I have 3 broken fingers...

Hi, guys.

I broke (severely) my index, middle, and right metacarpals and had surgery a little over a week ago, four k-wires were inserted into the three fingers (2 in to the index finger).

My concerns are being attacked and trying to defend myself whilst my injuries heal. I currently train Silat.

Any advice concerning tactics here would be much appreciated.

Thankyou

Artemisia

 

Skill Level

Palm strikes, low kicks, weapons. I recently bought a female friend an expandable baton. She is 66 and loves packing her baton. Arm yourself!!

 

Baltimore, Maryland USA

Well, I don't know much about London or England but here in Baltimore we have a crime ridden city. Especially if you have to ride public transportation in the downtown area. Bmore is full of junkies, and criminals looking for an easy mark. You cannot rely on the police. Your self defense is your responsibility.

This is a town that averages 300 murders per year. Sorry you took offense to my post but that's the way it is here.

 

Womans Self Defense forum

The original poster listed her location as Israel/London. I understand Israel is a dangerous place. Woman here know all of the stuff you listed and they want to know what to do in the worst case scenario. That's what I teach; worst case scenario. What if the perp has blood shot eyes and nothing else works?

 

You could take a nice cruise somewhere for a week. That should be a good way to rest and relax and stay out of the way of the red eyed junkies.

 

Some Baltimore mugger is going to find himself the proud owner of a telescopic baton in the near future me thinks.

 

Thankyou all for the replies...

Simon, I like the idea of de-escalation but do not have any knowledge concerning this. I have, since your mentioning of this done a little bit of research via google and have found a number of interesting articles on the subject. In regards to awareness my training has given me a number of options to reconsider.

Hardball, I remember reading an article titled '...forever armed' and have since opted to carry a Surefire defender on my person ever since.

Now, if i may...What would be the best way for me to 'cover up' IF i were to be attacked. I understand and have refined my finch response but do not think it would do me much good in my present circumstance...i primarily stand right lead/leg forward and it is my right hand that is injured.

Thankyou, guys for taking the time out to offer me advice.

Artemisia

 

Get caught with that in London and you might find yourself on a trip to the local prison.

Run away. Scream for help. Drop to the ground, curl up into a ball protecting your vital organs and cover your head with your arms. In that order.

 

The thing about de-escalation is that it applies to fewer possible types of event than avoidance and deterrence.

In other words the majority of possible violent and aggressive situations (robbery, sexual assault, domestic violence, alcohol/drug related violence) can be avoided by applying knowledge to lifestyle choices.

De-escalation, while a valuable skill set, has a limited scope. It also applies more to the types of violent crime experienced by men than the types of violent crime experienced by women.

Whether a situation can be defused by deescalation tactics depends on a number of different factors, in particular the perceived value (psychological and/or material) for the aggressor in taking something physical versus the inhibiting factors of the perceived loss or danger of the same. Judgement on these matters and the ability to make rational choices can be affected by hormones, peer pressure, upbringing and memories, and drugs/alcohol.

With regard to tactics themselves I teach a LEAD to DEAL model.

Listen - to what is being said/alleged/demanded,
Empathise - look at it from the other person's perspective to try and gain an insight into what other than violence might help resolve the situation,
Acknowledge - what is being said and show this by paraphrasing, adapting and lowering aggressive tone, positioning and body language where possible,
Distract - by using other people, asking engaging questions, making offers etc

Other people have slightly more complex models. George Thompson's Verbal Judo is a good read on the subject.

The physical elements of deescalation, positioning, tone, body language etc are more complicated to explain (in a post or podcast) and easier to observe in successful communicators.

In terms of physically fighting: hitting with your bad hand will hurt, but that shouldn't stop you from doing it if the situation arises.

 

You'd go to prison for having a flashlight in London? Wow, you guys have really stemmed the tides of chaos with that one.

 

All flashing is frowned upon.

 

It's marketed as a weapon, therefore you are fighting a losing battle to convince a magistrate that it isn't one. But fools and their money and their freedom are easily parted.

 

Since guns are illegal in London, there might be other ways to protect yourself. Move to a safer part of town; carry mace; walk around with an angry look on your face (works for me). If you can't fight with hands/fists, then use kicks (TaeKwonDo maybe). If someone approaches to attack, yell, "back off" and then go into a non-threatening fighting stance; that communicates to the attacker that you might know martial arts. We learned that as white belts. It looks like a front stance with open hands signalling "back off". Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Moving is quite a tricky thing, firstly if you live in a crappy part of town it is likely for financial reasons, which haven't changed for the better due to having an injury.

Learning to kick well enough for it to be effective in the street in a Bruce Lee manner (versus a good solid punt to the ghoolies) is going to take more time to learn than it takes for the hand to repair.

Advising the carrying of other weapons, such as mace, without understanding the carry laws of a Country is stupid. Just because you might think it is a de-escalated weapon doesn't mean the law of that land does so. Look it up before you suggest carrying such a thing.

Yelling "Back Off" and going into a non-threatening fighting stance sounds weird.

Just my tuppence