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SERIOUS SELF DEFENSE
Author: Yelena Pawela
As a woman who runs a company dedicated to teaching other women how to survive in adverse situations, I’m often asked, “What’s the most practical way to protect myself?” That’s usually followed by, “What’s the most realistic method of self-defense?” and “What’s the best weapon?”
I usually respond with a question of my own: “How serious are you?” That’s because the answer to my question determines the answer to theirs.
If you’re a woman who’s truly serious about self-defense, you have your work cut out for you. As you perform everyday tasks, you have to plan to preserve your own existence should a bad situation arise. I know because I’ve undergone numerous forms of adversarial survival training for more than half my life. My experience includes having studied under Russian and U.S. Special Forces hand-to-hand combat instructors, as well as having received intensive instruction in Krav Maga, jeet kune do, kali and jujutsu. I’m also a certified rape-prevention instructor.
My first recommendation is short and sweet—and controversial: If at all possible, don’t fight with just your bare hands. I have, and it’s not easy.
Men are usually taller, stronger and faster, and they will normally outweigh you by 20 pounds or more. Too many martial arts instructors claim they can teach you how to render any man helpless with a few precise moves. Don’t believe it. Your chances of succeeding are 50/50 at best. The bigger he is, the greater your disadvantage. To triumph, you should opt for a different approach—one that does not involve exchanging blows toe-to-toe.
MIND GAMES
The first thing you need to do is win the mind-set confrontation. Accept that you might be badly injured or worse, but be willing to survive no matter what. Think of self-defense as “street combat” and yourself as a “street soldier.” Soldiering is about winning at all costs, including fighting to the death if necessary. If you think that’s far-fetched, consider that most women would gladly give their lives to protect their children. Even if you aren’t a mother, the maternal instinct is built into you.
That’s why it makes sense to prepare yourself to be a street soldier or, better yet, a bodyguard. The only way to ensure your ability to control the situation and make yourself a survivor is through hard, realistic training, not some feel-good program based on wishful thinking.
To ready yourself for hand-to-hand combat without a weapon, you should attend a full-contact scenario-based course. In it, you’ll fight a mock opponent as he assaults you. The key to success involves learning how to use your adrenaline, which can give you increased strength and awareness. You’ll also learn the real-life progression: fear (which is completely normal) to anger (that your assailant has the audacity to try to harm you) to immediate engagement (if you have been trained properly).
Now you must focus on a plan that will afford you some sort of equality in a situation that is not equal in the first place. Your bigger, stronger assailant will expect you to be easy to overpower, so you must respond with superior force. That equates to using weapons that can inflict serious injury or death. They include the most vicious kicks, punches, elbow strikes, knee thrusts, eye gouges and bites in the martial arts. There’s no other simple solution because aggressors can be defeated only by greater aggression. But you should fight with your empty hands only when you have no weapon, and as a serious student of self-defense, you should never be without a weapon. The following are the three categories I recommend:
SHARPENED STEEL
Folding knives became popular when manufacturers started making them user-friendly by including a hole or stud on the blade to facilitate onehanded opening. They were also made easier to carry when designers added a clip to permit attachment to a pocket or belt. Male self-defense instructors hail these tactical folders as a superpractical method of turning the tables on an attacker, but I believe they should be considered a last resort for a number of reasons.
First, is it legal to carry a knife where you live? If the answer is no, it’s not even an option. Second, is your knife large enough for you to be able to handle it under stress? It’s one thing to have it clipped to your pocket, but it’s another to get it out and open in the heat of battle. Third, and most important, do you have the fortitude to use it at extreme close range? Most studies of conflict show that even combat-hardened soldiers have problems bayoneting their enemy. I’m not saying that under the direst of circumstances, you won’t be able to accomplish your objective; it’s just not as easy as some teachers would have you believe.
The reasoning behind these recommendations is as follows: A 4-inchlong blade is the legal limit in most areas (but check your local laws anyway). While serrated and partially serrated blades are popular with knife aficionados, using them in self-defense would give a prosecutor a field day. Ditto for the tanto and spear points.
FIREPOWER
Your next option is a handgun. A lot of women hate guns, but that doesn’t make sense for serious self-defense. I’ve interviewed many women who were brutalized, and I bet they all wished they’d had a gun to stop their attackers. Unfortunately, most people choose to believe in the utility of a firearm only after they have endured a lifethreatening situation.
If you decide to acquire a firearm, get some training. First should be a basic course that covers safe handling, storage, marksmanship, maintenance and legal issues. Second should be a course that deals with a realistic approach to using the weapon under stress. Too many instructors spend their time and yours trying to replicate the training undergone by law-enforcement or military personnel. They end up teaching you to engage when you should retreat.
Realistic training should involve negotiating with a hostile subject and discerning the proper course of action in shoot-don’t-shoot scenarios in which the assailant can fire at you. It should also include learning how to use cover, deal with multiple assailants, shoot with your weak hand, reload under stress and detain a suspect until the police arrive—all under simulated stress. These lessons are best learned from a qualified instructor who knows how to employ paintball guns safely and efficiently.
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
You may be thinking that carrying a knife, packing heat and owning a guard dog represent too much of an inconvenience. If so, perhaps you should review the following statistics regarding life in the United States:
• 87 percent of the population will be a victim of crime three or more times in their life.
• 78 rapes occur every hour.
• One murder occurs every 21 minutes.
• One robbery takes place every 55 seconds.
• One aggravated assault happens every 33 seconds.
• One violent crime is committed every 17 seconds.
Life is a constant battle. To survive, you must be prepared to win at all costs. The terrible reality of assault can ravage the soul of the victim. If you survive, you will relive the aftermath in your memories and nightmares for years to come. Preventing the crime from being committed in the first place—no matter what it takes—would seem to be a superior strategy. ...