2009 September | Lethal Street Self Defense

Self Defense Against Knife Attacks - Whatever You Do, Don't Run!

Sep 212009

Christopher Roberts asked:

There is a lot of bad advice being spread around concerning self defense these days. One of the worst and most dangerous pieces of bad advise is to run when faced with a knife-wielding attacker.

The supposed reason for this advise is that it is very difficult to successfully defend yourself against a knife attack without being cut in the process. Ok, that may be true, but “running away from the problem” rarely helps in any situaion, especially when you are in imminent danger!

To dispel this myth, I usually use a very graphic demonstration in my training. I take one of my students, usually one of those who recommend running from a knife fight and, while holding a knife for him or her to see, I tell him to respond. As the more experienced of you might be able to imagine, I only need to take one or two steps before I’m holding my fleeing victim by the shirt or, even better, the hair and I’m repeatedly stabbing him or her in the back and later in the neck after he or she falls, which they always seem to do.

The “dead” victim usually responds by saying: “Yeah, but its better than doing nothing!”

“Listen, turning your back to an armed attacker who is standing so close to you that you don’t have any chance of getting away IS doing nothing! No, you don’t have a 100 % chance of surviving uninjured, but if you turn your back to him and do nothing you have a zero percent chance of surviving!”

So what should you do when facing an edged weapon attack?

Why don’t we see if we can even the odds a bit.

First of all, why is a knife attack so dangerous? Because an attacker armed with a knife can badly injure or kill you quickly and easily.

Well, what would happen if you were to take one of your fingers and force it between his eyeball and eye socket? What would happen if you would crush his windpipe? What would happen if you would kick him in the knee and tear the ligaments and tendons that support his leg?

It sounds to me that you could very easily kill or injure a person without a knife, which would make you almost as dangerous as him, if you know how to fight!

Should I tell you what is the real reason why most attempted knife attacks are successful? Its because the attacker distracts his victim and hides the knife until he’s been able to stab him at least once or twice!

That means that a person who has been trained in situational awareness and reading body language to recognize a potential knife attack would have the opportunity to launch a pre-emptive attack upon the knife attacker before he completed drawing his weapon and, if he didn’t even have a chance to draw his knife before you took him out, there would have been no difference between taking the would-be knife attacker out and defending yourself against a normal, unarmed opponent!

The bottom line is that a knife attack is always a very bad situation to be in, but to try to run from it is like standing in the middle of a street and trying to outrun a car that is speeding in your direction–run left, run right, but don’t try to outrun a car, when you know you won’t have any chance of surviving that way!

And the sooner you see the car coming, the better your chances of surviving will be.

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Self-Defense and Common Sense

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Sep 042009

Wanda Hall asked:

Women today are constantly being instructed by the media that they must learn to be independent. This does not simply mean that a woman needs only to be able to financially support themselves, but also they must be able to physically defend their person. To achieve this, many women need to learn the art of women’s self-defense. The achievement of mastering these skills in women’s self-defense will not only help the individual to learn basic protection, but build confidence. There is a certain pride in knowing that one can defend themselves against an invasive attack or physical assault.

Learning the skills of women’s self-defense can also benefit an individual in other ways. A women’s self-defense class can be a fun and interesting method for burning calories and toning the overall body. The art of women’s self-defense teaches women to use the abilities given to them by Mother Nature. Women are naturally stronger in the lower body and must not be afraid to use their legs when defending their person. The women’s self-defense course will teach the female to kick or stomp on their attacker and when all else fails, run. Building up the leg muscles for defense will tone and slenderize the thigh and give definition to the calves and ankle areas.

However, that does not mean that one can neglect their upper body. Even though women are naturally stronger in the legs, a women’s self-defense class will also give instruction for using the arms, hands, and fingers for defense in an assault. The development of these skills will allow a woman to not only become proficient in women’s self defense, but assist in the general overall toning of the body.

Once a woman becomes interested and encouraged by the results seen and felt through participation in a women’s self-defense class, she may become motivated to do even more. The courses taught to learn the skills of women’s self-defense, also encourage the possible victim to flee from possible attack. The newly skilled woman many now discover that they would like to participate in some sort of cardiovascular enterprise to enable themselves to be confident of the ability to escape from a potentially harmful situation. Because the woman took the initiative to become involved in learning the skills of women’s self-defense, they may now discover that they have lost those unwanted extra pounds and became healthier as well.

Women’s self-defense classes do not only teach the necessary skills to defend one’s self, they also give instruction for avoiding a potentially hazardous situation all together. It is important to consider what hazards are potential problems on every occasion. The single woman who is having an early dinner with friends may believe her parking spot is ideal because it secluded and her new car will not be damaged. However, upon exiting the restaurant at a later time, she now finds that her car is in a dark and dangerous place.

It is imperative that a woman look at the environment she places herself in. Although it is extremely important for a woman to participate in women’s self-defense classes, it is even more imperative that she avoids a potentially dangerous situation in the first place.

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