Chokes and Sleeper Holds are great techniques to add to your self-defense tool box. Sometimes, due to a variety of reasons, pain compliance techniques have little or no effect. This may be due to a drug that alters the attacker’s mentality and pain perception, or possibly plain old determination that allows a person to continue…
Here is your self-defense tip: Get In Shape! Pretty simple, pretty basic, but very true. The better you take care of yourself, and the more fit you are, the better you will be able to defend yourself if you have to. Not only that, you will be better prepared to run away, move something heavy,…
Watch the Hands! That’s an important point when it comes to threat recognition and self-defense. The hands of your attacker will be the most likely to hit you or to be holding a weapon he wants to use against you. Or it may be that you see his hand going for a weapon and that…
I was sitting front row at the Muay Thai fights in Bangkok when the two fighters clashed in a clinch and the one threw a fast elbow to the other’s jaw. He hit fighter’s head snapped to the side and he dropped straight down to the canvas of the ring. He wasn’t just dazed, he…
“Scaling Force: dynamic decision-making under threat of violence” with Rory Miller and Lawrence Kane is an excellent DVD to include in a self-defense library as it covers an area that is often neglected when people focus solely on physical techniques. This program explains and demonstrates options to violence and complements the authors’ book of the…
As someone who teaches safety principles and self-defense, I continue to study and train in both safety practices and martial arts and combatives. I’m also always looking for ways to help others stay safe, and that’s why I absolutely loved a recent comment a friend of mine made in an e-mail. Steve wrote, “Don’t even…
Technique is important, but Attitude and Commitment are the key to self-defense. You must act effectively and explosively in a confrontation to STOP THE ACTION. You cannot resist a little. You must become the attacker and ATTACK BACK. You must commit 100 percent of your heart, mind, and body to your survival. In my live…
Assertiveness is a very effective technique for preventing assaults. Often, an attacker will test a potential victim before determining if the person is a candidate for attack. They may do this by trying to move close to the prospective victim in some manner, or even touching the person to see how he or she reacts.…
“Never fight empty-handed unless you’re forced to.” – Kelly McCann When it comes to pure self-defense, not martial arts, Kelly McCann’s combatives program is hard to beat, and in my opinion one of the best programs around. And for street survival, the above quote makes a lot of sense. Never fight empty-handed unless you’re forced…
Proper basic footwork for self-defense will enable you to move quickly and efficiently while attacking and defending. You won’t be dancing around like a professional boxer, but moving in quick while keeping your balance to get the job done, and then moving out just as fast. Remember that the quicker you end the fight the…