Aside from the techniques of self-defense (i.e., strikes of the hands, kicks, releases and counterattacks, use of weapons, etc.), there are many subtle and obvious things a person can do in order to either reduce the chances of being attacked or be fully prepared in the event an attack comes.
Having the skill in which to handle a situation or being in possession of a weapon is not enough. If these things are neutralized by one or more attackers who maneuver effectively to take you off guard, then skills and weapons become useless against them.
What follows is some of the essential tactical miscellany I always stress to students and that I enjoin them to make second nature, so as always to be ready.
Try to not have your hands encumbered with packages. If your hands are full with packages, you look and are more vulnerable to attack (and to having whatever you are carrying robbed). Have at least one hand completely free at all times. Do not drop your attention to what is around and near you because you are thinking about what you just purchased and are concentrating on getting it into your vehicle or onto a public conveyance. Street punks watch for these things. They target persons who appear to be preoccupied. No matter what, when you are out and about you must place a priority on situational awareness (alertness) and security.
In fact, you may have successfully discouraged some piece of street trash from attacking you, and you’ll never know it. No one walks up to someone and says, “You know, I was planning to mug you, but you just didn’t look like an easy mark, and you seemed to be too conscious of everything around you. So, I decided to look for another victim.”
Throw what’s in your hands into your attacker’s face. If you have something in your hands (bag of groceries, box from a store, large item you just bought, etc.), throw it in your attacker’s face, and then break his leg with a kick or access your legally carried sidearm. If it’s something that lends itself to use as a weapon, use it that way. A shovel you just purchased from a hardware store, perhaps, or some other lawn tool, etc.
In a violent emergency, everything else drops to a level of insignificance and everything you do, possess, and think is directed toward the destruction of your attacker(s). This shift must come instantly so as to shock your attacker and create an advantage for you that you must not relinquish!
Always be aware of your surroundings. The “knock-out punch” game is still popular amongst some savages. It cannot effectively be carried off if no one can approach you and get close enough to attack without your perceiving his approach. When walking down any city street, walk down the center. This makes a complete surprise attack from an alley, doorway, or from between parked vehicles much more difficult to launch. Assuming you remain aware and awake, you’ll see it coming.
Be cognizant of footsteps. Pay attention to anyone approaching from your sides or rear. If you hear something, turn, and if it is an assailant, attack him at once! Someone closing in on you with an aggressive demeanor, an upraised fist, an object being wielded as a potential weapon, etc., demands a vicious retaliatory reaction – right now! – by leaning away and lashing out with a side kick. (On my “American Combato” YouTube channel, see Professor Bryans’ demonstration of this kick and of the handaxe chop, both excellent ways to handle an undesirable who moves in on you quickly.)
Gravel to the rescue: I never tire of recommending that students carry a handful of ordinary gravel in their outer pocket. Tossed suddenly into an assailant’s face, it disorients him long enough to access a weapon, use a weapon, or employ just about any offensive unarmed combat action you wish.
Keys for self-defense: Keys – especially large truck keys – make excellent weapons. They can be ripped across an attacker’s face; driven end first into his eye or throat, neck or nostril… and damage is assured. Assuming you have your key in hand, ready to open your vehicle or apartment door when you are set upon, use it! One young lady I know saved herself from a violent attack in NYC some time ago by reacting in just this way when she went to her car, which was in a parking garage. She saved herself from harm, and the piece of garbage ran like a rabbit, screaming in pain.
Keep your sidearm readily accessible: When you obtain a concealed carry permit and a handgun, be certain to carry your sidearm where it is readily accessible. I do not like ankle holsters, except for carrying a second handgun. Accessibility is slow and cumbersome, and you want that sidearm in your hand and ready to go in a fraction of a second should you need it. Carry it in a convenient and readily accessible manner, and practice with it empty for rapid, effective drawing in an emergency.
Teach your child to run and scream if confronted: If you have a child, teach your child that his or her proper reaction in a situation where you may be confronted by trouble in the street is to run away from the scene and scream loudly and repeatedly for the police. This will remove your child from immediate access by whoever is creating the problem and free you to deal with the creature as you must without fearing your child will be injured. This is good advice for your wife or girlfriend, too (unless, of course, she is an effective combat shooter and is carrying a lawful sidearm!).
Utilize your chair if necessary: If you are seated at a table or in a chair (this doesn’t apply when seated at a counter, etc.) and a suspicious-looking individual approaches, stand up and innocently drop your hand to rest on the back of the chair. Now you are braced to: a) deliver a kick while perfectly balanced, and b) use the chair as a weapon. After disorienting him first with a fast kick to his shin, a chair can then be used against an assailant to smash him with over the head. Or, you may use it very effectively as a lion tamer uses a chair to keep a jungle cat at bay. Very effective against a knife attack!
For the ladies: scream loudly if intimidated: One thing a freak does not want is to attract attention. If you are approached by someone who attempts to intimidate you in a store or other populated area, scream at the top of your lungs: “HELP POLICE! I NEED THE POLICE! THIS F––ING BASTARD IS ASSAULTING ME!”
Scream and don’t stop. This is for those situations when a menacing, frightening approach is made – not when you are physically attacked outright. In the latter instance, only a violent, powerful, relentless attack against your attacker is in order. Calling for help under these circumstances will likely prompt an attacker to try to knock you unconscious or kill you.
Lock your vehicle doors between stops: Whenever you make a brief stop with your vehicle (for gas, to pick up a snack at a convenience store, etc.), lock your vehicle’s door and leave the windows rolled up. A not unheard-of type of attack is made by criminals who enter someone’s (usually a woman’s) car in just such a situation. They hide behind the driver’s seat in the back. When the driver returns to the vehicle and drives off, the offender arises with a weapon and forces the driver to stop or to go where the criminal wishes.
Don’t utilize the peephole in your front door: Peepholes are not necessarily safe or a good idea. Persons have been shot through their door’s peephole when they looked to see who was outside. Or, more crudely but no less dangerous, assailants have been known to jam a screwdriver through the peephole into the resident’s eye. My advice: do not open your door unless you are expecting someone or have good reason to believe that you know who is on the other side of your door. Security cameras (placed high to avoid tampering) are good.
Familiarize yourself with the I.D./badges of your local and state police: Make it your business to know and be able to identify the I.D. and badges of your local and state police. Pretending to be a law enforcement officer is one ruse that is very common with criminals.
If someone at your door is declaring he is “the police” (or from city utilities, the phone company, etc.), unless you called him yourself, answer by saying “Just a moment, please, I just got out of the shower; I have to put some clothes on.” Then go to your phone immediately and call whichever department the individual claims to be from. If no officer (or repairman, etc.) has been dispatched, either tell the police you have someone attempting to gain entry to your home or hang up and call the police and request immediate help.
And forget what you may have heard about slow response times. When the police believe a forceful break-in and assault is imminent, they get there and fast!
Females: keep your name off your lobby mailbox: If you are a female and live in an apartment building, do not have your name on your lobby mailbox. Instead, place something like the following (assuming your name is Phyllis Burnside, for example) on the mailbox: Lt. P. Burnside, USMC.
If you are followed: Should you ever discover you are being followed, do not panic. Do not lead your pursuer to your residence, either. Instead, go immediately into the nearest store and report that you must call the police; it’s an emergency. Then telephone the police, give them your location, and explain you are being followed. Stay put until the police arrive.
Be careful and courteous with strangers: Be extra-courteous (and extra careful!) with any stranger. No harm in politely answering: i.e., “I wish I could, buddy, but I’m broke, myself.” It’s a far better way to refuse a stranger’s request for a handout than any abrupt, rude, or contemptuous expression of dismissal and/or refusal. With both freaks and so-called “normal” people, sensitivity is through the roof today. A lack of courtesy might very well trigger violence when violence never was intended in the first place!
I must conclude this brief discussion of cautions with this reminder: We are living in a very dangerous time, and urban America is the most dangerous of places. Be alert, aware, and ready; but never betray fear and lack of confidence by being rude, acting like a “tough guy,” or bluffing. Just equip yourself with the unarmed and (to the extent it is legal) armed capacity to defend yourself and those you love.
When you are truly prepared, it shows and is projected without any bravado or pretenses.
by Bradley J. Steiner
