ is showing Spatial Disrespect and it is hard for me to come up with a reason why a bad guy would do that unless it is a Prelim To An Attack.  Stop the BG with good verbal directions and by taking a diagonal step (J-Step) with your hands palms out and up near your chest and moving them back and forth (Compliance Position, but we are preparing for a Surprise Palm Heel Strike, if the need arises).
4. VERBAL DIRECTIONS.  What you say and how you say it are crucial.  Be firm yet relatively polite with an inflexible no at the onset of testing.  Upon his or her refusal (Spatial Disrespect), though, your hands go into a Fighting Position, your power leg drops back as you J-Step away.  “Get back. Get back now!”
5. BREATHE DON’T FREEZE!  Remember to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth to initiate your Fight or Flight Response.  I actually teach a CAT Technique (Combat Adrenal Technique) where the person exaggerates his or her exhalations through the mouth so they are loud enough for any attacker in hiding to hear.  The dual benefit is that the Good Guy (student) adrenalizes him or herself instead of freezing with fear and the potential attacker doesn’t attack because attackers are basically cowards who would rather attack a meek, quiet, shy person than an individual who is pumped up, striding and making loud noises.

EYE CONTACT

FROM a Bad Guy’s prospective, the ideal victim is a girl, boy, man or woman who presents minimum eye contact. The less the better.  One might think, then, that, from the Good Guy’s prospective, the more direct eye contact the better.  Not quite.  The truth is  somewhere in between. 

Avoiding Eye Contact, or looking away triggers the predatory instinct in the Bad Guy.  Read Lt. Colonel David Grossman’s On Killing to learn more, but, the fact is, by trying to ignore the Bad Guy with the hopes he will simply go away, you will invoke this Predator Prey Principle and will actually invite a far more violent attack than you could have ever anticipated with “good” eye contact.  Direct Eye Contact, or staring down the potential attacker, is much better, but in too many instances direct eye contact was taken as a challenge and the Bad Guy (abductor, sexual predator, date rapist, criminal) responded by attacking.

MY PREFERRED EYE CONTACT training paradigm has always been the Triangle or Soft Eyes (Chinese Model) Approach.  I teach my Triangle Method to both law enforcement and civilians, advocating that they draw an imaginary triangle, the tip of which touches the potential attacker’s nose and the base of which extends from the person’s left bicep to his or her right bicep.  That way my students are not locked into the subject’s eyes, yet the student will be able to see any movements of the subject’s arms and hands.  A potential victim can become a real victim if he or she ignores the subject’s hands.  Remember:  a subject’s hands are what can kill or injure, not his or her eyes!

FINALLY, our eyes, or perceptual senses, are the origin of an amazing sensory cycle where we first perceive a threat, then analyze and evaluate that threat, before formulating a strategic response so we can initiate a motor response that can save our butts.  Avoiding eye contact, then, can have catastrophic consequences because, when the attack does come to us, we experience what is known as a Catastrophe Event, meaning simply that, because we were not able to perceive, analyze and formulate a strategy, more likely than not we will freeze in place, panic, go into shock, or any number of reactions that not only invite a violent and merciless attack, but, when the attack comes, disable us from fighting back effectively and saving ourselves.

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

The 4^th In a Series of 6 “Back To School” Survival
Strategies Postings

By Harry The Hammer

In the 3^rd Survival Skills article in this Back To School Special
Series, I noted that many sexual assaults against women students are prceded
by and/or accompanied by unrelenting stalking. Although, of course, there are
cases where stalking does not end in sexual assault, too many do for The School
Of Winology not to issue its Survival Strategies Designed
To Stop the Predatory Stalker Dead In His Tracks:

1. SAY “NO!” AND REALLY MEAN IT WHEN “STALKER” CALLS/APPROACHED
   YOU.
2. MAKE REJECTION FINAL AND QUICK. MAKE IT CLEAR YOU
   DO NOT WANT TO SEE HIM, BECAUSE OF HIS ACTIONS, NOT BECAUSE
   OF ANOTHER MAN (Any stalker worth his psychosis will think “Gee,
   all I gotta do is get him out of the picture and she’ll see me.”).
3. REPORT ANY SUBSEQUENT HARASSMENT, STALKING, ETC. TO CAMPUS SECURITY AND/OR
   POLICE.
4. IF CLEAR REJECTION AND REPORTING HIM FAILS, MAKE IT HARDER FOR HIM TO CONTACT
   YOU (change phone number; change routes to and from class and try to be
   accompanied by friends when waling the campus, etc.).
5. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.
6. NEVER NEGOTIATE. IT’S OVER. SAY “NO. IT’S OVER.” ONCE.
   EXPLICITLY! (Every time a woman gives in, even if she doesn’t respond to 40
   phone messages and hundreds of e-mails, but finally picks up the phone to
   talk, even though she still says, “Like I said before, John, it’s over and
   I mean it,” the only thing predatory stalker learns is the lesson that it
   requires 40 phone messages and 100 e-mails to get you to respond to him.
7. ADOPT A HARD TARGET ATTITUDE. A nice woman wants to let
   the stalker down easy. A Stalker Cannot Be Dealt With Nicely! Break
   Up the Hard Target Way: “John, I do not want to be in a relationship
   with you.”
8. HARD TARGET AXIOM: THE BEST WAY TO STOP CONTACT IS TO STOP CONTACT.
9. IF AND WHEN TRACKED BY THE STALKER, DECIDE RIGHT THEN AND THERE
   WHAT TO DO IF STALKER DOES NOT RESPECT YOUR WISHES TO BE LEFT ALONE.
10. IF STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF IS YOUR CHOICE:
    • HAVE APLAN A AND PLAN B (FAILURE PLAN).
    • BE OBSERVANT. KNOW WHERE YOU ARE AT ALL TIMES: ESCAPE ROUTES;
      BARRICADES IN THE ENVIRONMENT YOU CAN USE TO KEEP DISTANCE/ESCAPE.
    • ASSUME A FIGHTING STANCE.
    • USE THE ELEMENTS OF SURPRISE.
    • USE THE STALKER’S FIRST TOUCH AS A TRIGGER TO “EXPLODE” INTO HIS
      CENTER-LINE TARGETS. BREATHE FOR POWER AND CONTROL.
    • IF BAD GUY GRABS YOU HIGH, MAINTAIN EYE CONTACT TO LURE HIM INTO
      “SINGULARITY OF FOCUS” AND SURPRISE HIM BY GOING LOW.
    • HIT SECONDARY TARGETS/OPEN UP PRIMARY TARGETS (GROIN, EYES, THROAT).
    • DENY THE STALKER PRIVACY. WHAT HE WANTS MOST
      IS TO MOVE YOU FROM THIS INITIAL LOCATION TO A SECONDARY OR PRIVATE
      (CRIME) SCENE WHERE HE CAN DO WHATEVER HE WANTS FOR HOWEVER LONG HE
      WANTS WITHOUT FEAR OF WITNESSES. OBEY THE GOLDEN RULE OF SURIVAL: DO
      NOT GO WITH HIM! DO NOT GET INTO HIS CAR! DO NOT TAKE HIM TO YOUR PRIVATE
      LOCALE, ETC. IF STALKER DOES FORCE YOU OR FOLLOW YOU TO
      A PRIVATE PLACE, DESTROY THAT ENVIROMENT SO
      THERE IS NO MISTAKE TO POLICE OR WITNESSES THAT YOU WERE COMPLIANT.
      THIS MAY CAUSE HIM TO WITHDRAW.
    • AND PLEASE, IF THE STALKER TRIES TO HURT YOU, LIGHT
      THE FUSE, AND HIT HIM IN AS MANY VULNERABLE TARGETS AS MANY TIMES AS
      IT TAKES TO WIN THE FIGHT. HIT HIM WITH—
      • Head Butts *front and back of temple).
      • Finger Gouges (Yep. Gouge his eyes).
      • Elbows, the hardest personal weapons you have.
      • Heels of your palms.
      • Knees.
      • Shins.
      • Feet.
      • Bite him. Tear him up.
      • Improvised Weapons (cell phone, remote control, spatula; travel
        mug, paperback/hardback books, snow scraper. Damned near anything
        can be a weapon.

Contact Harry The Hammer thru this site if you have any questions
regarding strategies, terminology, etc. The Hammer will be delighted to provide
you with amplification and tips regarding actual Fighting Arts techniques of
survival.
484-542-0040 Cell. 610-253-3666 (H/Office) harrywigder@rcn.com

Technorati Tags:violence against women, self defense for women, crime against women

THE 3^rd Of a Six-Part Back To SchoolSurvival Skills Winology Series

By Harry The Hammer

10 WINOLOGY SURVIVAL TIPS

1. MAKE YOURSELF INTO A HARD TARGET.
   • ADOPT AN ASSERTIVE PERSONALITY.
   • PROTEST INVASION OF SPACE, PRIVACY, AND YOUR SELF RESPECT IMMEDIATELY AND WITH VIGOR.
   • ADOPT A CONFIDENT, RELAXED AND VIGILANT STANCE AND WALKING STYLE.
   • EYEBALL SUSPICIOUS MALES AND LET THOSE WHOM YOU KNOW THAT YOU TAKE NO CRAP.
   • FORCE YOURSELF TO BE MORE AWARE WHEN GOING IN, COMING OUT OF ALL LOCALES.
2. ADOPT THE BUDDY SYSTEM.
   • REDUCES CHANCE OF ASSAULT BY OVER 75%.
   • INCREASE CONFIDENCE.

3. MAKE THE 4 A’S A PART OF YOUR LIFESTYLE (ASSESS/AWARE/ANTICIPATE/TAKE ACTION).
4. INCULCATE A “BAD ATTITUDE.”

(WE ARE ALL HIRED-WIRED FOR VIOLENCE. YOU NEED TO LIBERATE IT. LITE THE FUSE. THE ABILITY TO LITE THE FUSE IS PRICELESS WHEN YOUR LIFE, SEXUALITY, FREEDOM AND WELL-BEING IS ON THE LINE! WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR SAFETY AND SELF DEFENSE, ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

5. TRUST MINIMALLY. FORCE THOSE YOU KNOW TO EARN YOUR TRUST (SELF-RESPECT AND PART OF BEING A HARD TARGET).
6. BE AWARE OF TIMES OF VULNERABILITY AND DEVELOP AN ESCAPE AND EVASION STRATEGY.
   • When at parties where alcohol, drugs, etc. are available.
   • When on a date.
   • When invited to a man’s apartment, or when a date asks if he can go with you to yours.
   • When alone.
7. “DESTROY THE ENVIRONMENT” WHEN NECESSARY.
   • If attacked in an isolated room, apartment, car, et al., an attacker may tell you that no one will believe you because “you invited me here, Bitch.”
   • Ruin his Fantasy Script by throwing objects, screaming, breaking objects, making sure that he (the attacker) knows that there is no doubt (to police and/or passer-by’s) that this is a crime scene!
8. WHEN THE ATTACK COMES, THE CHOICE TO FIGHT OR GIVE IN IS ALWAYS YOURS, BUT KNOW THIS:
   • Over 92% of the women who survived an attack, sometimes without injury, had verbally and physically fought their attacker!
   • It is a rare male student or even non-student who really wants to fight you. They intend to win through intimidation. When he is challenged verbally, physically, even with simple challenging body language, more often than not, he will not attack, or, if the attack has started, will lose heart.
9. ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN. THOSE WITHOUT A PLAN WILL ALWAYS FREEZE AND PANIC.
   • Plan what to say when tested.
   • An Escape Route.
   • A “Fight Plan.” Spinal Tune your mind and body that, if necessary, you will use Surprise Moves, hit open targets, etc.
   • Remind Yourself to Breathe if grabbed.
   • Spinal Tune Yourself to Explode with strikes when First-Touched.
10. TAKE A SELF DEFENSE COURSE and/or PRACTICE SELF DEFENSE WITH A (STUDY) GROUP OF COEDS.

NOTE: There are an almost endless panoply of survival strategies and skills that I will discuss over the coming months, not to mention the scores of effective Fighting Arts I include in any one of my self defense programs. However, this is a finite venue, so I must cut this discussion off at this point. Any reader who wishes handouts, tips, etc. on this or other survival issues, please contact me at this site.

Technorati Tags:survival strategies for woman, crime against women, self defense, college crimes, college safety

The Second of a 6-Part Back To
School Survival Series.
By Harry “The Hammer” Wigder

TODAY’S COLLEGE CAMPUSES hold the largest concentration of young women who are at far greater risk for rape and other pernicious forms of sexual assault than women elsewhere. On campuses holding 10,000 women, there are an average of 350 rapes @ year. Many more rapes go unreported for various reasons, including the attitudes of the victims, which perpetrates the problem in the first place (embarrassment regarding how they became victims in the first place/drugs, alcohol, perhaps allowing an initial sexual advances, etc.). Many women come in contact with men in a variety of circumstances during the night and day. Add an endless amount of stimulants in what for many is their first time away from home and you have a volatile atmosphere where almost anything bad can happen.

This is a limited venue, so let’s explore a few of the dangers faced by young women on today’s campuses and follow that up with 10 Principles of Survival.

Signatures Of Danger On Today’s College Campus

1. Great Majority of Sexual Assaults in the evening – after midnight, most off-campus, 9 out of 10 instigated by men whom they know

2. Great majority of sexual assaults are accomplished through intimidation by the attacker and met with little or no physical or verbal resistance.
3. Consistently, from one study to the next, the Victims shared these Factors:

Ø Drinking and Drunkenness.

Ø Being single or alone at time of assault.

Ø Being a previous victim prior to school year.

Ø Living On Campus.

Ø Little or no Self Defense (For Women) Training or Education.

4. Stalking usually precedes or accompanies the sexual assault (165@1000 women students stalked in an average school year). There will be much more on Stalker Characteristics, Danger Signs, etc. in future postings.

First In-First Out: A consistent theme for attacks is that, when spontaneous assaults go down, the stalker chooses an instant when the coed in first going into a location or first coming out. These are moments when the victim is most distracted or least aware. The Stalker is a sly opportunist.

Technorati Tags:crimes against women, violence against women, violence prevention, campus violence, college violence, women