Generally, verbal self defense is a method used for preventing or calming down an aggravated situation before it escalates, potentially to the point of violence. In verbal self defense, the practitioner uses his or her words as a tool for keeping himself or herself emotionally secure and safe. This process employs specific word choices, tone of voice, body posture and language to deescalate the tension of the situation. This can involve taking a time out and separating the clashing parties, changing the topic to something less controversial, or making an effort to deflect conversation to other, less aggravated participants. Verbal self defense is a way of keeping your personal boundaries without becoming aggressive or violent. Read more »
Tag Archives: Safety Preparedness
Regarding the knowledge of methods applied in order to take care of oneself in the face of potentially life-threatening situations spanning a large variety of places and situations. These can include (but are not limited to) knowledge of what actions to take in regarding animal attacks and managing physical confrontations from aggressive/dangerous people.
Four Tips for Street Fighting Self Defense
A random fight on the street fight is not a good situation to be in. Perhaps a drunken or drugged out thug has it out for you for no good reason, it’s impossible to know whats going on inside the brain of another person. Maybe the attacker is sober and you just said the wrong thing to set him off, and now he wants to put you in a world of conflict.
It’s always preferable to deescalate an emotionally charged situation before it becomes violent, but some people can’t be reasoned with, and you need to defend yourself.
Here are some general tips to help you out:
- Keep your ego out of the situation, it will only cloud your judgement. There’s no need to break out fancy fighting moves to impress spectators, you aren’t an action star in a movie. I’ve heard that women seem to know this more instinctively than men, perhaps because they feel no need to demonstrate their fighting prowess and impress anyone.
- Your goal is not to “win” the fight, but to keep yourself alive and safe. If you manage to land a blow on the attacker long enough to distract him or knock the wind out of him, that’s your opportunity to make a quick exit from the scene. , Even if you did not initiate the fight, you could find yourself in court if you injure your opponent excessively or unnecessarily. Avoiding injury is the real victory here.
- Understandably, most people get flustered and apprehensive in a physical altercation. Some freeze up totally and don’t act quickly enough to protect themselves or not at all. To help combat this apprehension, remember that just as you may not know what your opponent is capable of, your opponent probably doesn’t know what you are capable of, either. He is not invincible,he has weaknesses just like every other person on the planet. For all he knows, you have a black belt in Karate or teach Krav Maga to senior citizens at the YMCA on weekends.
- You can fight dirty. This isn’t a boxing match or a martial arts tournament, you aren’t bound by a code of conduct. If you must, pull his hair, poke him in the eyes, kick him so hard in the crotch that his eyes roll back into his head. Bite and scratch. This isn’t about honor, this is about protecting yourself from an attacking jack-ass.
Featured Photo by Polina Sergeeva
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Self Defense and the Psychology of an Attacker
While it’s important that you be prepared to defend yourself physically if the threat of physical altercation presents itself, it’s usually much smarter and more effective to try to avoid these dangerous situations in the first place.
An attackers will often be stronger and larger than his planned target and possibly armed and/or working with an accomplice or two. Plus, he has the element of surprise. These variable conditions make physically fighting an attacker a futile effort (not that you shouldn’t still try).
When planning an attack on the victim, the attacker has 3 factors to consider:
- Desire to attack: Many physical altercations occur because of the escalation of tension already existing between people. Eventually someone gets mad enough to physically attack the other party. If you are in such a situation with escalating tensions, you should make every effort to deescalate the tension. You must keep a cool head and not throw wood on the fire. If you detect a verbal conflict arising, never raise your voice, never make insults, and never make rude gestures. Be polite and get the hell out of there. These situations are not the source of many attacks, however, such as in the case of a robbery. Also, unprovoked rapes and murders do occur. Yet, there is still a reason for the attack, even if it is not logical.
- Distance from victim: In order to be the victim of an attack, the attacker needs to be close enough to you to actually harm you. If you find yourself in a place with few people, you should keep as much distance between yourself and a suspected attacker as possible. If you are approached by a stranger while alone, tell him to keep his distance from you. If he refuses, this is a very bad sign and you should try to get away from this person as fast as you can. No well-intentioned, innocent person will approach you when asked to keep a distance from you. Essentially, if you do not let a potential attacker to get close to you, he will be unable attack you. Also keep an eye out for spots where attackers could hide and keep a distance from them.
- Decision to attack: In addition to having a desire to commit an attack and physical proximity to the victim, the attacker must actually decide to go through with the attack. The attacker may make a hasty decision to attack in anger, in which all you can do is try to deescalate the situation before it gets physical. However, when planning an attack intellectually and not just running off pure emotion, he will likely plan an attack in a way that it is most likely to succeed. He doesn’t want to get caught if it can be avoided. Thus, you want to appear to be an unappealing target to potential attackers. The best way to do this is to practice being aware of your surroundings, not fiddling with your phone or iPod. Should you spot someone acting suspiciously while walking down the street and paying close attention to your surroundings, cross the street or put some other obstacle between yourself and the potential attacker to communicate your awareness. The potential attacker will probably wait for a target they perceive to be easier to take.
Another way you can look at these three factors is as the means, motive, and opportunity to attack.
If your gut feeling is that something is very wrong with your present situation, heed it and get the hell out of there. If this is not possible, then you must employ physical self defense. However, awareness of your surroundings and precaution are always the most important and effective tools you can use to protect yourself from assault.
Featured Photo by Isaac Mao
Parking Garage Safety: Observing Suspicious Behavior
What are examples of suspicious behaviors you might encounter?
- Someone observed to be peering into a parked vehicle who may be considering stealing that vehicle or packages stored in the backseat.
- Someone running and carrying an object of value.
- Any vehicle driving slowly through the parking garage at night with the lights off.
- Anyone who seems to be following you to the garage.
What should you do if you observe suspicious behavior?
- Make a mental note of (or write down) an accurate description of the person(s) involved.
- If a vehicle is involved, get the vehicle description (make, model, color, condition) and license number.
Featured Photo by Cindy Funk
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Vehicle Safety and Security Tips
To help reduce the chances of becoming a victim of burglary or theft, you should be mindful of the following security and safety tips:
- Always lock your doors when leaving your vehicle.
- Always bring your access card or parking ticket for the parking garage with you. A thief can use the ticket to get out of the garage, too.
- Don’t keep any loose change in the ashtray or any sort of valuables in plain view to tempt thieves.
- Leave the vehicle’s center console, ashtray and glove box open to show potential thieves that there’s nothing of value in them.
- Always park your vehicle in well-lit areas in a highly visible place.
- Use a car alarm and alarm decals indicating the presence of an alarm.
- Employ a steering wheel locking device (such as the Club brand) on your vehicle.
- Have the keys ready in your hand before reaching your vehicle.
- Always check the back seat for intruders before entering the vehicle.
- If you observe suspicious behavior or activity, don’t hesitate to quickly report this to the parking security staff and/or contact the police.
Featured Photo by jmv
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Womens Self Defense: Three More Tips
- Its important that you never go with someone holding a knife or gun to you to a second location. As bad as the situation is now, going with the assailant means probably going to a more remote location, where it will be easier to kill or rape you. Do not get in a car with such a person. Instead, you need to get the hell away as fast as you can, running and screaming. Chances are, the attacker will drive away and decide to go for an easier target.
- Be alert when in parking lots, particularly in dark/ill-lit conditions. Never be too shy to ask someone to escort you to your vehicle. It’s easy for attackers to hide between and inside cars.
- Don’t wear headphones when walking in isolated areas, the headphones will put you out of touch with your surroundings and potential threats. Read more »
Womens Self Defense and Safety: Tips
Womens Self Defense and Safety: Tips
- First, you must accept the reality that there is danger in the world that can hurt you or your loved ones. Rather than ignore it (as many do), acknowledge this fact and learn and prepare for such dangers.
- Aside from educating yourself about self defense on your own through the awesomeness of the internet, also take a course on basic self-defense tactics/techniques.
- Go with an outfit that maximizes your freedom of movement, enabling you to perform acts of self defense or to run away quickly. High heels are not conducive to this.
- Don’t wear showy jewelry when walking on the streets by yourself.
- There’s always safety in numbers. When alone, wait in a cafe or at least in a well lit area if waiting for transportation.
- It’s a good idea to have multiple routes to and from the places you the most, such as work, home, and the grocery store. This makes it harder to predict your schedule and use it against you.
- Not everyone can afford to do so, but if you can, move away from dangerous areas with high crime rates.
- Decide on efficient escape routes for evacuating the home or workplace. Designate a safe-room where you and others can secure themselves should they not be able to escape a building occupied by a hostile party.
- Never hitchhike.
- When using public transport after peak hours, always go with the train compartment carrying the most passengers or the compartment with the train driver. On the bus, try to sit behind the driver or next to the door for a quick exit.
- When driving, always check the back seat for potential hiding assailants. Read more »
Womens Self Defense: Drink Spiking Awareness
Date rape via drug-facilitated sexual-assault is a very real threat. Illicit or even prescription drugs can be stealthily and maliciously slipped into your beverage unknowingly at a party, bar or club. These sedative substances can colorless, odorless, and tasteless. The drugged victim is then at the mercy of the assailant, vulnerable to sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping, or other reasons.
Women and men can both be victims of drink spiking, though women are more frequently the target, probably due to sexual assault motives of men.
Here are some simple rules to help protect yourself from drink spiking:
- Pour your own drink or at least watch you drink as its poured.
- Don’t ever leave your drink unattended.
- Don’t accept any drinks from strangers or anyone you don’t trust.
- If your drink tastes weird or off, discard it.
- Go out with trusted friends, try not to go out to bars or clubs by yourself.
- Likewise watch out for your friends and their drinks.
- Avoid drinks from an open source, like pitchers, punch bowls, or tubs.
- Even in social situations, it’s important to stay aware of your surroundings.
Drugs typically used in drink spiking:
- GHB (Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid): A central nervous system sedative, sometimes called “Grievous Bodily Harm”, “Liquid Ecstasy” and “Fantasy”, the FDA banned the use of it in 1990. It can cause drowsiness, nausea, dizziness, , unconsciousness, seizures, major respiratory depression, and lead to a coma. An overdose of GHB can also be fatal. Homemade GHB is found in both in liquid and powder forms.
- Ketamine: Usually used on both people and animals in medical settings, ketamine legally sold today is usually intended for veterinary use. It also goes by names “Special K”, simply “K”, “Vitamin K” and “Cat Valium”. It is usually colorless, tasteless and odorless.
- Rohypnol: a brand name for flunitrazepam, a very strong sedative and often called “roofies”. Rohypnol is not legally available for prescription in the United States, though it is legal in many other countries for treatment of insomnia. It is possible to overdose on Rohypnol, causing coma or death. Starting in 1997, the company that manufactures of Rohypnol changed the product to be significantly less soluble in beverages and can add a slight blue or green color to a beverage it’s been added to, though it is still used in drink spiking today.
If you are reasonably sure you have consumed a spiked beverage, locate/call someone you trust and get to a safe place. It is also important to get tested as soon as possible afterwards for a questionable substance. Keep the suspected spike drink as well if you able to.
Featured Photo by Andreas H. Lunde
Self Defense: Mace and Pepper Spray
Mace/pepper spray devices are aerosolized irritants which are designed to temporarily blind/incapacitate attackers as a means of defending yourself. The active ingredient in Pepper spray (oleoresin capsicum) comes from the super-hot Cayenne Pepper plant. Mace products are often made from a mix of things, including pepper spray, tear gas, and Phenacyl chloride.
The Scoville scale is a method of measuring the spicy heat (or piquance) of a chili pepper. The number of Scoville heat units (SH) in a pepper indicates the capsaicin content present, a chemical that stimulates nerve endings in the skin, especially upon contact with one of the bodies mucous membranes (mouth, eyes, ears). Chilis with excess of one million Scoville units are known to exist. Most people unaccustomed to eating jalapenos will gag and feel like their mouth is on fire, and jalapenos only about a max rating of 8000. Habaneros (which in at a score of about 200,000-350,000) make most people cry. In comparison, a typical pepper spray can deliver a blast of 2 million Scoville heat units or more. That’s why pepper spray makes a good weapon of self defense.
Rather than wait for a dangerous situation to pop up in your life before you try to use pepper spray for the first time, practice some spraying/aiming with your pepper spray to get a sense of its range. Make sure you aren’t downwind of your practice spray and are in an open, well-ventilated area, preferably outside.
Featured Photo provided by DonkeyHotey