WAY TOO MANY children go through Hell at school almost every day.  It affects almost everything they do or don’t do.  Like eating, sleeping, studying.  It retards their relationships with others, and, in some cases, affects their self image all the way through adulthood.  Maybe all the way to the grave.

MY STUDIES show that over 3.2 million children and teens are victimized each year.  Making it more pernicious is the humiliation factor resulting in only 33% of kids eventually telling their sad stories to a teacher, much less than that to a parent.  It is a painful secret that too many carry with them in desperate silence, making them a victim over again and again in their nightmares and almost every waking thought.

BULLYING is timeless, relentless and ubiquitous in our schools and playgrounds.  Hell, it is an integral part of our society.  This is why I have poured myself into training children and parents on how to end bullying, at least in their individual worlds.  I admit, there is no counter-bullying blueprint, but there are easy-to-teach (and learn) techniques that really, really work.

TEACHERS, PARENTS – BECOME SAFETY COACHES

1. Concerned parents and teachers can start a Bully-Be-Gone Program simply by talking with kids.  Show interest in their school life.  There are specific questions you can ask, not only to show interest, but to find out if bullying is happening , and, if so, to what degree.
2. Never tell a child to ignore the bully and never blame the child.  Instead listen, actively listen to the child without criticizing.  Empathize, please.
3. Keep emotions in check.  Advise school authorities of the facts as you (think you) know them.  Let the authorities know you are looking for a resolution.
4. TEACH THE CHILD COUNTER-BULLYING TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS:  These can be taught in a non-threatening, fun and safe way to your child.  In a subsequent post I will go into some fun and interactive ways parents and/or teachers (Safety Coaches) can teach these skills – much like I do – in a way that does not frighten the child while concomitantly motivating him or her to practice these skills at least once a week.
   • BREATHE DON’T FREEZE.  Start off with this one because 9 out of 10 victims, when confronted by a bully or adult predator, for that matter, hold their breath and freeze in place like a deer frozen in the lights of an oncoming car.  Whenever you role play a scenario, make sure that the first thing the child does is breathe tactically.  Does two great things:  One, it pumps oxygenated blood into the kid’s system that empowers him ort her to think and act.  Two, if done right, it can scare the bejezus out of the bully.  In my classes the scenario plays out with the bully confronting the intended victim and the boy or girl makes tight fists (the act of tightening the fist triggers the predator instinct within the child and sends a message to the Central Nervous System that impels blood to flow freely) and then he or she begins to expel air through his/her mouth and making exaggerated “blowing” sounds.
   • Felony Face.  Fear is more contagious than courage, but never forget anger, determination and courage can be communicated non-verbally!  Teach the child to be a good actor/actress.  Make a face that communicates to the bully that he or she is no Free Lunch, no easy victim.
   • Interview Stance.  Teach the child an “interview stance” that communicates readiness.
   • Verbalize.  In this limited post I can’t go into too many specifics, but suffice to say that almost all easy victims say nothing when confronted.  Almost every bullying attack is preceded by an “interview” where the bully sizes up his or her victim and paralyzes him or her in fear.  It makes sense, then, to develop a simple but assertive verbal script. 
   • Happy Feet.  Teach the child not to plant his or her feet “in cement.”  Keep moving.  This allows the child to maintain a Personal Safe Zone and to control his or her space. 

More likely than not, if the child/teenager breathes; looks like he/she is willing to fight, if necessary; maintains a good “Interview Stance” that communicates not only readiness, but is balanced and in a constant state of motion (power stems from a sort of “wave” that flows through the body, enhanced by motion) and is combined with assertive language (“C’mon, Butch, we really don’t have to do this, man.”), it is axiomatic that 9 out of 10 bullies will back off in a hurry.  But, Hammer Fans, as sweet as that sounds, the fact is, despite your child or teen’s best efforts, some bullies will still attack, probably because a crowd has gathered and now they have to act tough for the crowd.  So, what now Safety Coaches?

In the next post I will go into the physical tactics that will send that pesky bully running fast in the other direction.

Until then, 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

NEVER BE ABDUCTED Part IV

Training Your Child To Survive Abduction Attempts

By Hammer

This is for all you wonderful Safety Coaches (parents) everywhere who are teaching your children survival skills against sexual predators/kidnappers:  By all means keep teaching your kids crucial skills and techniques to recognize, evade and escape from these miscreants, but please don’t stop until you have taught them what to do if they are  abducted.

In another post I will talk about exactly how to teach your child these necessary skills in a non-frightening way (in other words, make it fun, non-threatening), but, in this limited venue, let’s concentrate for now and what skills/techniques you need to teach:

So, Your Child IS Abducted.  Now What?

1. ATTITUDE.  Once again, the Survival Psyche, or Attitude (Is Everything) I have spoken about in so many postings is critical.  Keep instilling in your child the psyche to never, ever give up.  One of the results of this type of survival sensitivity is that attitude is often communicated intrinsically, meaning, because of this attitude your child gives off an aura of confidence and readiness that often prevents him from being a victim in the first place.  If abducted, however, this attitude forms the foundation that supports the things he/she has to do to escape.
2. BREATHE AND BELIEVE:  Without training, or, even with the proper training, 9 out of 10 children will stop breathing and thinking when snatched.  Whatever skills they were taught are immediately forgotten due to the ensuing mental freeze (oxygenated blood fails to reach the brain), creating the ideal victim for the monster (think of a frozen rabbit, a deer in the headlights).  Simplistic as it sounds, go through Breathing Drills with your children at the start of every self defense move. 
3. INVOKE THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE:  When the Bad Guy gets the child in his car he assumes that he has his prey right where he wants him/her.  Away from the public initial crime scene, isolated in a car, away from public view, and on the way to an even more isolated secondary crime scene where he will have infinity to do what he wants to the child.  This phenomenon will give your child at least a sliver of hope to escape with the following moves:

1. GIVE YOUR CHILD PERMISSION TO BE “BAD.”  All of the escape moves are performed with extreme suddenness and power (see the S.N.E.A.K Attack strategy in the last post) against an adult.  Your child must not hesitate to act because of any social mores he or she may have inculcated in the past.

Ø      Escape Strategies To Avoid Being Placed in the Vehicle: 

·   As he opens the door he will loosen his grip.  This is the time to wiggle, kick, head butt and try the Drop, Lock and Roll that I have advocated in previous postings (latch on to his legs with hands, spin and lock your ankles around his feet, slide to the ground on your back and spin around).

·   As he tries to force you into the car feet first, place your feet against the seat and drive backwards as hard as you can.  This surprise move may loosen the Bad Guy’s grip, giving you an opening.  Another move designed to delay entry could be to grab hold of the metal seat belt fastener at the top of the door, or grab hold of the post that should be right in front of you.

·   Improvised Weapons:  Teach your child that anything he or she has in his/her hands can be used against the Bad Guy.  Cell phones, plastic water bottles, wallets, backpacks, rocks, sticks, et al. have been wielded as a means to escape the Bad Guy’s clutches.

·   Okay.  You are Inside the Car.  What now?

Ø      Surprise move number 1.  Invoke the Expected by Doing the Unexpected.  In other words, do what the Bad Guy expects.  Start sobbing and slide over and hug the Bad Guy. Ahh, I really have him now, he will think.  Now, jump into his arms your face against his and bite him, gouge his eyes, reach and grab the keys from the ignition and toss them into the back seat, start screaming and making a scene.  The last thing the Bad Guy wants to do is drive on a public road with a child latched on to him screaming in desperation.  This would be a perfect time – as his hands go to his eyes to protect them from further damage (or, in an instinctive move that almost all of us perform when our eyes are attacked) – to quickly slide back to the passenger door, unlock it, and escape (a skills that a Safety Coach can easily teach during scenario training using a family car, etc.).

Ø      Scenario Training:  Teach your child escape and evasion skills through scenarios.  One of which could be escaping from the trunk of an abductor’s car:  this is a very scary subject, but it can be taught in a fun way.  Show your child how to kick out the taillights (without doing it, of course) and how to stick an object through the opening(s) to draw a motorist’s attention.

By Hammer

In the first two Never Be Abducted postings, I appealed to parents to become their child’s Safety Coaches and instill their child with the mentality and attitude to prevent and/or successfully resist deadly (sexual) predators and kidnappers.  Given the profile of the predator (“If you want to know what the animal will do today, learn what the animal did yesterday and the day before—“), which I went into in the first posting, an equation consisting of the right Mental Conditioning and Attitude, a cluster of Escape and Evasion Tactics combined with the abductor’s tendency to break off an attack when faced with any signs of awareness, aggression, “craziness,” and/or “instantaneous countermeasure that will either delay the abductor in the initial crime scene or draw attention to his intent” will prevent or overcome over 98% of abduction attempts.

Bold statement?  Empty boast?  Hardly.

It is crucial to know – as your child’s Safety Coach – that the Chicken Hawk (cowardly abductor) relies on several behavioral staples in the child he picks as his prey:

• Silence.
• Timidity.
• Fear (he or she will often abide by the command “Never tell your parents about this or I will hurt you and I will kill them!” and he or she will therefore – if he or she survives – keep the abduction and/or actions of the predator confidential).
• Confidentiality.
• Immobility (the attack will shock the child and he or she will  freeze in place, allowing the predator to scoop him or her up and quickly abduct that child..
• Invisibility (No public awareness of the abduction taking place).

BUT WHAT IF MY CHILD IS GRABBED?

 Preparation, Prevention, Practice and Parental Coaching (the 4 P’s of Counter-Abduction Techniques, or C.A.T.) discourages all but about two to three  percent of these miscreants.  That still leaves too many predators and too many children who come together in situations where the child is isolated and alone and the Bad Guy perceives he has all the time in the world.  What now to do?  Here are a few tactical suggestions to teach your child:

1. Always be aware of your environment and adults in the area.  Aware of escape routes, people and places toward which you can run, and aware of barricades that can buy you time.
2. Be aware of and use “weapons” in the environment.  Sticks, stones, other objects.
3. Teach Your Child To Always Keep Moving.  Peruse past postings where I discussed games you can play with your child to teach him/her how to move.  The abductor wants your child to freeze like a deer in the headlights.  Teach your child to always move diagonally, never straight back!  Your child will be harder to catch this way.
4. Always move with your eyes on the adult.  When your child turns and runs it triggers the Predator-Prey Principle and your child is easier to catch. 
5. Teach your child to Drop and Roll away from the larger, less agile adult.  Always try to buy time.  If knocked to the ground, the child should know how to Crabwalk away and, once again, if cornered, use his or her feet to prevent the adult from bending over and scooping him/her up.
6. Teach your child that when the abductor does catch him/her, that his face will be close enough for him/her to Gouge the eyes, head butt the nose, and/or drive his or her fingers or ridge hand hard into the throat.
7. Teach your child to understand how to use whatever objects he/she has in possession as an Improvised Weapon.  Many kids have survived by using Cell Phones, DVD cases, books, magazines, keys, flashlights, water bottles, wallets, back packs, fistfuls of change and other objects to ward off bullies and predators.  There will be more on this in the next blog, but, briefly, let me say this about wielding improvised weapons:

IMPROVISED “SNEAK” ATTACKS:

Almost anything in your child’s possession can be effectively used as a weapon if the proper element of surprise is used.   The great Sensei Michael Pace advocates the S.N.E.A.K Principle:

Surprise.  Hold the “weapon” in such a way that the predator never would expect that the child is going to use it to attack.  In other words, a cell phone is just a cell phone until it is driven into the Bad Guy’s throat.

Non-Aggressive.  Until the instant the cell phone is used, it is being held in a low profile, normal way.

Explode the improvised weapon into the vulnerable target with everything in your child’s power.  A cell phone exploded into an adult’s Adam’s Apple, for instance, only requires about 5 pounds of direct force to knock the pervert out of business (if held and used the right way, of course).

Aggressive.  Give your child permission to be aggressive.  By this I mean to never stop hitting the potential abductor until your child is able to escape the scene.

Knock-Out.  Knock the Bad Guy Out so he cannot pursue you.

In the next post I will finish the Never Be Abducted series with what you can teach your child to do if ever he or she is abducted.  How to escape from the car before he can take your child to the deadly, isolated and pre-selected (final) secondary crime scene.

Hammer

In the last post I discussed the Chicken Hawk – the pejorative call name I use for the loathed predator and abductor of defenseless children.  I also boasted that with parents working with their children as Safety Coaches, we could create an attitude and skill set that would prevent almost all successful child/teen kidnappings (96 to 98%).

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING  Attitude is the residue of how one is reared, environment and experience.  In the context of a confrontation with a sexual predator or a bully, then, a child without the guidance of a Safety Coach would naturally react aggressively or passively.  A passive child (I will expound on the aggressive attitude in a future post) is the ideal victim, and, doubtlessly will freeze when confronted and offer no resistance, probably signing his or her own death warrant.  But the parent(s) who takes the crucial role as Safety Coach can implant a Survival Mind Set, an Attitude that communicates to any potential predator, kidnapper, or bully that:

1. I am no “Free Lunch.”
2. I know who you are. I am aware.  I will make others aware of who you are and what you want to do. 
3. I will fight you tooth and nail and I will never give up.
4. I will never give up because my family loves me and I love them and I will do whatever it takes to get back to them.
5. I am aware of escape routes, other adults in the area. 
6. I will never leave the (initial) crime scene with you, even if you hurt me badly!

STAYING IN THE INITIAL CRIME SCENE:  Parents can teach the importance of doing whatever it takes not to go anywhere with the kidnapper.  As painful as it might be to impart this, teach your child that, even if the child is severely injured, preach that at least the ambulance and/or police will find him or her at that scene, and, hopefully, in time, he or she will return to the home where he or she is loved.  The child must keep in his or her mind at all times that the parents love him and he or she must do what it takes to return home.  This philosophy has saved several children who have fought to stay in the initial crime scene.  But—

While teaching a Survival Mind Set and the philosophy of staying in the initial crime scene is important, a philosophy without a Winning Set of Procedures (Tactics) is like a great car without a motor.  Every one of the below tactics can be taught easily by Parent/Safety Coaches:

1.  
   • Serpentine Run:  The best strategy is to run from the scene as soon as the child detects that a “strange” adult (Strange Adult can be defined as anyone who does not “fit” into your child’s environment; any adult who sets off your child’s “Creep Alarm;” any adult whom your child has observed “sharking -walking or driving back and forth, back and forth, watching your child) is approaching.
   • Barricades:  Child should run in a zig zag pattern while identifying barricades in the environment that can buy him time or give him refuge.  Make a lot of noise and look for “safe” adults who can protect you.  Barricades include stores and other common sense rescue spots.
   • “Last Ditch Escape and Evasion (E & E) Techniques”  All the following tactics are techniques to be used only when running away is not an option:

Ø      SURVIVAL ROLL:  Teach your child to quickly and safely Drop and Roll when the adult attempts to grab him or her.  Quickly roll away and roll as if his or her shirt is on fire and he/she is trying to put it out.  Yell, “Help!  He is not my father!”  A large adult will most likely have trouble reaching the child who is rolling.

Ø      KICK WITH FEET:  The Survival Roll will buy your child some time, but, let’s face it:, eventually the adult will catch him or her.  Teach your child to buy more time by spinning onto his or her back and bicycle-kicking viciously with both feet and even spinning on the hips as the Bad Guy circles, trying to find an opening.

Ø      LOCK ON:  By this time I guarantee that the great majority of child predators will have broken off the attack since Speed and Invisibility are their dual goals in any abduction attempt.  Already seconds have turned to minutes and the damned kid is making all this noise and acting crazy (molesters/kidnappers find noisy and “crazy” kids confusing, even frightening).  But there are those kidnappers whose fantasies have driven them into a frenzy and who disregard their fear of the cops showing up and make one last attempt to grab the child.  Teach your child the easily learned skill of Locking or Latching on to the Bad Guy’s lower legs.  As soon as the legs get close, clamp on with both hands and drive the head against the lower shin area.  At the first opportunity Spin the body and Lock Both Legs around the predator’s ankles and hold on for dear life!  The abductor now finds himself trying to pry the child off of his legs as more time ticks away.  True, the adult can kick and punch the child, but as John Hall, the ingenious founder of Kid Escape will tell you, “Self Defense is not an injury free experience.”  John will also point out that whatever injury the child endures in the first crime scene, it will be nothing compared to what will happen once the child is abducted and taken to an isolated scene where the Bad Guy has a lifetime to do what he has fantasized doing for months!

There is much more in the way of Escape and Evasion to talk about, but we will have to wait until the next post where I will discuss other survival tactics, like Improvised Weapons, Strikes and Gouges and Extreme Tactics Once Inside the Abductor’s Vehicle.  Can’t wait.

Hammer

The bad news for parents is the child abductor is out there.  Out there in big numbers.  The good news is, with the help of you, the parent actively working as their Safety Coach, the great majority of children (96%) can stop the Chicken Hawk – the cowardly child molester – in his tracks, or at least cause him to break off his attack and drive off empty-handed.

This I say boldly because I know the Chicken Hawk from too many years working the streets as a state parole agent.  The Chicken Hawk is cowardly on one hand but extremely dangerous on the other.  Dangerous because he chooses only prey who are smaller, weaker, and, if possible, more frightened than he.  He is deadly because he possesses no soul.  He is a total psychopath with absolutely no concern for the feelings, the safety, even the life of a small, beautiful child.  His only thought is of and for himself.

The Chicken Hawk is a cold blooded sociopath who chooses his prey methodically,.  calculatingly.  This is a game to him and he has the unnerving patience to play the game for months, tracking, profiling and abducting just one chosen victim.  Even when he attacks, it is rarely rash and impulsive.  Even then he has a set up where he can test his prey, set the prey up by gaining his or her trust, and, then and only then, when the child is ready, does he strike, catching the child off guard and hitting the kid with blinding speed, carrying him or her off before the child can make a move.

The moment that every Chicken Hawk lives for and prepares months for is that instant when he sees the shock hit the child, witnesses the paralysis that freezes the child’s entire body just before he tosses the child into his car or van and drives away from the initial crime scene and heads to the isolated secondary scene.  A house, apartment, section of woods or lonely grove minutes or hours away.

You might be thinking, Um, Thanks, Hammer.  Thanks for all the Bad News.  What can I possibly teach my child to stop this type of predator in his tracks?  To which I reply – Plenty.  You can teach them plenty.  And most of the strategies are based on the hated Chicken Hawk’s personality profile:

The Chicken Hawk

• He is not looking for a fight. 
• He is looking for a mild, meek, compliant child.
• He abducts through intimdation in most cases, not physical force.
• He does not want to physically harm, injure or kill the child in the initial crime scene. 
• He is a coward, an opportunist waiting for the moment the child is alone, weak, distracted.
• The Chicken Hawk has a pre-planned scenario or script.  The longer the script is allowed to play out by the child, the bolder, more confident he becomes.
• Speed and Invisibility are the Chicken Hawk’s greatest friends.  He needs to get the child out of that child’s milieu and into his as quickly as possible and with as little notice by witnesses as possible.
• The Ideal Abduction Scenario is:  A lone child in an isolated area who acts “normal,” is quiet, un-aggressive, who can be snatched quickly without drawing attention.
• The Worst Case Scenario (where the potential kidnapper will most likely break off his attack and go elsewhere) is:  The intended victim is with another child(ren).  When that child spots the Chicken Hawk he makes direct eye contact, moves to gain distance, screams or makes noise otherwise, points at the Bad Guy, demands to know “What do you want?  Get Back!” and uses barricades (tables, chairs, benches, garbage cans, trees, picnic tables, cars, et al.) to create distance as well as a barrier.
• The last type of child the abductor will profile and choose as a victim is a kid who Acts Crazy.  “Crazy” children can scare off a potential abductor for any one of a zillion reasons, but the fact is they are unpredictable, possibly dangerous, and have unlimited potential to screw up any kind of predetermined abduction plans (Note:  I am not saying your child has to BE crazy.  He/she just needs to ACT crazy, like rolling on the ground as if his/her shirt is on fire, screaming, pointing, grabbing a branch off the ground and wielkding it like a weapon).

Parents:  As your child’s Safety Coach, here is your assignment.  Accepting what I have written in the above passages, what can you teach your child in the way of preventive measures to maximize his or her chances of escaping and evading an abduction attempt?

In Part II I will delve specifically into several Escape and Evasion Strategies for your child, like:

• Improvised Weapons.
• The Element of Surprise.
• Waiting For the Best Time To Counterattack.
• Delaying the Bad Guy in the Initial Crime Scene.
• Simple, effective strikes and gouges against vulnerable, primary targets.
• Escape and Evasion tactics that REALLY WORK at the initial crime scene, just outside the Bad Guy’s Car and Inside the Car!

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

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

HOPEFULLY,  a bully’s intended victim (Target Child) can avoid fighting through the strategies I advocated in my last posting.  In the great majority of instances, projecting self confidence, being assertive and vocal, breathing tactically, appropriate body language (especially the hands) and some old fashioned confident eye contact can and will discourage approximately 95% of these would-be thugs.  However, there are those bullies who are so determined to attack that the target-child is going to get grabbed, grappled with or even punched no matter what he or she does.  For instance, even though a thug might catch the vibes that the kid he thought was a sissy is not intimidated in the least, and, as a matter of fact, is quite willing to fight back, he may still attack because of an “audience” and/or the fact that he has bragged that he is going to beat the target-child up and simply cannot back down.

THREAT RECOGNITION

Step 1 is recognizing an imminent attack.  There exist what I call Signatures of Danger that occur just before any attack.  A few of them could be:

·         Gut Feelings:  Invariably the target-child (TC) will sense a punch coming.  Always obey your instincts.

·         Boxer Stance:  Strong leg drops back, strong hand becomes a fist, usually poised behind rear leg, st