In chat tonight, I was discussing self-defense measures I used to teach when I was on the lecture circuit showing women and men how to protect themselves from physical assault in a violent situation. You can never be sure when you might find yourself in an ugly situation and it is always smart to think ahead of what to do if you find yourself in one of these situations.
This thread won’t be very pretty and the methods I mention below and the ones you may add in other posts may be downright terrifying. You may also find the information I’m going to tell you violates many state and local laws but it is your choice if you want to be carried by six or judged by twelve.
I’m going to briefly tell you about weapons, both improvised and conventional, and please remember that this information is not guaranteed to always work in every situation. The only thing you can count on is to use your head. After talking about weapons, then some comments about self defense techniques to use.
What about handguns?
You may just rely upon having a handgun for protection, but for many people this is not a good option because you can’t always carry a gun with you legally (try going anywhere near an airport these days with a gun or into any major store or government building) and besides that do you have what it takes to end someone else’s life? It is magical thinking to assume that you are just going to shoot them on the arm or leg. When you are in the situation of needing to shoot someone, you are not going to be calm and collected along with being a good shot. Police and military personnel are taught to shoot the center of the body. Even worse, guns can be taken away from you and be used against you. If the perpetrator has a gun also, he/she may be more inclined to use it if you have one. The other bad thing about guns is that the bullets don’t stop at the doorway; they often pass through several walls and into other people’s homes and can kill other people.
If you are going to use a gun, make sure you have plenty of training with it, and not just target shooting. You should understand how to survive in a firefight with another person using a gun. That means you present the smallest possible target for yourself. Forget the crap you see on TV and get real professional training of how to shoot lying down, after running, what to use for cover, and so forth. I suggest you use the illegal glass/Teflon slugs that blow up inside a person. Yes, they are quite fatal, but these same slugs are stopped by a wall, and may not fly out of your house and kill someone else. Also learn how guns are easily taken away from you, and why you never want anyone closer than six feet away from you or you MUST shoot them. You need to know you can pull that trigger and you also need to know your life can get very complicated from then on, and you may end up losing everything you own in a lawsuit or even going to jail or prison.
While I used to collect handguns, I don’t recommend them for home use, I suggest you get a shotgun instead, and yes saw it off and put in some buckshot rounds alternating with standard rounds in the chamber. This gives you more options to use.
Non-lethal Weapons
Most of these devices work quite well but have some limitations as noted:
1. Military tear gas (orochlorobenzalmalinonitrate) in a solvent base. Must be sprayed either in the face or in the genital regions to be effective. Incapacitates nearly all people immediately and the effects last 20-30 minutes. Quite inexpensive, about $15.00, but has a limited shelf life. You need to practice using the spray, which has a short range of about 12 feet maximum.
2. Beanbag guns. These are popular with bounty hunters. They take the fight out of almost anyone. They look like a regular flashlight (or torch for you UK guys) and use a blank shotgun round to shoot a beanbag at 300 mph at someone. It will pick a grown man off his feet and knock him backwards several feet. It will typically knock all the fight out of someone for several minutes. Easy to use, don’t look threatening, and you just need to aim it at their chest. They have a short range though and the person needs to be no more than 20 feet away from you.
3. Taser square wave stun guns. These are highly effective weapons that have two rounds. They have a range of about 20 feet and are darts fired by a Taser gun, which sends 50,000+-volt electric charge down the attached wires to the victim. These will even stun someone through heavy clothing. They cause no permanent damage and you can keep someone immobilized with them as long as the dart remains attached. In some areas they require a firearms permit to own and use.
4. Eye Blinders. These are devices that are much like a giant photoflash bulb that literally temporarily blinds a person for a few minutes, even if they have their eyes closed! They are typically expensive (about $300 last time I checked) and they are a one shot deal, although you can buy a new bulb. The victim sees nothing but a giant flashbulb aftereffect until he/she recovers a few minutes later. This gives you plenty of time to get away. Make sure you are not using it where there are mirrors around you, as you will be blinded as well.
5. Pyrotechnic signaling devices. These are completely legal to own and carry but are illegal for the application I’m telling you about. These devices look a bit like an ordinary road flare except they have a pull ring on one end of them. When you pull that ring out, it instantly ignites a very hot and nasty magnesium flare that shoots out of the tube at over 400 mph and expands instantly to about 15 feet in diameter. Of course, getting hit with one of these would not be fun, and would in fact be easily a fatal experience. The advantages are they are dirt cheap (about $3.00 each) and you can buy them at almost any Army surplus store or good sporting goods store. They even have nice designer models that look like expensive fountain pens if you want to have your street sweeper in a nice shiny chrome case!
There are other things I could mention here but now a few thoughts about self-defense. Having studied several different types of martial arts, I have an appreciation for the many benefits of learning self defense but I have to honestly tell you that most types of self defense you learn in schools is not going to give you much of an edge. If you are going to be getting down and dirty with someone, chances are that person isn’t going to be fighting fair and may be using a weapon as well. I learned the best thing to do is to walk away from any confrontation if you can possibly do so. If you are going to be forced to fight, you need to be determined to win, and I mean willing to do what ever it takes to win! This includes popping out eyeballs, breaking kneecaps, breaking windpipes, and hitting other vulnerable parts of the body. If you have managed to get yourself into a situation that you can’t walk away from, you will likely be fighting for your life, so I suggest that if you want to learn how to fight to protect yourself, you want to learn police takedown tactics (often Hopkido) or combat martial arts. If you are a small person, this just may not be enough.
Finally, get help. Never yell “rape” if you are being attacked. If you are in a building yell “FIRE” instead to get help. People are afraid to get involved unless they think their own safety is threatened. Besides that, wouldn’t it be cool to have 5 big burly dudes running your way carrying axes if someone was attacking you?
Well there is much more I can say but I hope something here has been of value.
Your comments and suggestions…
Skipper