SELF DEFENSE-IT'S ALL IN YOUR ATTITUDE

I get a ton or emails asking me for advice on self defense situations, but there was one that stood out in my mind last week that I wanted to address in this blog. It was a long email so I will cut to the chase of it. The writer did not want to use extreme force or use any self defense weapon such as a stun gun to protect himself because he didn't want to injure the attacker but to only control him.

Many of my students who first walk into the doors of my training center walk in with the same "deadly" attitude and soon learn to change it because it will get them killed. Self defense is 90% mental and only 10% physical if you have an attitude that you only wish to subdue your attacker you won't be able to defend yourself out on the street because you will be in "defensive mode" instead of "offensive mode".

Your attacker does not give a crap about your well being, he will kick, spit, rape and humiliate you if he can. He does not care if you live or die, he only cares about his objective which is your cash, body or what ever his motive is. If you have an attitude of "I don't want to hurt him" then you will have the wrong mindset when defending yourself, making you have less of a fight. You owe it to your family and friends to come home safe. With an attitude less than "I am going to rip your face off for even thinking of picking on me" is like going to a gun fight with a knife, you just aren't properly prepared to handle the situation.

SELF DEFENSE FROM ATTEMPTED ABDUCTIONS

Recently in the news you heard of two children being found after being abducted one after 4 years and the other just recently. Childrens abductions are common but almost as common is abductions in adults going for both men and women. So what do you do if you find yourself in a situation such as this.

1. Fight no matter what so you are not placed inside of a car. Your situation becomes much worse if you are taken to a second location no one will hear your cries for help because usually you are brought to a very isolated area.

2. Do what you got to do when fighting your attacker off, bite, go for his eyes or hang on to a street sign pole for dear life to give you time to attract attention to the situation. Believe it or not it is very hard to get someone to release their grip when they are hanging onto something. Ever try to pull your child away from something, it's difficult isn't it?

3. If you do get placed inside a car place a hair pin or anything small into the ignition this will prevent the car from starting.

4. If you are placed in the back of the trunk their are a few things you can do. On newer models their is usually a release switch inside to open the trunk. If you are in an older model kick or punch the tail light out and stick your hand out and wave to get other cars attantion so they call for help. Or you can simply pull the wires out of the tail lights so it increases the odds of police stopping the car. When they do bang on the hood to attract attention.

5. Try to leave clues such as identification, piece's of clothing so police can get an idea of your location and dogs can pick up your scent.

SELF DEFENSE DURING CLOSE QUARTER SITUATIONS

I tell my students everytime they are in a situation that involves someone punching at kicking at them in a close quarters situation to always follow the golden rule of "staying as close as possible to your attacker". Yes I know it is much more intimidating than distancing yourself from your attacker but here is the reason why. The closer you are from a foot or hand that is hitting you the less force it has upon impact. If you allow distance to come in between you and the striking hand or foot you end up getting hit at the strongest point of the punch or kick. Which ends up doing more damage to your body.

SELF DEFENSE AGAINST STALKERS

Stalking is a growing problem for men and women all around us. Stalkers have been know to do everything from hotwiring a cellphone and GPS to cars so they can track you at anytime or have spyware that reads every email you get, to going even more extreme to killing there victims.

If you are a victim of this crime get yourself an anti stalking kit which includes a notpad to record all encounters with your stalker, mini tape recorder to record conversations and a camera so you can take photos of your stalker to show people who to look out for and to give a copy to police.

Always make a report to police and record as much information as you can in your notepad of times and dates your stalker has tried to contact you. Let your job know that you are being stalked and if anyone fitting the description of the photo you provided tries getting a hold of you or is just spotted around the work place have them call police.

If worse comes to worse and you are conforted by a stalker with a knife or gun and he or she attacks and injures you play dead. Stalkers usually don't stop stabbing or shooting someone till they know the person is dead.

USING CLOTHING AS A SELF DEFENSE WEAPON

Hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year. Todays post is regarding what you can wear and use as a self defense weapon. The first is steel toe boots or just regular boots in general, this also goes for all you ladies out there wearing high heels. this type of foot wear is great for stomping your attackers foot, knee or kicking him with. A few simple kicks to the shin will stop anyone dead in there tracks, trust me I have done this one countless times. the shin kick technique is lke a Swiss Army knife. A technique which can be applied in any situation and will not fail you. The other clothing item you can use is kevlar gloves during the winter months. They will keep your hands warm yet at the same time protect you from needle pricks and help you disarm someone with a kife without getting your hands cut. Some gloves also have lead inside the knuckle area to protect your knuckles and help you get the most out of your punches.