Tips on How Women Can Protect Themselves From Being Victims of Violent Crime

I was watching ABC's PrimeTime Live tonight where they showed some female volunteers that their instincts weren't always correct and that there's almost always a way to get out of or avoid a dangerous situation if you know what you're doing.

Advice on handling dangerous situations such as attacks in elevators, parking garages, riding a bike, jogging a trail, and attempted abductions by gunpoint.

Armed with a little knowledge, you can stop an assault before it happens!

For the most part, was a very good show.

Here is the link http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231235&page=1 (not sure how long this link will be available)

 

Wow. Better than most things like this. They stress concept over technique, do simple stuff, use the environment and teach success instead of failure. w00t!

 

It is extremely hard as human beings to fight against what feels natural.

If someone grabs you, your natural tendency is to resist with every last breath and struggle free. This makes it easier for the attacker because every part of you is a 'solid' object

In Kamon we are taught to relax and make it harder for the attacker to dictate where to move.

I would reccomend wing chun for women as it helps people fight a stronger / bigger opponent

 

Too many women act like victims before they ARE victims, bad guy/girls can sense this.

 

Huh? ... Could you explain that statement?

I believe I understand what you are saying as one time I nearly assaulted a man who was just merely commenting on my nice smile.

Unfortunately for him he came up a little too close behind me for my comfort and yes, I played the victim if that is what you mean. Sometimes we just cannot second guess the actions of individuals when we get an intuitive feeling about them. I go on my gut instincts because the only time I found myself in trouble was when I gave someone the benefit of the doubt.... unfortunately I trust no one any more... sad to say

This thread is about good constructive tips for women to become in control of their environment and to be able to use whatever they can to fend off a possible violent attack.

 

You got it right on. You've seen the women who are walking around, head down, eyes down or barely looking up, too afraid to face the world (there are guys too like this). They're either depressed, pre-occupied with other problems or have been knocked down in a life and don't know how to face the world. Then you have some women (I'd assume your one of them) who walks confidently, head up, strong gait and looking people in the eye! Those are the women who attackers avoid like the flu....I'd guess thats the kind of stuff you teach in your classes, to be in control of your environment as you say!!

 

Much "Self-Defense" training is geared toward responding to the attack in progress. Many styles of MA are good for that type of training; finding one that fits your mindset and body type isn't terribly difficult. However, true self-defense is not being in the place or situation where you get attacked. Easier said than done, but you get the idea. But very few "self defense" instructors in the MA world have a clue about avoiding the attack in the first place. I would suggest women spend some time on the internet studying Individual Protective Measures. Most times, you'll find IPM's within the context of military anti-terrorism guidance, but they work equally well against criminals as terrorists. Not sure if the cut and pasted link will work, but if you type in "Individual Protective Measures" on the GlobalSecurity.org website, you can get a lot of useful information. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/accp/it0468/index.html

 

Kind of a difficult question, but I'm going to go with yes you should probably avoid places with "Get Attacked Here" signs.

 

It was sarcasm. Places you normally go to where your safe can sometimes become places where you are attacked. Violent situations don't always start off that way. Easier said to "avoid" them then reality dictates.

 

But by and large there are numerous ways of avoiding scenarios. Further the fact is that most encounters escellate through numerous stages from psychological, to verbal, to physical. Identifying an attack early helps you deescalate and defuse the situation. Those are the elements of a good self defense program (and most good RBSD advocates like Tony Blauer and Geoff Thompson teach this).

The fact is most people are stuck in patterns of apathy and denial and ignore the obvious until it's far too late using excuses like "it couldn't happen to me" and "this isn't happening." Much of good self defense training is based on learning to listen to your body and your gut and acting accordingly.

This includes that there is something about my present surroundings that doesn't feel right... it's time to go.

- Matt

 

defense against assailants.

use car keys, the heels of high heel shoes. stab stab stab.
bright flash light, loud beeping sound, screaming, better if you have a can of petrol douse on your assailant and threaten to light 'em.

 

I've split this thread here
http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41889

 

But, in all but the most extreme cases, there are often signs that people ignore or deny.

Look, there is no question that there will always be ambushes. The fact is, and most martial artists hate to acknowledge this sometimes, that if someone wants to hurt you/kill you and are determined, then you've got real problems. Knife practioners all know that if someone really knows how to use a knife, you won't know that the knife is in play (or perhaps worse that you are in a fight) until it's in you and the attacker is no where to be found. However, by and large, that isn't the way that confrontations play out.

All self defense training starts with playing the percentages, the most likely attack scenarios. And by and large these flow through pretty specific phases and gates. So we begin to train to recognize these and move out towards the less and less scripted and predictable. Admittedly these are all models and models can be broken at any point. But time and memorium has demonstrated that people are no where near as unpredictable as we'd like to believe.

So perhaps that poor woman is an exception. But without knowing more about the specifics of the attack we can't know that. I'm not suggesting we should ever adopt a blame the victim mentality. However, at the same time we can acknowledge the steps a victim could have taken to pervent the encounter from happening, whether we begin at not being out at 3.00am or perhaps having found a more protected method of getting home.

- Matt

 

Carry a kuhnife! Seriously, that's what I did for a long time.

 

You fool!! That is exactly the kind of talk that get innocent people arrested or into more trouble than they were in when they started.

I have heard stories of people producing knives, only for it to be taken away and used against them!

If you're stopped by police and you have no excuse for carrying it, you will be arrested. Just to clarify, sayimng you're a martial artist does not cover it. In order to transport weapons legally, you must have them packed away and stored (in a box or hilt etc)

This is dangerous talk as producing weapons is exactly how things escalate (the mugger would start carrying guns, etc)

 

Ok... first of all, what one can and can't carry is very much definted by where they live. And part of self defense is familiarizing yourself with the local laws. Here in NY a woman (or anyone else) could carry without a problem. I know that isn't the case in the UK.

On to the old "I've heard stories about knives being taken away and used against," as tellner, one of our local knife experts, has elloquently stated, the hard evidence just isn't there to support the claim that knive are regularly taken away from people who are mentally willing to use them for self defense.

And that get's to the important thing here: mental willingness. If you canrry a weapon, there are two important things that you must be able to do:

1. Deploy the weapon under duress. This takes effort and practice.
2. Be ready to use the weapon against another person.

PG, what I think is at the heart of your post is a warning not to treat a weapon as a self defense cure all. If the law allows a person to carry a weapon/tool, and they're willing and able to meet those two requirements, then there's no reason not to say go for it (remembering to keep a level head on your shoulders.

- Matt

 

White Lotus Wing Chun published an article in "Combat" magazine on this very topic, I think it was the August edition. It was called "Women in Wing Chun."

There's a lot of practical information in there, and we had a great deal of enquiries from it. If anyone is interested, I'll try to get it scanned tonight.

Cheers

L

www.wingchunkungfu.net

 

What!! They allow people to carry knives? That's just insane... I guess that's why the police officers carry guns. I sometimes forget this is a worldwide forum. Similarly though, general advice to 'carry knives' is going to get you in trouble. If someone was attempting to mug that person and the victim ended up stabbing them they would still go to prison, unless they could prove it was in self defence

Unfortunately it is. I work for the police over here and find it interesting reading reports and stats about attacks in the UK.

Over 30% of stabbings/weapon wounds are from people cutting themselves on their own weapons. One report two weeks ago was of a gentleman cutting himself on a knife as he was producing it to attack someone. He was subdued by the victim and eventually admitted in custody that he had hurt himself

I think people overestimate the use of knives and weapons on the streets. Even guns tend to miss.