Get Loud: Easy Self Defense
Get Loud: Easy Self Defense
Are you prepared if something bad happens? If you’re walking down a dark alley, and someone grabs you, would you know what to do?
Well you should. And you should also stay out of dark alleys.
One of the first steps in self defense is keeping yourself out of dangerous situations as much as possible. This means, when possible, you should try to stay in well lit areas. If you’re walking to your vehicle, keep your keys in your hand. Move quickly and don’t stop to grab your phone or dig around in your purse. But you can’t always keep yourself 100 percent safe, so if you find yourself in a bad situation and need a little self defense, keep the following points in mind.
Get Loud
When someone’s planning an attack, the last thing they want to do is draw attention to the situation. If you feel like a threatening situation is upon you, don’t sit back quietly. Get loud. Ask the person what they want. If there’s people around, they’ll stop and look and that alone may be enough to deter your perpetrator.
Push the Attacker
If an attacker comes up to you, before they have the opportunity to touch you, push them. Hard. As hard as you can and throw your whole body weight into it. If it’s enough to knock them off balance and make them fall to the floor, that may give you enough time to get away. At the very least, it shows them you’re not an easy victim, which may be enough for them to decide to pick on somebody else.
Hit the Vulnerable Spots
The goal in any self defense situation is to stun the attacker so you can get away. You don’t need to worry about beating the crap out of someone, you just need to focus on staling them to give yourself enough time to run to a safer place. One of the quickest ways to stun someone is to hit one of their vulnerable spots: the eyes, nose, ears, neck, groin, knee, or leg. Do whatever you need to do: claw, scratch, poke. No matter what you do, do something, and try one of these easy self defense moves.
- Palm strike the attacker in the nose, like you’re trying to push their nose into their head between the eyes.
- Make your hand into a stiff blade and chop it into the side of the neck. This hits both the carotid artery and the vagus nerve, and can cause significant pain and even unconsciousness.
- The knee is accessible from every angle and is extremely difficult to block. Kick it hard from the side, front, or back and there’s a good chance you’ll have enough time to get away.
- Hit the solar plexus, found in the middle of the chest right under the pecs, as hard as you can. This knocks the air out of the person and makes it hard to breathe.
Use Your Head
Remember your goal is to get away, not put yourself in more danger. Here’s a few key points to remember when you’re fighting off an attacker.
- Don’t move closer to a potential attacker. Keep your distance. If they get close enough to you, then give them a solid, heavy push.
- Remember you can defend yourself with more than just your hands. Use your elbows, knees, and, yes, even your head, to defend yourself.
- If you’re aiming for above the waist, use your hands, elbows, or head. If it’s below the waist, use your legs and knees.
- Don’t exhaust yourself. Keep your energy so if you do get free, you still have enough power to run someplace safe.
Have you needed to use self defense in the past? What’s your favorite move?
Additional Image: Wikimedia
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