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

SURVIVAL SKILLS FOR WOMEN ON TODAY’S VIOLENT CAMPUS

IT is Labor Day and soon all elementary, high school and college campuses will be teeming with children, teens, and young adults. This, then, will be the first of 6 postings, each one of which will address one or more of the many crucial areas of survival and safety skills for students of all ages. This inaugural posting will deal with Fighting Arts (Winology) for Women on our modern college campuses.

STEP #1: BE A TOUGH TARGET AND GRADUATE THE SCHOOL OF WINOLOGY.

THERE is nothing hard about making yourself into a Tough Target. It is simple; it is doable, and yet it is probably the most crucial step you can take to defeat a potential attacker.

Ø What do I mean by a Hard (or Tough) Target? Simply and concisely put, a Tough Target is a person (a “TT” can be a male or female child, teen, adult or a senior citizen) who emits strong signals, either through body and/or verbal language, stance, the way he or she carries him or herself, that communicates to a predator that he or she will not be an easy mark, free lunch, or a path of least resistance. Since the great majority of attackers do not wish to fight and are looking for an easy mark, in 98% of cases, the Bad Guy will not even try to test the Tough Target.

How do I become a Hard or Tough) Target? You can check out most of my past and future blogs and learn about the 4 A’s (Awareness, Assessment, Anticipation and Action), body language, etc. I advocate cultivating an Assertive Personality and work, if you have to, at being determined to walk with confidence (even if you don’t feel confident), sweep your surroundings with your eyes, and to resist “testing (the predator may ask you a question, try to flick (imaginary) dandruff off your shoulder, will try to enter your Personal Safety Zone (within 2 to 3 feet) without invitation. The campus social or date rapist, or worse, the pure predator, is looking for a student with a Passive Personality who appears distracted, unobservant, her head down, eyes diverted, feet close together. When “Tested,” the Passive woman does not protest, may not verbalize at all. She is actually defeated before the attack even begins. Many potential rapist will avoid the Aggressive (Personality/AP), who strides with her head up, makes direct and challenging eye-to-eye contact and goes ballistic verbally, using vile and depreciated language at the potential attacker. Ironically, though, this (Aggressive Personality) woman will often humiliate and challenge the potential attacker to such a degree that some men/boys have attacked this type woman because she has escalated his emotions, “raised the stakes,” and compromised his manhood.

Ø Profile the Bad Guy: Check out past and future postings for more on how to profile a possible attacker.

Ø Trust Your Gut Feelings: Your instincts represent about 250 million years of evolution making the hair on the back of your neck stand up, an Inner Voice screaming out at you to “Quick, get the hell out of here!” Your instincts are hardly ever wrong. Trust them.

Ø First In/First out: Bad guys have an attack philosophy and First In/First Out is it. They will often attack when you are first going in to a place or when you are first coming out. That is when your guard is down.

Ø BREATHE DON’T SCREAM: Nine out of ten people freeze when first attacked. They do not breathe, and, therefore, there is no oxygenated blood flowing to their brains. Can’t think. Can’t talk. Can’t survive!

Ø Verbalize and Control Your Space: Tough Targets always have something to say, start to plan what to say and do when they first notice they are being watched. Nobody is allowed to enter their Personal safety Zone (PSZ) without a fight.

NEXT BLOG POSTING: Everything you need to know about campus dangers. Date Attacks, Alcohol related situations and excellent Escape and Evasion Techniques.

Technorati Tags:school violence, violence against women, survival skills, women safety

Awareness.
Being aware is simple, but, like most simple things, is often taken for granted.
Awareness is a safety principle requiring of us nothing more than we are capable
of.

• Keeping
  Our Eyes Open and observing our surroundings. Things in our environment
  such as potential hiding places for Bad Guys -doorways, alleyways; recesses
  (maybe a location where steps descend); bushes, et al); escape routes (if
  attacked, places where you may be able to retreat to, maybe well lit areas
  or public places, police stations, fire houses, etc., where we would be safer);
  a person/people who seem to be watching us more than he or she should be;
  people who may be acting strangely. Avoid dark areas that appear threatening.
• Eyeball Person
  Who Seems To Be Profiling You.
  It is a fact that attackers like to select a harmless-looking “lookout
  point” in an Ideal Hunting Grounds for victims. Here
  I am talking about Women as victims. Ideal Hunting Grounds
  (IHG) for stalkers of women include:
  • Real Estate Agencies.
  • Laundromats.
  • Nurseries.
  • Hospitals.
  • Schools.
  • Shopping Malls.
  • Parking Lots of Shopping
    Malls.
  • Bars/Parking Lots.
  • Convenience Stores.
• EYEBALL PERSON
  WHO IS EYEBALLING YOU: The key is not to be chosen as a victim. The Bad Guy
  will “test” all potential victims, looking for an ideal victim.
  The great majority of predators consider the ideal victim personality type
  to be quite, demure, non-confrontational, locked-up by fear, and, of course,
  unobservant. Here is a great opportunity – right from
  Jump Street – to totally avoid the dangerous fight for your life (Remember:
  Fighting For Your Life is a Contact Event, with
  a high probability of injury, even for those who escape). Either BE
  or Make Yourself Into A Hard Target.
  By eyeballing him (there will be much more on “How To Eyeball A Bad
  Guy” in later Blogs) – not staring eye-to-eye- but tactically
  looking at him, looking disgusted, and sizing him up as if you were a witness
  – you can immediately be eliminated as an easy victim. Doesn’t
  mean it will work every time, but I guarantee that, if a woman elects to look
  away timidly and ignore the stalker, she will be seen as an easy victim!
• Observe “Changes”.
  A key is obvious and subtle changes in people and environments. Look for changes
  in body language, verbals and eye contact and match observations with common
  sense. There are so many examples that I hesitate to list them all, but a
  key might be to be aware of your gut instincts, which are
  rarely in error when it comes to changes. An example might be a person who’s
  entire body language changes when you come onto the scene. Some of
  these changes might include:
  • Looking at you more
    intently and purposefully.
  • Conspicuous
    Ignoring
    (the man is trying to look blasé and “cool,” but is
    in actuality very aware of your every move. This is a key non-verbal indicator
    or attack-intention.
  • Reaching
    In His Pocket, Holding the Side of his Coat, Etc.
    Very possible the person has a weapon and is sub-consciously assuring
    himself that it is there and ready; or, is trying to keep the weapon from
    being obvious as he walks toward you. There will be an entire posting
    on Spotting A Bad Guy Trying To Conceal A Weapon in a future post.

ASSESSMENT
- Assessing is analyzing what you have become of in the environment and quickly
evaluating and analyzing it and formulating a survival strategy
based on the assessment(s). Assessment can include observations about how you
are feeling; your abilities and limitations; observations re the other person,
the practicalities of avoidance, escaping and/o standing ground and fighting.

ANTICIPATION
- I have always considered “anticipation” as the most crucial component
of one’s Survival Mentality or Psyche. Anticipation Spinal
Tunes your brain, Central Nervous System and what I consider your Muscular Activation
System into an efficient fighting organism. Anticipation arms you to be ready
to escape, evade or even fight ferociously literally in a heart beat. It requires
us all to always ask ourselves the “What If Question,”
no matter what environment we find ourselves in. “What would I do, if—“
gives you the chance to have an Action Plan and a Failure Plan. “If that
guy sitting over there starts to follow me, I will—“ is a good example.
Anticipating like that loads the mind for any eventuality, and, when what you
have observed and speculated about comes to fruition, your mind can almost automatically
carry out the plan (automatic is crucial since the fact that your heart rate
rising will probably obliterate your ability to improvise a plan of action when
your mind is in a virtual vacuum).

ACTION
– By adhering to the preceding Three A’s (Awareness, Assessment
and Anticipation), you are Spinal Tuned For Quick Action. On the other hand,
if you are not aware, have not assessed, and have no
plan or thoughts regarding what you might do if attacked. I guarantee, if attacked
you will be unable to act. More likely than not, you will:

• Either scream like a victim,
  or
• Freeze and say nothing.
• Hold your breath and freeze
  like a deer in the headlights.
• Not be able to recall
  anything you learned in training.
• At best, hesitate for
  2 to 3 seconds before counter-attacking. In 2 seconds you will be struck as
  many as 8 times and /or be rendered unconscious.
• Even if not knocked out,
  but grabbed and dragged, you will be unable to think of a countermeasure.
• Survivors, even when overpowered,
  have been known to keep their wits and wait until a moment when the predator
  is distracted and/or vulnerable to make their move.

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