Fred Degerberg wrote 101 Self Defense and Safety Tips, which you can download free. He chose the following 5 as the top ones that the every woman should know:
1. Be aware of yourself and your surroundings. Don’t let yourself be preoccupied with thoughts of work, school or home. When you’re on the street you need to be alert.
2. The most dangerous thing you can do is feel afraid and not act. Fear warns you. Many victims afterwards say that they had a feeling something was going to happen and they ignored it. Listen to your intuition and take action.
3. When it is obvious that you are going to be attacked, take action. By fighting the attack, you only increase your chance of survival. The notion that you will only anger the attacker with your lack of compliance, making him more violent is false. The attacker is already angry and violent. Fight until you know you’re safe and can get away.
4. Take aim when dealing with your assailant: the eyes, groin and throat are the most vulnerable areas to strike because they are composed of soft tissue. A successful blow to any one of these three areas on a male will almost guarantee you valuable time to escape.
5. Above all, do not allow the assailant to take you to another location. Do whatever it takes — the situation grows deadlier when it moves to a more secluded location.
Great tips! Degerberg runs a martial arts school in Chicago. His school teaches fighting systems from all over the world, which sounds great, since they would have something for everyone. I can’t personally recommend them, because I’ve never even been to any of their schools.
What do you think?
