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In the evenings I am a Samurai Warrior.
Which is to say that in the evenings I teach a martial art and help run the school.
Of late my instructor and I have been giving 90-minute self defense talks to some of the local sororities. Nothing in-depth, just the short, sharp and brutal things that can be done to get away.
My instructor is a local police officer and wears his uniform to the talks, and I tend to show up in 4-inch heels, tight pants and a nice shirt.
I am older than the girls we talk to, but I truly hope I was never as naive at that age as many of the girls are.
"Oh, I could never do that!"
Then you have just done your attackers work for them. If you persist in thinking like prey, then I hope you never become prey. I've been in some sticky situations and it is amazing what a change in attitude can do to alter everything.
"But I'm a good girl!"
My instructor and I try to convey that the world doesn't care if you are a good girl or a bad girl, Bad Things can happen to you.
"I'd just knee them in the groin!"
The groin shots aren't nearly as effective as what you'd think. The vast majority of men block automatically, so the attacking knee spends the energy on the blocking leg muscle. Secondly, as much as it can serve to debilitate, a successful groin shot can also cause a Beserker-like state.
"Ew! That's gross!"
Eye gouges are gross, I don't like to think of doing it, either, but if it's a choice between me and an attacker, I'm choosing me. I am more comfortable with the thought of ripping out piercings, but I understand where that could be seen as gross.
"I can hardly walk in the shoes I go out dancing in"
Trying to convince these gals that these techniques can be done in heels is part of why I wear mine to the demonstrations. I can do the techniques my instructor and I show them like foot stomps and shin scrapes, and I can also do more elaborate techniques in them, like high kicks and throws.
"But I'm not strong!"
Strength is helpful, but a basic escape from some one grabbing your wrist doesn't need strength, what it does need is you moving with your whole body. And when you stand up and try doing that, please practise Situational Awareness and stop crashing into me.
It's not that I dislike the girls in question. It's just I find myself very frustrated with this idea that Good Girls don't need self-defense combined with the attitude that Good Girls Aren't Physically Violent. I've had friends that got assaulted, and I truly don't want to have it happen to anyone else.
Which is to say that in the evenings I teach a martial art and help run the school.
Of late my instructor and I have been giving 90-minute self defense talks to some of the local sororities. Nothing in-depth, just the short, sharp and brutal things that can be done to get away.
My instructor is a local police officer and wears his uniform to the talks, and I tend to show up in 4-inch heels, tight pants and a nice shirt.
I am older than the girls we talk to, but I truly hope I was never as naive at that age as many of the girls are.
"Oh, I could never do that!"
Then you have just done your attackers work for them. If you persist in thinking like prey, then I hope you never become prey. I've been in some sticky situations and it is amazing what a change in attitude can do to alter everything.
"But I'm a good girl!"
My instructor and I try to convey that the world doesn't care if you are a good girl or a bad girl, Bad Things can happen to you.
"I'd just knee them in the groin!"
The groin shots aren't nearly as effective as what you'd think. The vast majority of men block automatically, so the attacking knee spends the energy on the blocking leg muscle. Secondly, as much as it can serve to debilitate, a successful groin shot can also cause a Beserker-like state.
"Ew! That's gross!"
Eye gouges are gross, I don't like to think of doing it, either, but if it's a choice between me and an attacker, I'm choosing me. I am more comfortable with the thought of ripping out piercings, but I understand where that could be seen as gross.
"I can hardly walk in the shoes I go out dancing in"
Trying to convince these gals that these techniques can be done in heels is part of why I wear mine to the demonstrations. I can do the techniques my instructor and I show them like foot stomps and shin scrapes, and I can also do more elaborate techniques in them, like high kicks and throws.
"But I'm not strong!"
Strength is helpful, but a basic escape from some one grabbing your wrist doesn't need strength, what it does need is you moving with your whole body. And when you stand up and try doing that, please practise Situational Awareness and stop crashing into me.
It's not that I dislike the girls in question. It's just I find myself very frustrated with this idea that Good Girls don't need self-defense combined with the attitude that Good Girls Aren't Physically Violent. I've had friends that got assaulted, and I truly don't want to have it happen to anyone else.
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