4 Simple Self Defense Techniques
When it comes to basic self defense technique, it does not have to be complicated, and in fact it (the technique) will arguably be MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE if it is kept VERY SIMPLE. During intense periods of stress and/or panic, the human mind will seemingly slow down, you may get tunnel vision, and you will react mostly only by muscle memory. Complicated tasks will become seemingly impossible during those seconds or moments. Until you have experienced this unique phenomenon, it is difficult to fully grasp the affect. Just trust this… it is true – it happens this way.
So, with firearms out of the equation for this short discussion, here are a few thoughts and tips to consider.
A rational and reasonable person will rather peace over violence. Having an inner conviction of self respect and the belief that no one has the right to use unprovoked force against another, he will be pacifist… until attacked.
If one ever finds one’s-self under criminal attack, and if escape is not an option, one should proceed with extreme prejudice and without hesitation to quickly and violently destroy one’s attacker. While your motive will be defense, it will be accomplished by offense.
When approached, you should be in a relaxed and ready position. That is, not directly facing him but balanced with the body at an angle to the potential attacker. The hands should be near chest level, doing anything that does not appear aggressive (maybe clasping your hands together, etc.). NOT in your pockets. Keep your vision on the approacher’s head and shoulders while being aware of his hands. Stay more than arms length away and don’t allow the person to crowd you. By not being crowded, the attacker would have to ‘announce’ their intention by stepping in on you, giving you the opportunity to launch your own surprise preemptive attack.
Remember this… if the person asks you what time it is, DO NOT look at your watch. Instead, give him your best guess, all the while watching him. If the person asks you for directions, DO NOT look away and point somewhere. Instead simply talk the person through it. Make sense?
It may be helpful to practice the following four basic skills against an imaginary attacker. This isn’t sparring, it is deadly serious, so do not spar with others using these techniques as they can be deadly.
Chop
Flatten your hand, palm facing down. The chop should strike while using the edge of your hand near the wrist. The throat and the nose are good targets.
Chin Jab
With the hand pressed back, use the heel of the hand to smash an upward strike under the attacker’s chin at close range (half-arm’s-length or less). This could break the attackers jaw or neck.
Side Kick
As the name implies, the kick is performed to the side, not the front or rear. Lift the leg about knee-height while keeping it fairly close to the other ‘standing’ leg. Snap it out like a piston at the attackers KNEE. It doesn’t matter which part of the knee or the direction of the attacker because the knee is weak and will likely break regardless.
Fingertip Thrust
Flatten out the hand, palm down, and extend the fingers. Thrust the fingers straight into the attacker’s eyes. It is brutal, but simple.
Remember, keep it simple. Again, under extreme stress, you will need ‘simple’ in order to be effective. For those who may think these ideas are ruthless, brutal, violent and destructive… the fact is, they are. As the stresses of our societies increase with a burgeoning and dependent population in the throws of economic turmoil and desperation or facing seemingly eminent chaos from economic collapse, and are increasingly plagued with criminals and predators, self defense skills are becoming more important to those who are preparing and who know that we live on the razor thin edge of ‘order’.
Be prepared.
Source: The techniques outlined above are widely taught by many people and self-defense training organizations, no one of which holds original credit. It’s mostly common sense techniques applied to the physical attributes of the human body.
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In martial arts, you are taught to look at ones midsection. This way you can see from head to toe with peripheral vision. Also consider using elbows and knees if in close quarters with your attacker.
just 2 remarks. practice makes, if not perfect, at least better. avoidance and also running away prevents defeat – which is always a risk in any fight.
I agree, especially regarding the avoidance. If you are tuned in with your ‘situational awareness’, avoidance is much easier.
I did 10 years in Chicago. No I wasn’t in prison, but looking back now it feels like I “did” 10 years- surviving in that jungle. I worked as a bouncer at least part-time the entire 10 years. I also worked as a security guard and used public transit the entire time. The several times I can remember being attacked or threatened it almost always involved a group. Lowlifes are by nature weak and scared and only feel comfortable in packs or gangs. They don’t want or expect a fight. To quote Patrick Swayze (he actually was pretty cool!) from Roadhouse “It’s simple dog psychology”. Lowlifes COUNT on you being afraid and giving them what they want easily.
I once held 3 attackers off for 15 minutes with nothing more than a metal tipped golf umbrella- I don’t golf, I liked the metal tip!
It’s a sad fact that when you are in a place like Chicago (or ANY unfamiliar area) you have to ASSUME that you are being stalked as prey.
I have found that often “first strike wins the fight”- when things go wrong and have to be willing to go all the way, knowing that you are on the right side of a bad situation. You have the right to defend yourself.
Good citizens are not allowed their Second Amendment rights in Shitcago so the bad guys have the advantage.
You have to be faster, meaner and filled with righteous, indignant rage.
Think like a prison inmate: what kind of “non-weapon” weapons can you carry? A cheap steel ink pen from the dollar store in an attackers face or eyes. A can of ravioli in a cloth sack for your “lunch” will dent heads. Way too many keys on some type of handle or strong cord will swing like a medieval mace. A steel tipped umbrella. A walking cane. A pair of scissors.
I like things that are cheap, disposable and untraceable.
There is a book called “Dragons Touch” that focuses solely on the weak points of the human anatomy. Hitting a weak spot is the same as generating more force.
Sometimes things CAN”T be avoided and they HAVE to be dealt with.
The person who accepts this will live to write about it.
Night Owl
@Night Owl; You’re a braver man than I am. Soda cans in in a sock make great weapons, soap bars too. Most women….don’t know….that a penis, in the appropriate state, can be BROKEN with 4-6#s of pressure and a twist, do it and don’t look back, it won’t be used on you. 15#s of pressure, or less, to the side of the knee will blow it out. If you try hard enough, you can poke your finger into someones brain, if you try hard enough! Just go through the eye! You can bite someones nose (ear) off, if you so choose, and have the opportunity. You can also bit off a pinkie finger and other protruding body parts. It is a distractor! Fight back like you mean it, everyone, though especially the ladies. Survive well. Enjoy.
Couldn’t agree more TP.
The 4-6#s with a twist made my stomach hurt this early in the morning though…ouch…
teeth work good. if you can’t get away the only rule is to, well, get away by prevailing, ie “winning”
Remember that if you survive a fight, especially if others are hurt worse than you are, you will probably be judged by people who were not there. Much is up to the cops who first arrive. It helps if you’re already on good terms, and their perception of your class has a lot to do with how they see things.
cupped hand smack to the ears
Just remember Mr Murphy.
I have seen people choose a toll that can be used as a force multiplier rely too heavily on that to defend them.
I saw a kid use a roll of quarters taped with electrical tape walk confidentially into a fight with another kid to defend his mothers honor. The quarter roll broke with the first punch and the kid, having lost his “edge”, he curled up on the ground and would have took a very sound beating from his opponent if we had not broken it up.
If you put a can of soda in a sock there is a very good chance that can will burst or the sock will rip or be stripped from you. If that happens you have to either continue to fight with what ever else you have or flee.
So based on your “force multiplier” argument the U.S. military should just lay down it’s arms and fight the worlds’ enemies hand to hand combat???
@Batch; That was just a quick expedient way of fighting, Use rocks or soap inside two socks or BOTH legs of a panty hose. For example, if you are run into a “stop and rob” grab a pack of pantyhose and a can of squeeze cheese. Put a soda can or two in the TWO legs of the panty hose and put the squeeze cheese in the microwave and set it for 20 minutes…won’t take that long. Wait for it to explode and then…swing for the fence. Course when I grew up they made soda cans out of metal!!! The point is think fast and DO something. Ink pens are daggers. Lighters are bombs in microwaves. Think about a bottle of charcoal lighter in the microwave, ha!!! Be educated about what you can do. Hot coffee to the eyes and face is a great distractor. Fire extinguisher, spray to the face/eyes then swing for the fence with the cylinder!!! Then crush the skull,,, ;-} And so on. Be creative!!! Survive well. Enjoy.
the gangs at the bar and you walk in and in a few minutes it’s obvious that they’re going to kick your ass. buy a round for the house, or at least for the gang, smile, excuse yourself to go for a pee. smile. conceal your intent. hope the bike starts on the first kick. (it did, but I got a ticket for speeding. not a bad deal.) (this really did happen) recommend “the 36 stratagems”, also sun tsu, mao, and che. soviet partisan handbook too.
I have noticed several trends lately that are good news for those of us who choose to defend ourselves:
1. The fastest growing demography among gun owners are ladies purchasing defensive arms.
2. There are self defense workshops for seniors now featuring cane use in self defense.
To me it reveals that people are aware that the world is dangerous and some are preparing for the bad times and the predators out there. Night Owl has good suggestions for improvised weapons. Batch brings up the point that what you bring to the fight can be turned against you during the fight.
I was sworn in as a peace officer several months after I turned 21 years of age so frequently, my first trips to bars were in a working capacity. True to form, we arrived just in time to see the blood being mopped up and take statements from witnesses. I saw enough injuries and trauma that I don’t go to them now as a bald, fat, middle-aged dude. There is a new crop of juiced-up, testosterone overdosed youngsters out there to keep these places hopping. (Just as there are the testosterone overdosed youngsters on the Police Departments these days.)
The most ambulance pick-ups and the highest rate of disturbance calls I remember responding to were at: (1) Strip clubs or “gentleman’s clubs” and (2) bars in out-of-the-way locations. (think, edge of town) It was a toxic combination of alcohol, magnate for predators and horny youngsters, jealosy, and low lights. Not to mention the drug dealers were at the edges of the parking lot. Get the message, these are very dangerous locations.
When I did corporate security, these are the places we did not take our clients even if they begged us or offered us more money. There was NO WAY we could guarentee their safety and well being. I don’t get paid if you get killed.
Consider enrolling in a local, affordable dojo or martial arts studio. Style is not so important as an instructor with integrity. (people will endlessly debate as to which style is better, karate or judo etc.) A long established school run by somebody who loves doing their job is a lot better than a retired whatever now trying to make a buck off the students. It takes about 6 sessions to figure this out for yourselves. at he very least, it is generally pretty good conditioning. If you don’t like the instructor odds are you will not like the students there either.
I took about 2 years of taekwondo and I know from experience that when real Hell breaks loose you tend to forget you “training” and “moves” in the chaos of fear and adrenaline! I’m NOT saying training isn’t useful- but until you’ve been in a lot of fights most people just aren’t going to be fighting intelligently, they just flail and push while I decide which joint or nerve center I want strike.