Stay Safe!

SELF-PROTECTION TECHNIQUES

by
Mark S. Camp

Police Officer

Black Belt Martial Arts Instructor

Published by Mark Camp & Associates, Inc.

CONTENTS

Is self-defense really necessary?

What is self-defense?

Rules, facts, and states of awareness

Justifying the use of force

Should you fight or be passive?

The Fight-Flight response

Ways to reduce risk

Weapons for self-protection

Creating a Safe Room in your home

Conclusion

© 1997, 1998, 1999 by Mark Camp & Associates, Inc.

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Disclaimers

No self-defense technique or self-protection plan can guarantee complete

immunity from becoming a victim of violent crime. The reader of this
material is responsible for his or her own actions. The author is simply
passing on information regarding methods and techniques for self-defense. It
is up to the reader to use the information presented herein responsibly and to
be familiar with the federal, state, and local laws governing the protection of
life and property as well as the use of force. This text should be used as a
guide to stimulate thinking, further investigation, and encourage study in the
area of self-defense. It is not the ultimate source of material on the subject.

The author shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or
entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to be caused,
directly or indirectly, by the information contained herein. Although the
author is a police officer, this book is not endorsed in any way by any law
enforcement agency.

Is self-defense Really Necessary?

“Prey behavior induces Predator activity.” - Tony Blauer, Blauer Tactical

Systems
You don’t bother other people. You’re kind to others. You’re very trusting of
others.
You read and hear in the news about bad things happening to people but it
never really sinks in that bad things could happen to you. Your neighborhood
looks safe. After all, many nice, professional types live there. Maybe you
have the attitude that self-defense training is for those men who never really
grew up and still want to “play Army” in some militia group while they wait
for the end of the world or the establishment of the New World Order.

The plain, honest truth is that you have a very good chance of becoming a
victim of crime.
Juvenile crime is increasing at an alarming rate. Gang membership is
increasing, not only among the poor sections of our society, but in middle
class and upper class areas all over the country. Drug usage continues to
escalate and so do the rate of burglaries.

Many more people are purchasing alarm systems for their automobiles.
Guess what?
Since the criminals know that more cars have security systems, they have
decided that it is much easier to steal a car right from under the driver instead
of trying to steal a parked car. Ever hear the term “carjacking”?

I recently paid a visit back to my hometown. When I grew up there, we read

about fights every once in a while. The big thing to do in high school was to
see if you could buy a six-pack of beer on a Friday night and go drinking.
The first article I read in the hometown newspaper on my recent visit dealt
with four youths that had been arrested for violating the town’s new anti-gang
laws. The second night another article appeared pertaining to more violations
of the anti-gang law. This is in a sleepy midwestern town of about 30,000
people.

Are you divorced? In a study conducted in 1986 in Philadelphia and

Chicago, researchers found that almost 1/4 of the women killed by their male
partners were separated or divorced from the men who killed them (Casanave
and Zahn, 1986). Women face the greatest chance of being murdered when
trying to end a marriage or leave an abusive relationship.

A 1993 study by Brandeis University showed that women who do not defend
themselves by fighting back are more likely to be raped or harmed than those
who fought back.

The need and ability to protect and defend oneself has become a necessity of
life. Like it or not, your chances are much better today of becoming a victim
of crime than they were 20 or 30 years ago. When I was a boy I used to
hitchhike all the time to get to town. I would be crazy to do that today.

Let’s take a moment and look at some recent crime statistics:

Studies show that 73% of all U.S. women over the age of 12 will be
victimized at some point in their lives - a third of them will be violently raped,
robbed, or assaulted. Canadian statistics from a 1991 study show that 27% of
Canadian women can expect to be sexually assaulted (Metro Action
Committee on Public Violence Against Women and Children,
1991). The statistics on sexual assault continue to increase every year.

According to the FBI’s annual publication, Crime in the United States,

released on November 19, 1995, reported statistics for 1994 showed that:

? 716 violent crimes occurred for every 100,000 inhabitants

? Firearms were used in 31% of the violent crimes? Aggravated assaults
accounted for 60% of violent crimes
? Robberies accounted for 33% of violent crimes
? The value of stolen property in connection with property crimes was $15.1
billion
? Offenses involving offenders under the age of 18 were involved in 14% of
violent crimes
? There were 23,305 reported murders
? 47% of murder victims were acquainted in some way with their assailant
? 102,096 forcible rapes were reported
? 619,000 robberies were reported and 55% of them occurred on streets or
highways
? 1,119,950 aggravated assaults were reported and 32% of them were
committed with blunt objects or dangerous weapons and 24% were
committed with firearms
? 2,700,000 burglaries were reported with 2 out of every 3 being residential
burglaries
? 1,500,000 vehicle thefts were reported or 1 theft for every 130 registered
vehicles

Not defending yourself can lead to several psychological side effects. It is a

terrible feeling to have been attacked or assaulted while doing nothing to
protect yourself. You may not always be able to keep yourself from being a
victim of a crime, but at least by fighting back in self-defense you can know
that you at least tried to stop the attacker and were not easy prey for some
maniac.

There is definitely a need for you to develop a self-protection program! You

buy insurance on your home, automobiles, and your life. You hope you never
have to use it.
But, if need be, the protection is there. Hopefully, you will never have to
defend yourself.
But, should the need arise, be prepared. Invest in “life extension insurance”
as Tony Blauer calls it (Blauer Tactical Systems).

What is Self-defense?
First, let’s talk about what self-defense is not. Most people think of self-
defense in this manner: A bad guy comes after me with a weapon and by
using a few martial arts techniques I can fight him off and get away. If he
really gets nasty I’ll spray him in the face with my pepper spray.
Self-defense is not simply carrying a can of pepper spray to ward off an
attacker. Self-defense is not the process of spending thousands of dollars on
training in the martial arts and spending years in training to become a black
belt. Nor is self-defense being able to scream loudly when grabbed by an
attacker or to set off a portable security alarm when an attack occurs.

Self-defense is a state of mind and a state of living. Self-defense is a lifestyle

that centers on self-protection and self-preservation in the midst of adverse
circumstances. This lifestyle is shown by the way you talk, dress, and carry
yourself.
Someone has said that self-defense is really a study in options: whether to
reduce risks, talk, run, or fight (Tips from the Nashville Police Department on
their Internet web page). A self-defense mindset says, “I know I cannot
eliminate crime and violence, but I do know that I can take steps and put
measures in place to reduce the risks of becoming a victim.”

Self-defense does not mean living your life in fear or being paranoid. Self-
defense means living in a state of awareness of your surroundings so that
when something adverse happens or is about to happen you can take
measures, which are appropriate to counter the event. Living in this state of
awareness means that you have several options available to you at any given
moment. These options may include, but are not limited to, a knowledge of
possible escape routes, the use of security systems, the use of a variety of
non-lethal or lethal weapons, and a knowledge of takedown moves and pain
compliance holds. Living your self-protection plan includes things like
knowing the location of the fire exits at the hotel where you are staying. It
includes carrying an emergency first aid kit in your vehicle.

Self-defense or SELF-PROTECTION is the study of OPTIONS.

Rules, Facts, and States of Awareness?

As you develop your self-defense lifestyle, you need to keep in mind some
basic rules, be familiar with the various states or stages of awareness, and
understand some simple facts.
However, before we go further, let me say a few words regarding violence
and justifiable force.

I do not advocate violence, nor do I advocate ferocious, to the death fighting

as the immediate means of settling a confrontation. You are only justified in
using an equal amount of force to defend yourself against attack. For
example, someone spits in your face and calls your mother a whore. This
does not give you lawful justification to pull out a gun and shoot the person.
In fact, it really doesn’t give you much reason to do anything other than try to
ignore the person or walk away. The fact that someone pushes you does
not necessarily mean that you are justified in using lethal (deadly) force to
counter the attack. In other words, you must have several available options
when it comes to a lifestyle of self-defense. The options must be appropriate
for a variety of situations.

In law enforcement, we cannot use deadly force until we have determined

three things:
Ability, Opportunity, and Jeopardy. In other words, I have to ask myself
these questions:

1. Does the attacker have the ability right here and now to harm me?
2. Does the attacker have a real opportunity to harm me?
3. Am I in jeopardy of receiving serious bodily harm or death right now?

In many instances, the issue of Preclusion must also be addressed. Preclusion

means - Have I exhausted all other possible means available to me to handle
this situation?

A person with a loaded gun, standing 15 feet from me certainly has the ability
to hurt me.
The opportunity is certainly present, and if he shoots me, I would be the
recipient of serious bodily harm or death. However, if I, as a six foot tall, 250
pound male, am confronted by a 17 year old female weighing 90 pounds with
no visible weapons, and the only threat is her screaming “I’m gonna kill you,
you f---ing pig!”, then the situation becomes different.

Granted, this becomes a very subjective area, that is, of trying to figure out
when to use lethal force or when to fight ferociously. I cannot tell you each
and every situation where such force is appropriate. Whatever course of
action you decide to take, you need to be able to defend that action to the
police and to the courts. But not only that, you will have to live (or die) with
the decision you make.

Ferocious fighting and the use of deadly force may be necessary at some
point. You will see what I mean when we talk about the states of awareness
and your established safety zone. But, you are not fighting for your life each
and every time something bad happens to you. If you can avoid the fight, do
so. If you can run away, do so. If you can disable your attacker by spraying
him with pepper spray as opposed to shooting him with a handgun, do so.
Always use the least amount of force necessary to stop or evade the attack.

We will discuss the use of force in more detail later.

The RULES are as follows:

Rule #1: THERE ARE NO RULES WHEN YOUR LIFE IS AT STAKE.

That’s right. In self-defense situations where your health and welfare or the
health and welfare of your loved ones is at stake, there are no rules! There
are, as I stated above, laws regarding how much force can be used to counter
an attack. For example, if someone calls you a yellow-bellied, no-good, low
life coward, you aren’t justified in breaking their arm and gouging out their
eyes. If you weigh 250 pounds and are a lean, mean, six feet tall, you just
can’t beat up the little old lady who carelessly backed into your front fender.
(By the way, one element of the self-defense lifestyle is becoming familiar
with the federal, state, and local laws regarding self-defense.) On the other
hand, when your life or the lives of your loved ones are at stake there is no
such thing as a fair fight.
There is no such thing as the gentlemen’s way to fight. When the attacker has
his knife pulled you don’t wait for him to stab you before you decide to
retaliate. In fact, the decision should have been made before he pulled the
knife!

When someone is attacking you and your health and welfare is at stake, you
do whatever it takes to get away, stop the attack, and/or disable the attacker.
If that means kicking, biting, scraping the face with your fingernails, grabbing
the groin and pulling as hard as you can, crushing the windpipe, breaking the
kneecap, or snapping an elbow, you do it.
You do what it takes to preserve your life and health as well as the life and
health of your loved ones. And, you do not stop until the attack is over. Be a
savage. Do not hold back. Don’t say to yourself, “Well, I’ll just slap him
and hopefully that will stop the attack.” Instead, tell yourself, “I will do
whatever it takes to disable this attacker and save my life and I’ll worry about
sorting it all out after the attack is over and I am safe.”

My personal motto regarding situations in which my life is at stake is, “It is

better to be judged by twelve than to be carried by six.” When it comes
down to my personal health and welfare, and the health and welfare of those I
love, and, death or grave injury is imminent, I would rather take my chances
with a jury of my peers than be carried out of the funeral home by six
pallbearers. I do not ask you to adopt this motto as your own, but I think it
gives you the gist of what I am saying.

Your ultimate goal is not to kill the attacker, although that may happen. Your
ultimate goal is not to hurt the attacker, although that may happen. Your
ultimate goal can be summed up in one word: SURVIVAL!

RULE #2: DEAL WITH THREATENING SITUATIONS IMMEDIATELY.

Given all the factors involved, you have a better chance of surviving an attack
of some type if you deal with the threat immediately. For example: You are a
female, driving by yourself at night, in a bad part of town. (We won’t go into
why you were there in the first place. You may have had good reason to be
there. You may not have.) Your doors aren’t locked and you roll up to a
stoplight. While you are waiting, a man jumps into the back seat of your car,
grabs you by the hair, puts a knife to your throat and tells you to drive off to
some secluded spot or someplace that you have never even heard of. He may

even try to win your trust by saying something like, “Just do what I say and I
won’t hurt you.” Yeah, right. You are now faced with an immediate decision
- to drive off and comply with his wishes or immediately deal with the threat.

Remember this: The longer you stay with your attacker, the more chance you
have of being hurt or killed. The further you get away from familiar territory,
the more chance you have of being hurt or killed. The closer you get to an
isolated area, the more chance you have of being hurt or killed. Yes, you may
well get hurt or killed if you decide to deal with the threat immediately. That
is a real possibility. However, your chances of losing your life or suffering
serious physical and mental harm are much less if you deal with the
situation right now and not later. Something else to remember: Unless the
attacker has killed you, you still have options.

On a related note - NEVER GET INTO A VEHICLE AND DRIVE

AWAY WITH YOUR ATTACKER! If you are walking to your car, for
example, and someone approaches you and orders you to drive them away,
you should throw your keys as far away as possible and then kick, bite, tear,
scream, or whatever it takes to try and get away. But DO NOT get in the car.
If you get in that car you have exponentially increased the likelihood that you
are not coming back. You have signed your own death certificate.

RULE #3: ONCE YOU COMMIT TO ACTION, DO NOT STOP UNTIL

THE ATTACK IS OVER OR UNTIL YOU CAN GET AWAY.

There will come a point in every threat at which you must make the final
decision to act or not act. For some people, the decision to act is made when
the threatening person steps within arm’s distance. For some people, the
“safety zone” is an area five feet from the body. However, if the attacker is
25 feet away and pulls a knife, a decision to act needs to be made
immediately since the attacker can close the distance of 25 feet in less than
two seconds. For others, the decision is made when they are physically
touched by someone else. However, once you make the decision to commit
to action, DO NOT STOP UNTIL THE ATTACK IS OVER OR UNTIL
YOU GET AWAY. If you decide to lash out at the attacker and kick him in
the shin in hopes of disabling him by breaking his leg don’t just kick once and
give up. Kick until the leg is broken and the attacker is disabled or until the
attacker runs away or until you can get away.

You must make the decision to act quickly. A delay of even a few hundredths
of a second can make the difference between life and death, escape or injury.
As soon as the realization hits you that you are about to be attacked, mugged,
injured or raped, you must act and deal with the situation.

Keep in mind that in most instances your attacker does not expect you to take
quick, decisive action. He assumes that you will submit. By suddenly
making the decision to react and then doing so violently, you have the
elements of shock and surprise in your favor.

A half-hearted defense will get you killed more easily than a full-blown, no
holds barred defense.

States of Awareness

Let’s talk for a moment about States of Awareness. When you have adopted
the self-defense lifestyle, you will find that you are always in one of five
possible states of awareness. The particular state of awareness you are in
determines what level of self-defense you are prepared to use at that
particular time. Some people only teach four states of awareness but I have
adopted a five-stage model. I believe the five-stage model is better suited for
the law-abiding citizen who is not a member of the military or law
enforcement establishment.

These states of awareness are:

Condition WHITE
Condition YELLOW
Condition ORANGE
Condition RED
Condition BLACK

Condition WHITE: This is the lowest stage or state of awareness or

readiness. At this level you are basically relaxed and comfortable in your
surroundings. Your guard is down. For the moment there is no trouble
imminent and you really aren’t prepared to deal with trouble should it arise.
You have not forgotten about self-protection, but there is nothing at the
moment that leads you to believe you need to be in a heightened self-
defense mode. An example of this may be that you are in your home on a
Sunday afternoon watching a sporting event or movie on television. You are
in your home, it’s a nice, sunny day outside, you’ve just had lunch, and you
have kicked back to relax in your easy chair.
Condition YELLOW: At this level you are not necessarily expecting trouble
but you are in a state of “relaxed awareness.” Your senses are on the alert.
Your guard is up just in case something was to happen. An example would be
a situation in which you are in a new town on business. You are not familiar
with the area around the hotel and so your awareness level is heightened so
that you are not surprised by anything. You’ve checked the floor you are on
for the exits and other possible escape routes. When the elevator door opens
you do not immediately jump in, rather you give a quick scan for anything or
anyone that looks unusual or out of place.

Here is an important note regarding Condition YELLOW: Whenever you are

armed with a defensive weapon, particularly a firearm, you must, at a
minimum, be in Condition YELLOW. You don’t want your weapon taken
from you by surprise, nor do you want to incur an accidental discharge (or
negligent discharge) because you were negligent in handling the weapon.

Condition ORANGE: At this level, something has happened that has given
you cause for alarm and your senses are keenly aware of your surroundings -
not only the environment, but the people as well. You are ready to proceed
with protective action should the condition worsen. An example of this
would be a situation in which you are walking from your office to your car in
the parking garage. It is late at night and the garage is fairly empty. As you
come out of the office building and into the parking garage, you notice three
youths standing about halfway down the garage, just past the elevator.
They are dressed in leather jackets or NFL warm-up jackets and has red
bandannas tied around their arms. They have not made any move towards
you so there is no attack in progress. However, you are now calling your
self-protection tactics to mind. You are running over your alternatives in your
mind and accessing the situation.

Do you go back into the building and ask a security guard to walk you to your
car? Do you reach into your purse and get your pepper spray ready? Do you
reach your hand under your sport coat, flip open the retaining strap on your
gun holster and place your hand on your .38 Special revolver for which you
have a concealed carry permit? In other words, you are not relaxed, you
realize that something is out of place, and you do not just walk blindly to the
elevator. These fellows could just be hanging out in the garage and maybe
won’t do anything to you at all. However, you are assuming the worst and
are planning accordingly. You maintain eye contact with the subjects.

Condition RED: At this stage, the attack is in the process of starting or has
already started. You have encountered someone whom you believe has the
ability and opportunity to harm or kill you. It is time to pull out the stops and
get into high gear with whatever means is at your disposal. Using the
example above, for whatever reason you decided to go towards the elevator
and get to your car. After all, you are late for that dinner date. As you reach
the elevator, one of the youths comes over and starts to raise his hands
toward you. He has entered your safety zone. He starts to grab your left arm.

Now is the time to go into action to take those measures, which will stop the
attack and/or repel the attacker. Your goal here is to stop the attack and get
away.

Note: The moment you noticed the individual coming towards you, you
should have started your defense. When possible, always take the advantage
by taking the offense, not the defense. You should have shouted for him to
stop, warned him to stay away, or immediately turned and ran back towards
the building. The old saying, “He who hesitates loses,” is very true.
Condition BLACK: The main difference between RED and BLACK is that at
the level of Condition BLACK, your very life is at stake. Unless you take
decisive action, you will be killed. You have perceived that death is
imminent. Condition BLACK always exists, in my opinion, when multiple
assailants confront you. (It can obviously exist with only one assailant, it just
exists quicker when there are multiple assailants. In many jurisdictions you
also have more justification for using lethal force when there are multiple
assailants.)

To continue the example from Condition RED, another one of the two
remaining youths has pulled a gun and is coming towards you. You now have
not just one assailant, you have two and the third may not be far behind. At
this point you decide that it is either them or you. You reach under your coat
with your free hand, draw the .38 and fire twice - once at the fellow coming
towards you with the gun and once at the fellow grabbing you. The fellow
who grabbed you falls to the pavement as he is shot. You missed the
approaching attacker, but as he sees his companion in crime fall to the ground
dead he decides to run. The third youth also runs. The attack has ended and
you are left alive. You cannot, by the way, and by law, run after the other
attackers and shoot them.

These then, are the five states of awareness. You will always be in one of
these five stages. It is possible for them to take place in very rapid
succession. Hopefully, you will never find yourself in a RED or BLACK
condition. However, if you do, remember the
rules.

Facts

When you adopt the self-protection lifestyle, there are certain facts that you
must come to grips with. We have touched upon a couple of these facts but
we need to explain them in detail.

Fact #1: You can be a victim of crime.

We have already stated that your chances are very good of becoming a victim
of crime. Each day you live increases your chances of being a criminal’s
target. We are not always talking about violent crime. You may be the victim
of a purse-snatcher, a burglar, a hit and run driver, a terrorist, a rapist, and
even a victim of a con man. So, be prepared.
Remember - have a variety of options for a variety of situations.

Fact #2: You cannot eliminate crime but you can reduce your risks.

Until the world comes to an end there will be criminals. You can’t wish them
away. You can’t shut your eyes and pretend that they don’t exist. However,
you have the ability to reduce the risk of becoming a crime victim.
Obviously, there is nothing that can guarantee you that you will never be a
victim or that you will never be hurt by a criminal.
But, there are definite steps that you can take and procedures that you can
implement to reduce risk.

Fact #3: When exercising self-defense, accept the fact that you may get hurt.

Which would you prefer? To have your throat slashed and bleed to death, or,
receive a big gash in your arm but live? To be raped and catch the AIDS
virus, or, suffer a broken arm but live? People who fight get injured. If you
have an attacker who has a knife, unless you have superior knife defense
skills, you can expect to get cut.

You might think that if you don’t resist you won’t get hurt. Granted,
sometimes the best option is to offer no resistance. However, statistics show
that 55% of people who offer no resistance get injured anyway! Accept the
fact that you can be hurt and probably will be hurt to some degree. And, if
you are going to be hurt, it may as well be while you are fighting for your life
rather than while you are doing nothing.

As a police officer, I have been hurt several times. None have been critical
injuries. As a simple example, my thumbs are weak. Inevitably, every time I
have to restrain and control someone with any degree of soft hand controls,
one of my thumbs gets jammed or sprained. I know it before it ever happens.
But, I cannot let that keep me from doing what I have to do. I will worry
about the injury after all is said and done.

Fact #4: There are times when no resistance is acceptable.

When training children in Martial Arts, we teach them the principle of ARF -
Avoid, Run, and Fight. In other words, avoid trouble in the first place. Make
every effort to stay out of troubled situations. However, if you find yourself
in a bad situation, and you can get away from it, do so. Run, walk, crawl, or
whatever to get away and stay away. There is no dishonor in walking away
from a fight or running away as fast as you can. There is nothing wrong with
using what we call in law enforcement “verbal judo” to talk your way out of a
situation.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of living. A thief comes up to you and
wants your money. You’ve got $40 in your wallet. Is your life worth losing
over $40? Credit cards can be canceled and replaced. You can get another
Drivers License. You can always take more pictures of your wife and
children. You can’t get another life. However, if worse comes to worse, be
prepared and willing to fight.

Fact #5: Do not assume that others will come to your aid in time of need.

Most people don’t want to get involved, especially when there is a crime in
progress. This is one reason why defense mechanisms such as screaming,
blowing a whistle, or setting off one of those carry-along alarms don’t work
very well. Not many people will respond to them. The police usually show
up after the incident is over or at least well after it is started. It’s up to you to
protect yourself and the only person you can count on to help you is you.

Fact #6: The outcome of any attack is usually decided within 7-10 seconds of
the start of the attack.

Given this statistical fact, your methods of self-defense must be quick and
decisive. Let’s say you have decided that carrying a police whistle is one of
the methods you will employ in self-defense. The whistle is in your pocket or
purse. Maybe it is on your key ring but you aren’t walking with your keys in
your hand. Blowing a whistle can take up to 15-20 seconds depending on
how quickly you can access the whistle and whether or not you can
actually blow it. By the time you blow the whistle, your attacker is on top of
you, has ripped the whistle from your hands, knocked you to the pavement,
and kicked the living daylights out of you. Your self-defense responses must
be quick and decisive.
Keep in mind that a quick and decisive reaction may be to run and get the
heck out of where you are. That is certainly a viable option to staying and
fighting. In fact, if you can be successful at it, running away is a much better
alternative to staying and fighting it out. If you choose to run, do it
immediately without hesitation.

Justifying the use of Force?

The justification as to the use of force will vary from state to state. It is
imperative that you become familiar with the laws in your state regarding the
use of force. However, for the purposes of the discussion here, I will refer to
the laws of the State of Georgia. The 1996 edition of the Georgia Criminal
and Traffic Law Manual, section 16-3-21 (a),
page 84 states:
A person is justified in threatening or using force against another when and
to the extent that he reasonably believes that such threat or force is
necessary to defend himself or a third person against such other’s imminent
use of unlawful force; however, a person is justified in using force which is
intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he reasonably
believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury
to himself or a third person or to prevent the commission of a forcible
felony. In other words, you must have sufficient reason to believe that
someone is about to use force against you or a third person in order to use
force against him or her. You can only use “deadly force” when you have
reason to believe that “deadly force” is going to be used against you or a third
person. The fact that someone looks like a “hood” or troublemaker does not
give you sufficient cause to start shooting or take the offensive to attack. The

other person(s) must be doing something or acting in some way that gives you
reasons to believe that you are in trouble.

This same section of the Code also gives situations when a person is NOT
justified in using force. These are basically summarized as follows:

1. You cannot justify the use force if you provoked the other individual to use
force against you.

2. You cannot justify the use of force if you are attempting to commit, are
committing, or are running away after the commission of a felony.
3. You cannot justify the use of force if you were the aggressor or were
engaged in “combat by agreement” unless you withdrawal from the encounter
and clearly communicate to the other person(s) that you are withdrawing.

The use of force is a gray area in many instances. Juries must often make
decisions on the philosophy of what a “reasonable and prudent” person would
have done in a given situation. You will need to carefully assess each
situation you encounter as to whether or not the use of force is justified.

Should You Fight or be Passive? ?

The issue of being passive in an attack or trying to fight off the attacker has
always been debated in self-defense circles. This question is usually debated
when the subject of rape arises. Should a woman try to fight her attacker, or
should she passively give in and hope to survive the nightmarish ordeal?

If you are a woman and find yourself in this situation, you will have to make
your own choice as to what to do. However, given the fact that 55% of
victims who offer no resistance end up getting injured anyway, and given that
deadly sexual diseases are so easily transmitted today, my opinion would be
to fight. Your life is at stake.

Let’s talk for a minute about the difference between fighting and resisting.
While there are similarities, there are definite differences. When someone
resists, they usually do so by trying to twist away, pull away, or scream for
help. When people try to resist they are usually on the defensive and are
already in the grips of the attacker. Chances are, by the time you try to resist,
it is too late. For example, if someone has a knife at your throat and
you try to resist by screaming for help, what do you think the attacker will
do? He is not going to just drop his hands and run away. He is going to
slash your throat in an effort to shut you up.

However, the victim who fights is different. The fighter takes the offensive
and most likely will not wait until the attacker has a hold on them. The
minute an assailant breaks the “safe zone” the fighter takes the initiative and
realizes that Condition RED (and possibly Condition BLACK) has just been
entered. The fighter kicks, bites, scratches, gouges, jabs, pokes, and does
anything else possible with the intention of disabling the attacker and ending
the attack.
In 1995, Mareva Brown, a staff writer for The Sacramento Bee, wrote an
article about whether or not a woman should fight back against a potential
rapist. The point of her article is to answer “question women have been
wanting to know for decades: Are women who fight raped less frequently
than women who remain passive are?” Brown concludes, “The answer is
yes.”

Citing a study of Sacramento area rapes done by the Bee, Brown says that
“only 29 percent of women assaulted during The Bee’s study period resisted
their attackers, either by punching and kicking, by fleeing or by screaming
loudly for a sustained period of time.
Of those women, 63 percent got away without being raped. Of the 71
percent of women who didn’t fight, only 8 percent escaped without being
raped.” However, the debate continues to rage over this issue. Brown goes
further in her article to show that the experts simply do not agree:

Without being able to tell the kind of rapist she’s facing, a victim cannot
assess her odds, according to Rob Freeman-Longo, co-director of The
Safer Society, a national research, advocacy and referral center on the
prevention and treatment of sexual abuse. Equally important, he said, a
woman needs to be able to honestly assess her ability to put up a serious
fight.

“In many cases (fighting) may work,” he said. “But it’s Russian roulette.
And in one case you may fight back only to find yourself injured or
Dead.When you’re dealing with a stranger, you have no sense of this person’s
ability.”

California’s top Department of Justice criminal profiler, Mike Prodan, has

studied thousands of rapes in hopes of helping local law enforcement
agencies crack tough serial cases. He is frequently asked whether he thinks
women should fight. His answer is deliberately evasive. “A victim is going
to get hurt, whether she resists or not — unless she gets away,” he said.

For years, Prodan and rape experts have dodged the question, not wanting
to advocate fighting only to have a victim who fights back end up dead or
seriously injured. But, as Brown writes, fighting is not always possible and,
indeed, the woman who is prepared to fight may suddenly find herself frozen
with fear and unable to remember any
training. She says:
... even the best-prepared victim may not respond as she expects. [Take]
the example of six policewomen who ... were attacked in different
circumstances by strangers in their homes. In every case, the women said
they forgot their training and relied solely on instinct to help them survive.
None of them fought their attackers.

“It’s a biological reaction to fear: We fight, flight or freeze,” said Sharon

Kennedy, a sexual assault counselor at Sacramento’s WEAVE (Women
Escaping a Violent Environment). “How do we know we don’t
automatically choose the perfect one anyway? When we decide ahead of
time how we’re going to react, we don’t know the situation.”

So, should you fight or be passive? Only you can make the decision. This
dilemma faces not only women, it is very real for men as well. If you decide
to be a fighter, prepare yourself, and when Condition RED begins, convert
your fear into anger.

The Fight-Flight Response?

The natural reaction to a threat situation is to fight, run away, or freeze due to
fear. This reaction has been called many things over the years but the popular
term now is the “Fight-Flight Response.” When confronted by a threat,
bodily changes take place, which are designed to help you survive the attack
or threat.

We won’t go into all the scientific discussions regarding how these bodily
reactions take place. Some of the reactions that occur are:

Heart rate soars

Blood pressure rises
Breathing becomes rapid
Large blood vessels in the muscles dilate supplying blood rich in oxygen
Sugar is released into the blood in large quantity providing extra fuel Large
muscles begin to twitch, particularly in the neck and shoulder areas
Goose bumps appear on the skin which makes hair stand up
Eyesight and hearing improve dramatically (* but see note later)
Thinking and reasoning diminish because blood flow to the brain is
reduced
There is a decreased sensitivity to pain
Palms become sweaty and the skin may become clammy
 Time distorts - it seems to either speed up or go into slow motion
Perception of things distorts as well
Adrenaline surges

What is happening is that your body is preparing itself to survive and is

sending more power or energy to those areas of the body needed for fight or
flight and less energy to the more passive areas such as the brain. Thus, when
in a survival situation, you tend to operate based upon reflex and reaction as
opposed to carefully thought out plans.

In other words, if you have trained yourself over and over to react a certain
way, your “muscle memory” will take over in the survival situation and cause
you to merely react without thinking. You know something is happening, but
you may not be able to figure out why. Thus, continual repetition in training
is a key to surviving a threat. Experts tell us that it takes about 5,000-10,000
repetitions of a task or movement before it becomes automatic. In the martial
arts we call this “mind - no mind.”

All of this explains the phenomena that we have all heard about such as
where the 70 year-old grandmother lifts up a car to get the tire off a toddler.
Or the soldier in combat who runs through a hail of gunfire retrieving one
wounded buddy after another and then can’t recall what happened after the
incident is over. It also explains why the two foot harmless garter snake in
your garden ends up being a six foot timber rattler when you later
remember being scared by it.

Many people say they cannot recall seeing or hearing anything or anyone in
the midst of a survival situation. Yet, we know for a fact that eyesight and
hearing improve drastically.
The reason for the apparent contradiction is explained by one word - focus.
In the threat situation, your body becomes so focused on the threat that the
mind does not register other things that go on around you. While the eyesight
is better, it is also a tunnel vision because the eyes have focused so heavily on
the threat. It is because of this focus that you must train yourself to scan for
multiple threats or multiple escape routes. You must train yourself to be
cognizant of not just what is in front of you, but also of what is behind and
beside you.

There is not a lot that you can do to control these various reactions that take
place at the moment of a survival threat. However, there is one important
element that you can control - breathing. That’s right, breathing. In the
martial arts we constantly stress breath control. Controlling your breathing
enables you to bring some of this power surge under control and enables you
to slow down a bit so that you can think more clearly.

Learning to control your breathing takes practice. It must be done over and
over and over. The process goes like this:

Sit in a comfortable position in a quiet place

Place the palms or your hands on your thighs
Close your eyes
Breathe in through your nose for a slow count of four
Hold your breath for a count of two
Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of four
Hold for a count of two
Repeat the process

Try to start out by doing this for two-three minutes and gradually work
yourself up to ten, fifteen, or even twenty minutes. Make sure you focus on
your breathing while doing the exercises. Listen to yourself count in your
mind - one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four one
thousand, etc.

Then, when you are faced with a threat situation or sense the possibility for
one to occur, simply start the controlled breathing process. And, when the
situation is over, go through a session of controlled breathing so that you have
time to let the adrenaline rush subside.

I was recently involved in having to arrest a subject who decided to violently

resist arrest. My partner had initially confronted the subject at the top of
stairway as he approached her with an aluminum baseball bat clenched in
both hands. My partner got the bat away from the subject but had only been
able to toss it a few feet away. As I approached the top of the stairs, the
perpetrator had my partner pinned against the wall. My partner had been
able to get one handcuff on the perp’s left wrist, but, the he had broken free
and was now swinging his left arm with a handcuff flailing around. I wear
glasses so I wasn’t too fond of seeing a handcuff swinging near my face. My
hands were trying to control his right arm as well as apply some pressure
point tactics to get him to comply. The only way for me to go was down
because I was standing on the very top step.

As we struggled with the subject, I could feel the adrenaline rush. My

stomach twisted up in knots as the thought of falling backwards became very
real when the subject shoved me once with his right arm and shoulder almost
sending me down the stairs backwards. I was considering my options very
quickly at this point. I could spray him with pepper gas, but that would
contaminate not only the perp but my partner and me as well because of the
close proximity. In addition, the perp’s two children were at the bottom of
the stairs and they would feel the effects of the gas as well.

I finally took some decisive action to get the subject to comply and was
finally able to get him cuffed, down the stairs, and out to the patrol car.
However, in the midst of all this, I had managed to tell my dispatcher that a
fight was in progress. Later, the dispatcher asked me why I gave her the
information so calmly over the radio. I asked what she meant and she said
that I had said very calmly and quietly, “Signal 29, Radio.” She said
she could not understand why I was not excited.

As I looked back, I realized that at the moment I began considering my

options, I had also started controlling my breathing. Even though my stomach
was in knots, sweat was pouring down my face and into my eyes, and my
forearms felt like they would fall off any second, I had managed to control my
breathing so that I could think clearly and assess my options, as well as give
clear information to my dispatcher. As I looked back, I realized that in just a
few short seconds, I had mentally went through my list of options and legal
consequences, and was able to make a wise decision to end the situation.

Ways to Reduce Risk ?

There are many things you can do to reduce the possibility of your becoming
a victim of crime. Actually, you may have already been doing many of these
things and may have unknowingly thwarted attempts to make you a victim.
Without re-inventing the wheel, I have taken these tips from a pamphlet
entitled Refuse to be a Victim, published by the National Rifle Association,
11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030.

This is by no means an inducement to get you to join the NRA, nor is it a

ploy to get you to buy a gun. These are very good, common sense tips on
reducing your risks. Should you desire further information on Refuse to be a
Victim seminars, you may call 1-800-861-1166.
Ways to Reduce Risk

Consider installing a home security system. A home alarm can be an effective

deterrent to criminal intruders. A variety of systems are available, ranging
from inexpensive, battery-operated door models to monitored, motion
detecting systems costing several thousand dollars.

Never open your door to a stranger. Criminals can get a good look at you and
your home by posing as a door-to-door salesperson, a neighbor who has lost a
pet, or a floral deliverer at the wrong address.

Install a wide-angle door viewer. These are inexpensive aids for identifying
people at your doorstep. If children are allowed to open the door under
certain circumstances, install a second viewer at your child's height. Never
tell stranger that you are home alone. If they ask for your husband or the man
of the house, tell them he is taking a nap and cannot be disturbed.

Do not broadcast your plans in public where others can overhear. Burglars
can use this information to determine whether your home might be an easy
target in your absence.

Keep your house or apartment well lit. Use exterior sensory night-lights and
interior lights plugged into timers to create the illusion of an occupied home at
all times.

Do not leave windows open or uncovered. Prevent casual observers from

looking directly into your home. During the day, draw drapes or position
blinds to allow only enough light for plants. At night, cover your windows
completely.

Keep trees and shrubbery around your home well trimmed. Overgrown
bushes and trees often provide excellent hiding places for criminals.

Plant "defensive" shrubbery around your home, especially beneath windows.

Bushes that feature thorns or stiff, spiky leaves are not good hiding places for
criminals.

When moving into a house or apartment, always change or re-key the locks
or have the tumblers reset. Otherwise, the previous resident -- and anyone
they supplied keys to - has unrestricted access to your home.
Never hide an extra key under a mat, in a flowerpot, or in any other easily
accessible place. Criminals know all the hiding places.

Lock your doors when working in your yard, attic, laundry room or any place
away from your home's entry areas. While you are busy elsewhere, burglars
could easily enter your home unnoticed.

Do not give information to strangers on the telephone. Thieves often target

homes using information obtained from "telephone surveys."

If you use an answering machine, do not announce your name and number as
part of the message. Avoid giving criminals any information about you. A
common mistake is revealing your exact whereabouts in a message.

Consider keeping a separate line or cellular phone as a security device.

Taking one phone off the hook renders other units on that line inoperable.
Using a separate line or cellular phone in your bedroom is a good precaution.

Never give important information like travel plans or credit card numbers
using a cellular phone. For fewer than one hundred dollars, anyone can buy
scanning equipment and listen in on your cellular phone conversations.

Always have your keys out and ready before leaving a building to approach
your car.
Fumbling through your purse for keys after you've reached your car provides
criminals an excellent opportunity to sneak up on you.

Look around and in your car before entering. If you are concerned for any
reason, simply walk past your car instead of getting into it.

Use a two-piece key ring with your car keys separate from your other
important keys.
Give parking valets or mechanics your car keys only. Supplying your entire
set of keys
creates an opportunity for duplicates to be made.

If your car has tinted windows, use the reflection to scan the area to either
side and behind you. By being alert to your surroundings you could avoid a
potentially dangerous situation.
Lock your car door immediately after entering the vehicle. Make this your
first action - even before putting the key into the ignition.

Check you surroundings before getting out of your car. If something or

someone strikes you as out of place or threatening, drive away.

If you are involved in an accident, stay in your car until police arrive. In
minor accidents where the other driver suggests you exchange insurance
information, simply hold up your driver license and consider acquiring a
cellular phone. Using a cellular phone is an effective means of
keeping help close at hand during accidents, breakdowns, or other roadside
emergencies.

If you are accosted in a parking lot, away from your own vehicle, consider
rolling underneath a nearby auto. It is difficult to force anyone out from
under a car.

Make a practice of filling up your vehicle when your gas tank is about half
empty.
Never let it get so low that you are forced to stop for fuel, particularly at night
in an area with which you are unfamiliar.

Lock your car and take your keys when you get out to pump gas. Leaving the
door
unlocked and the keys in the ignition invites a carjacking.

Never pick up hitchhikers. It is never safe to have a stranger in your car.

Maintain your personal space. Stay alert! If a person moves inside your
comfort zone, move away. If that person persists, run.

Be alert when leaving stores or shopping malls. This is a time when criminals
know you are carrying cash, checkbooks, credit cards, or valuable
merchandise.

Don't use ATMs at night, or in unfamiliar or unsafe surroundings. This is

another time when criminals know you are carrying cash.

Avoid filling your arms with packages. You might have to make more trips,
but keep one arm and hand free whenever possible.
Avoid stairwells in parking garages. Try walking down the auto ramp
instead. As long as you watch for cars, the ramp is much safer.

When on the street, walk facing oncoming traffic. A person walking with
traffic can be followed, forced into a car, and abducted more easily than a
person walking against
traffic.

If asked for directions by a driver, stay far enough away from the car that you
can turn and run easily. An alternative is to simply state, "I don't know" and
keep walking.

When friends drop you off at home or work, ask them to wait until you are
safely inside before leaving. Extend this courtesy to your own friends when
driving them to a destination. If you are on an elevator and someone
threatening gets on, quickly step off the elevator. Otherwise, press several
buttons for upcoming floors and get off at your first opportunity. (Do not
press the STOP button.)

Approach with extreme caution any entryway where normal lighting is not
functioning. Removing, unscrewing, or breaking bulbs in such places is a
common tactic of criminals.

Carry several one-dollar bills folded inside a ten-dollar bill. If accosted in a

robbery, you can throw the "chump change" several feet away and the robber
may scramble after it, Consider taking a self-defense course. A wide variety
of courses are offered for self-defense and each should be considered
carefully for relevance to your own personal situation.

Choose a personal protection device best suited to your situation. Personal

protection devices range from sophisticated alarms for your home and car to
defensive sprays and key chains you can carry in your purse.

Make an informed choice about firearm ownership. Firearm ownership is a

deeply personal and profound decision.

Personal safety is not always convenient. You must consciously integrate the
options you choose into everyday life until good habits are formed.

In addition to the tips given above, there are also some additional things you
can do to reduce your risk:

1. Beware of people selling door-to-door in your neighborhood. The days of

door-to-door sales are over. Except in rare instances, it really isn’t done
anymore, particularly in urban and suburban areas. These vendors often case
out your home while trying to sell you excess fruit they got a bargain on or
super stereo speakers that are being closed out or gold club memberships.
While giving you the pitch at your front door, they may be taking
a quick look around to see if you have a security system, an easy front door to
jimmy open, looking to see if you have a dog, etc. Tell them you are not
interested and shut the door. You are under no obligation to listen to their
pitch or to be nice to them.

2. Criminals prefer easy targets. The more difficult a target you present, the
less likely you are to become a victim. If you look like an easy target, you
probably are an easy target. Carry yourself with confidence. Keep your head
up and shoulders back.
Remember the quote by Tony Blauer, “Prey behavior induces predator
activity.”

3. Don’t look at the pavement when you walk. Make eye contact with
strangers on the street. I recall reading somewhere that only two types of
people make eye contact on the street - crazy people or police. Criminals
don’t really want to mess with either.

4. If you do things that make you stand out in a crowd you are a likely target.
Remember to maintain a low profile, particularly target. Carry yourself with
confidence. Keep your head up and shoulders back.
Remember the quote by Tony Blauer, “Prey behavior induces predator
activity.”

3. Don’t look at the pavement when you walk. Make eye contact with
strangers on the street. I recall reading somewhere that only two types of
people make eye contact on the street - crazy people or police. Criminals
don’t really want to mess with either.

4. If you do things that make you stand out in a crowd you are a likely target.
Remember to maintain a low profile, particularly in unfamiliar areas.

5. Don’t wear jewelry or clothing that screams “Steal me!”. You want to
blend in with the crowd and not draw attention to yourself. With the same
thought in mind, watch what kind of clothes you wear in areas where gangs
may hang out. Walking through a neighborhood in an NFL warm-up jacket
could get you shot if that is not the jacket or colors of the gang that “owns the
turf.” It’s better to be alive than cool. It’s better to be safe than trendy.

6. Finally, PLAN in advance. Make sure you have enough cash on hand for
your trip. Make sure you have good batteries in your flashlight. Have a map
of the area you are driving in so that you can find your way without having to
ask someone for directions.
Get gas during daylight hours. Plan, plan, plan.

Weapons for Self-protection?

The purpose of this booklet is not to convince you one way or the other about
firearm ownership. You do not necessarily have to own a firearm in order to
have self-defense weapons available to you. We are going to mention several
possible weapons. However, people always want to know whether or not I
believe in gun ownership.

Personally, I used to believe that gun ownership by law-abiding citizens was

unnecessary. I bought into the arguments of the gun control groups who
advocated doing away with high capacity magazines, automatic weapons,
handguns, etc. However, the more I thought through the issue, several key
items came to mind that has since changed my opinion.

First, the police (of which I am one) usually arrive after a crime is committed,
not before or during the commission of a crime. Even if you have a top of the
line home security system for example, the thief is already in your house
before the police are notified.
Depending on where you live and who has jurisdiction for patrolling your
area, it could take several minutes for a police officer to arrive on the scene.
Let me give you a real life example of this.

A woman called a city police department to report that she heard someone
downstairs in her home. After all, she lived in the city limits (or so she
thought) so she should call the city police, right? She was in the second floor
bedroom. When the dispatcher looked at the address of the house, he
realized that this house was in county jurisdiction, not municipal jurisdiction.
All of the other houses on the street were in the city but this woman happened
to be in the county. The dispatcher immediately notified the county police
dispatcher but went ahead and sent a city officer anyway. The city officer
arrived on the scene in less than a minute and a half caught the burglar and a
violent crime was avoided. Eight minutes later a county officer showed up.
What if the city officer had not been there? The burglar could have done a lot
of harm in the time it took for the county officer to show up. I am not faulting
the county officer by the way. The county territory is much larger and takes
longer to get from point A to point B.

Personally, I think that while the woman did the right thing by calling police
and staying in the bedroom on the phone with the dispatcher, in addition, she
could have increased her safety had she also had a 12-gauge shotgun in her
hands while she was on the phone.

Second, firearms are being used in more crimes by more criminals and
especially by younger criminals than ever before. Gun control keeps guns out
of the hands of law-abiding citizens, not out of the hands of criminals. If a
criminal wants a gun, he can easily obtain one regardless of the law.

Third, people will shoot you for no good reason. We’ve all heard of
shootings such as the one by teenage boys who shot the victim because they
wanted his gym shoes! Not long ago I read an article, in which a police
officer was relating facts about a murder that took place one Christmas Eve.
One family member shot another as a result of an argument as to which
ornament went on top of the Christmas tree- the angel or the star! For many
people in our society life has no value. Fourth, and finally, the Constitution of
the United States by virtue of the Second Amendment gives me the right to
keep and bear arms. I have come to believe that an armed society is a polite
society.

But, the coin has two sides. I do not think convicted felons or people with a
history of mental instability should be able to own guns. I do believe that law
abiding citizens who value life should be able to own and carry firearms,
including handguns, and should be able to carry them concealed, anytime and
any place. However, law-abiding citizens, in my opinion, should be
responsible about gun ownership. This means taking a gun safety course and
becoming intimately familiar with the weapon(s) of choice. It means
practicing at the range on a regular (weekly, minimum monthly) basis so that
one becomes proficient with the gun. It means keeping guns out of the reach
of children. It means teaching gun safety to children. It means not mixing
alcohol, drugs, and guns. And, it means that if you can’t control yourself, you
certainly can’t control a gun.

As was said earlier, the issue of owning a firearm is a personal one. I respect
your right to choose either way. Now, having said all of that, let’s talk about
other weapons that you can use to protect yourself. We’ll talk first about a
very basic self-defense strategy as it pertains to where and how to attack your
assailant. Then, we’ll discuss various items, including your body, that can be
used as weapons.

Where to attack your assailant

Some time ago, I took a very short class with a martial arts instructor who cut
right to the chase in self-defense. In fact, the class lasted about 45 minutes
and was really an impromptu demonstration of self-defense at a social
gathering in our subdivision. What the instructor taught was very brief, easy
to remember, and it worked. This is not the only way, it is an OPTION for
your “toolbox.”

Do you remember the movie character, E.T.? Well, think of your attack
techniques as E.T. Grows Skin. Look at it like this:

E. Eyes
T. Throat
G. Groin
S. Skin or Shins

ETGS represents four vital areas of your assailant’s body upon which you
defense attacks should be focused.

Eyes and areas around the eyes

Let’s start with the eyes. The eyes are very, very sensitive. When something
gets into your eye what is the first thing you automatically do? You put a
finger or two to your eye and rub. You want to get the irritant out of the eye.
If you can get something into your assailant’s eyes, you may buy yourself
enough time to get loose and get away. At the very least, if his or her hands
are raised to the eyes, it opens up other vulnerable spots like the throat, groin
and shin areas.

Some people suggest using you index and middle fingers to form a “V” and
then jab them into the opponent’s eyes. Forget it! It is too hard to aim the
two fingers into the eyes.
Instead, use all of your fingers. Spread all of your fingers out like a fan and
thrust them into the eye area of your opponent. Sure, you could hit the
forehead and jam a finger, but so what? If you can get your attacker to break
his hold so that you can get away, you’ve accomplished your goal.

If you are holding an object like a pen, pencil, keys, kubotan key chain, etc.,
use it to jab the eyes. Get animalistic about this. Thrust and gouge, thrust
and gouge. It is very hard for your assailant to do anything to you if he or she
can’t see you.

Another area close to the eyes is of course the nose. It has been said for
years that if you can hit your opponent at the base of the nose just above the
upper lip, you can drive bone cartilage up into the brain and kill him. Wrong!
You are not going to drive cartilage into the brain. However, the nose is very
sensitive, particularly when hit with an upward thrust of the palm into the tip
of the nose. It can be very painful and can definitely bring tears to
the eyes.

How about the ears?

If your attacker has you in a bear hug such that you are facing him
and you have your arms and hands free, you have a great weapon at your
disposal. Cup your hands slightly, and as hard as you possibly can, slap your
hands over the ears of your opponent. Not only does the sound distract, but
the cupping of the hands creates a suction that is powerful enough to rupture
the eardrums. This is extremely painful. If you can manage to bite the ears,
do that as well. Do whatever you can to inflict pain and induce shock in your
victim.

Throat area
If you can crush your assailant’s thyroid cartilage or trachea you can disable
him pretty well. Form a “V” using the area of your hand between thumb and
index finger. Then, ram the “V” of your hand as hard as you can into the
throat area that we call the Adam’s apple. If you can, grab the Adam’s apple
and squeeze it as hard as you possibly can. Grasp it so that you can pull on it
with all of your might as though you were ripping the throat out. I know this
sounds gross and sick. But, it’s your life on the line. Convert your fear into
anger.
You can also damage the two carotid nerve centers with this technique and
can cause unconsciousness rather quickly. If you can’t make the “V”, use the
edge of your hand along the little finger and execute a swift, hard, knife-hand
strike to the throat.

Groin area

Notice that we have jumped right from the throat to the groin area. The chest
area is very hard to injure using just your hands unless you are an expert at
pressure point fighting or have some other weapon at your disposal. Forget
the chest and forget trying to punch your attacker in the stomach. Go for the
groin. The groin area is very sensitive, especially on men. All you have to do
is walk up to any man and just act like you are going to strike his groin and
immediately he cowers down and drops his hands to cover the “family
jewels.”

You always hear about kicking or hitting someone in the groin. While this
may work, it is very hard to accomplish, particularly in the fast pace of a
Condition RED street encounter.
Besides, most attackers aren’t going to stand with their feet far enough apart
so that you can kick or punch to the groin. However, there are certain ways
to accomplish the same effect.

You can make your hand like a spear. Straighten the fingers and place them
and the thumb together. Then, drop to one knee if you are tall, or bend
slightly if you are shorter than your opponent. Now, jab the hand in between
the legs and bring it up as hard as you can into the groin. This will be enough
to hurt but once you have your hand there why take it away? Why not grab
the testicles and squeeze as hard as you can while pulling as hard as you can
either down or towards you? Picture yourself ripping them right off! Be
vicious. Become a wild animal. Your life depends on it.

If the attacker bends over to grab his groin in pain, you can then execute
some strikes to the nose and eye area. REMEMBER, you can’t just use one
technique and then stand back and wait to see if it affects your opponent.
Use combinations of techniques. You’ll know you’ve done enough when you
see the attacker fall over or run away. Once you commit, go full force all the
way.
Also, if you do want to use your knee, don’t necessarily try to hit the groin
directly.
Kneeing someone on the inside or outside of the thigh is just as effective.
Ever have someone “frog” you on the outer thigh? There is a nerve that runs
down the leg and if you hit it hard the attacker’s leg will buckle. Even a fist
to this area will cause pain and will distract your attacker so that you can use
other techniques.

Skin or Shins

I’ll let you take your pick here as to which one you want to adopt, skin or
shins. If you choose skin, you obviously want to do things to your opponents
skin that will harm or distract him/her. Pinch, scrape, cut, claw, whatever.
Just do it. The shins are another sensitive area vulnerable to attack. If
someone is standing next to you, or if they are running at you, a good, hard
kick to the shins hurts! I have been the recipient on numerous occasions of a
severe kick or punch to the shin. Believe me, it hurts like heck. In fact, a
couple of times my leg went numb and I dropped to the floor immediately. In
one instance, it took about 5 minutes before I could even get up and walk
again because I had no feeling below the knee. That’s plenty of time for you
to run away from an attacker and either get away or regroup for the next
attack by collecting other weapons (if for example, you are locked inside a
house or apartment and your escape routes are blocked).

While we are talking about the shins, consider the instep of the foot. A good,
hard stomp on the instep hurts. If someone is standing beside you holding
you, stomp on the instep of their foot as hard as you can and as they release
their hold momentarily, execute a backfist to the nose or thrust a handful of
fingers into the attacker’s eyes. Jab something sharp into the ear canal.

It’s not complicated

I hope you have noticed that these self-defense techniques are not
complicated, nor do they take years to master. You learn and focus on a few
select techniques, practice them over and over, and put them into action when
the time comes. You don’t have to be a black belt in Karate, Taekwondo, or
Aikido, in order to defend yourself. You simply have to think, think fast, be
vicious, and continue your engagement once you commit.
Your body as a weapon

There are many, many points on your body that can be used as a weapon with
which to hurt your opponent. The major points include the head, teeth,
shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, knuckles, fingers, fingernails, hips, knees,
toes, heels and balls of the feet. You also need to use your mind and voice as
weapons. A loud yell as you execute a strike of some sort, not only helps to
scare or distract your opponent, it also allows you to release more energy
when you deliver the blow. Remember that if you can reach your opponent
with any part of your body, you can potentially hurt him or her.

Regarding striking someone, remember this: use the heel portion of the palm
of your hand as the striking tool. If you try to make a fist and punch someone
you will most likely damage your fingers, maybe even break them. You will
generate a more effective strike if you hit with the heel of your palm.

Pepper Sprays

Personal defense sprays such as those containing ingredients made from

Cayenne peppers are great defense weapons if you used properly and if they
are of the right strength. Many police departments rate these weapons just
below hard hands (fists) when it comes to force level. These sprays are not
deadly and do not produce lasting side effects, yet are extremely effective
under most circumstances. There are however, some very important
points to consider should you choose to carry a spray.

1. Check to see if it is legal in your state to carry O.C. (Oleoresin Capsicum -

commonly known as pepper spray). Also, check to see if your local or state
laws require you to provide some type of first aid to a victim. I know this
seems ridiculous but it may be true in your area. At the very least, if I were to
spray someone (not as a police officer but as a private citizen), I would call
EMS or 911 as soon as possible and tell them that someone needs medical
attention after being sprayed with O.C. Tell them where the victim was last
located. This is a “CYA” (Cover Your A%$) move.

2. Take a class on how to use the spray. It will not do you any good if you
can’t use it correctly. I would also suggest that you take a class in which you
get sprayed with O.C. so that you can know the effects and how to
decontaminate yourself. After all, what happens if someone grabs your spray
and sprays you or if you happen to point it incorrectly and spray yourself?
You need to know. I can tell you from experience that getting sprayed will
not be pleasant and it will be an experience you won’t wish to repeat.
It will be extremely painful and uncomfortable. But, at least you will know
what to expect. I always thought that being sprayed would burn, sting, hurt,
make my eyes water, etc. But in reality, it is beyond your worst nightmare
when it comes to feeling the effects.

3. Sprays work on both humans and animals. Get the spray into the eyes,
nose and mouth. Spraying someone in the stomach area won’t do a thing.

4. Do not be so concerned about the percentage of pepper in the spray. Most

are either 5% or 10% solutions. Your main concern needs to be how hot the
OC is or in technical terms, what is the Scoville Heat Units rating of the
spray. A spray with only 5% ingredients but with a heat rating of 2,000,000
units will be more effective than a 10% spray rated at 500,000 units. Also, a
5% rating will take half the time to decontaminate as a 10% spray. Just FYI,
a green bell pepper is rated at 1-heat units while a jalapeno pepper is rated at
about 500 heat units. Ever eaten a jalapeno pepper? Imagine something
4,000 times hotter being slammed into your eyes, nose, and mouth.

5. Do not keep a can of spray in your car and do not keep the can exposed to
direct sunlight or temperatures over 120 degrees. The inside of your car gets
very hot in the summer and if one of those cans leak or explode, you are in
for a nasty ride.

6. If you use your can of spray, get a new can the first chance you get.
Sprays are rated for so many bursts per can. However, why take the chance
of not having a full can (what if you face multiple assailants). Also, the cans
lose pressure after each burst, so why not always have the maximum
available to you.

7. Fire bursts of 1-3 seconds. UNLOAD THE ENTIRE CAN! Why just use
one or two quick sprays? Douse the person with the spray. You can always
buy a new can later.

8. The effective range of most sprays is from 6-10 feet. Don’t spray at less
than 2 feet unless you are willing to get the effects of the spray yourself.
Once you spray someone, back up! Get yourself away so that you are not
contaminated.

9. While sprays are almost always instantaneously effective (within 2-3

seconds), on some people high on drugs or alcohol, it can take up to a minute
or slightly longer to take effect. So, whenever you spray, always move back
or to the side and attempt to get away. There are a few people who are not
affected by OC spray.

10. If the wind is blowing at you, you are probably going to get a blast of the
spray so try to move so that you are spraying with the wind and not against it.
If this is a concern for you, you may want to consider getting pepperfoam
instead of pepperspray. The foam is almost as effective, is better for use in
enclosed areas, and is not as easily affected by the wind direction.
11. Some people recommend carrying a small can on your key chain. What
happens if you have your keys in the ignition of your car when attacked.
Chances are you won’t get them out in time to activate the spray.
Carrying one on your key chain is fine, particularly if you have you keys
when jogging, walking to the store, etc. However, I recommend you
keep a 3-4 ounce can available as your main source.

12. Should you use a spray (fogger) or a foam? If the only place you
would use the O.C. would be inside, foam would be fine since it allows
you to be very specific where you spray it. However, since you will most
likely be attacked outside either in an open space or in your car, I would
choose the fogger type. You point it in the general direction and spray.
However, if you want to keep a can in your home, I would recommend
the foam since it is very directional and won’t fog the entire house and
furniture when you use it.

13. If you are going to carry spray, I would recommend that you keep a
decontaminate with you as well. These are usually in the form of a spray
bottle or moist towelette. This way, if you happen to get some on you
you can decrease the effects by using the decontaminate.

14. What if you get sprayed? If you get a full blast, you won’t be able to
do much because you won’t be able to see. However, remain calm and
breathe slowly. Don’t rub your eyes or skin. Force yourself to keep your
hands away from your face. If someone comes to your aid, have him or
her get you to water. Flush with lots of cold water for about 20-30
minutes. Try to force your eyes open as you flush water in them. Stay in
the fresh air and face the wind so that the wind helps cool your face or
affected area. If possible, sit
in front of a fan or air conditioner. It will take about 3 hours for the full
effects of the burning sensation to wear off. If the decontaminate spray
or wipe is available, try to get the ingredients into your eyes as soon as
possible in order to help get the eyes open more quickly.

As with all methods of defense, sprays are not 100% effective. Just as
you can carry a gun but miss your target when you shoot, sprays have
their shortcomings as well. Be aware of them.

Various Weapons

virtually anything can be used as a weapon if thought is given as to how

to use the item as a weapon. Stop right now, looks around you, and sees
what things are available to you, as a weapon should you need one. I’ll
give you a few weapons from my surroundings as examples:

coffee mug - nice and heavy to throw at someone or smash across their
face - pens and pencils - great stabbing weapons (remember Eyes,
Throat ...) telephone - the handset makes a good club keys - car
keys make great weapons when flailed about or carried between the
fingers - stapler - a good item to jab or club with computer mouse - to
hold in my hand to give my fist some support as I strike the assailant
with my fist - desk clock - can swing it around by the power cord
comb - use the teeth to claw or rake down assailant’s face or poke into
the eyes - fingernail file - a great instrument for stabbing into the eyes
and throat or for raking down the side of your opponents face or jabbing
into a hand to break a hold - coffee maker - has hot coffee in it right
now which can be thrown into an attacker’s face - screwdriver - an
excellent stabbing and jabbing instrument - eyeglass case - the hard
kind which I can hold in my fist for support and can also smash the
corner into the attacker’s temple or eye - thumb tacks - great items for
attacking the eyes and skin areas - tape dispenser - mine is a heavy
desktop kind which could easily give an attacker a nice skull fracture or
could easily knock out some teeth

Obviously, some items are better than others. However, the idea is to be
familiar with what is at your immediate disposal, and have some idea of
what you can do with the items at hand should you be attacked.
Remember that we are studying options.

The list of possible weapons is endless. Even a plastic drinking straw

can be used to stab someone in the eye. Keep in mind that many of your
available weapons won’t do as much damage as you yourself do if you
become vicious in your defense. For example, I can’t ever recall reading
an obituary in which the person died as a result of being hit with an
eyeglass case. In reality, the hard case becomes an item that creates a
psychological advantage for you. Here’s why.

If someone attacks you and you decide to hit them with your fist, you
may be reluctant to hit as hard as you can because you are afraid of
breaking your hand. However, if something is in your hand providing
support (such as the eyeglass case or even a roll of quarters), you are
more likely to hit harder because you aren’t as afraid of hurting your
hand as you might otherwise be. Remember, when possible, use the heel
of the palm of your hand as the striking area.

You probably aren’t going to kill someone with thumbtacks. However,

by jabbing one into your attacker’s forehead or eye and causing a very
brief moment of pain and distraction, you may give yourself the needed
second to break the attacker’s hold on you and get away.

As you go around your home or office, look at the possible weapons

available to you and call to mind how you might be able to use each one.
Then, at various times throughout your day, think of possible scenarios
and act out in your mind or for real, how you would defend yourself.
Let’s go through one right now.

Scenario:

You are at home and have been cleaning your kitchen. You have some
hot coffee brewing and are sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup
while you relax for a minute and take a break from the housework. The
doorbell rings. When you answer the door a young man pushes the door
open and barges into your house. He tries to grab you but you manage to

make it back into the kitchen. What do you do now?

1. Grab the can of oven cleaner still sitting on the counter and spray it
into his face. (Oven cleaner is very caustic).
2. Throw the hot coffee on the attacker then smash him in the face
with the pot.
3. As he covers his eyes you kick him as hard as you can in the shins
or knee.
4. If it is close by, you grab the coffee cup and smash it into the
attacker’s head.
5. If possible, you now run as fast as you can to the front door which
was left open and get out of the house. You continue to run until you can
create distance between you and the attacker or until you can find
someone who can call the police.

There are many possible solutions and “should haves” to the above
scenario. But, you have to be prepared and thinking about them. For
example, when the bell rang, you should have immediately gone from
Condition WHITE to Condition YELLOW. You should have taken a
quick inventory of your possible weapons. Then, instead of opening your
door to a stranger, you should have looked through the peephole that you
had installed in the door. If you have a fancy security system in your
home which has a remote panic button that can be carried about your
neck, you should have pressed it as you were running back to the kitchen
now in a Condition RED or BLACK.

Creating a Safe Room in Your Home ?

(Author’s note: The material in this section was provided by and is used
with the permission of SSG Rey F. Arbolay, U.S. Army, Advanced
Concepts, Test and Experimentation Command, Ft Hood, TX)

Every home should have a safe room as an integral part of your home
security plan. This room will serve as the last line of defense against an
intruder in your home. Before you start getting images of camouflaged
walls, and barbed wire barriers, realize that this room is a part of your
daily life. It could be a bedroom, or a bathroom. The only difference is
that you have slightly modified the room to serve as a stronghold to delay
intruders until you get help. Although a safe room will not keep your
home from being broken into, it will provide an extra measure of
protection until the police arrive.

Safe room selection. The first step is to do a survey of your home. Before
you spend any money hardening your home, you should run some
rehearsals of a break in. As you talk through the rehearsal
with your family ask yourself, “Where would I be, or where would I go if
my house is broken into?” Although most break-ins occur in the hours of
darkness, usually after you have gone to bed, your situation may be
unique. If you have children, consider, “Would I run into their room, or
would I expect them to run into mine?”
Moving from your most likely location is the worst thing you can do. It
forces you to venture out into a possibly hostile area, and gives the
intruder the advantage. But sometimes you cannot help it. Some homes
have a “mother-in-law” floor plan, where the children’s bedrooms are on
the other side of the house from the master bedroom

Is there a room at the end of a hallway?

This type of room provides the best location for a safe room. It forces
the intruder into a natural “choke point” (the hallway). It also limits the
amount of interior wall exposed to the intruder. Interior walls are
typically nothing more than a bit of Sheetrock and wood.
An interior wall has very little bullet stopping power. You can remedy
that problem (more on that later) but it is always easier to prevent it.

Where are the most likely entry points into my home?

The front door may seem obvious, but sometimes thieves use the garage
or back doors to enter your home. Those points of entry provide a
burglar with a usually covert way to enter your home. Although it helps,
it is not critical that you can see those entry points from your safe room.
What must be considered is whether or not you have to move past
those entry points from your bedroom to your safe room. Is there a
covered and concealed route to the safe room? Remember that
concealment hides you, cover protects you from direct fire.

If I am forced to open fire from my safe room, what are my fields of fire?

The use of a firearm is a very personal decision. You must carefully

consider all the implications of owning and planing to use a firearm to
protect the life of your loved ones. You need to decide now - “Could I
take another person’s life in order to protect my life and/or the lives of
my loved ones?” If you choose to use a firearm, what are your fields of
fire? Fields of fire are those areas of your home, outside of the safe room
that you can safely fire into without hitting members of your own family.
The narrower the field of fire, as in a hallway or stairwell, the easier it
will be to hit your target.

If I miss my shot or if it passes through the assailant, where is the

projectile(s) going?
What is past your target is extremely important. Look at your field of fire
and think of where the bullet will stop if you where to fire. What kind of
backstop there is, and what furniture is located in the bullet path. If there
is a wall as your backstop, you have to assume that the bullet will
penetrate the wall. Go behind the wall and see what your bullets will hit.
Also, ask yourself if you are willing to damage any furniture along the
bullet path. It sounds callous, but after the trauma of a break in, you do
not want to have to also replace a $2000 dollar large screen TV or pick
up the pieces of an irreplaceable heirloom.

Safe Room Construction

Okay. You have done your rehearsals, gone through the checklist and
selected the best possible solution to your situation. Now is time to start
building.

The Door

The best place to start constructing your safe room is the door. The door
will be the biggest initial expense, but is the most critical element.
Remember that you are trying to keep the bad guys from attacking your
family. Don’t be cheap. The following instructions assume that you have
some basic knowledge of the standard procedures used in installing
a door. I will not try to teach you how to install a door, or basic
carpentry. If you are unfamiliar with the procedures, there are dozens of
books on the subject. If you are still dubious about your ability to install
a door, show these pages to a handyman or contractor.

Check the door on your safe room and determine if it is a hollow core or
a solid door. A hollow core interior door, typically used in bedrooms and
closets, will sound hollow when taped with your knuckles. This type of
door is useless. I can easily put a fist through this door, reach in and
unlock the door, and come right in after you. If you have this type of
door, it must be replaced with a solid core door. Measure your current
door and take the measurements to your lumberyard. Ask for an exterior
solid core door in the size that need. Do not waste your money on a steel
exterior door. These doors are made of a foam-insulating core
sandwiched between two thin sheets of steel. They are expensive and
do not offer any more protection than a solid core door.
The Hinges
Hang the door with three of the heaviest door hinges you can buy. Install
the hinges with 3” long screws both to the door and to the doorjamb.
Never use the ½” screws that come with the hinges, they are useless.
You will have to pre-drill pilot holes, or you will never get the screws in.
The Locks
You will need a door knob and two dead bolt locks. The dead bolt locks
should be the type that requires a key from the outside but can be opened
with a knob from the inside.
Never install dead bolts that require a key from both sides. You do not
want to fumble in the dark looking for the keys to lock your door.

Install the doorknob as usual. Install the one dead bolt lock halfway
between the doorknob and the top of the door and install the other dead
bolt lock halfway between the doorknob and the bottom of the door. If
you can afford the extra money, install two more dead bolts on the hinge
side directly opposite to the first two. 4 dead bolts and one doorknob
should cost you less than $75 dollars. Even less if you reuse your old
doorknob. The idea here is to make the entrance into your safe room
virtually impenetrable by means other than some type of explosion.

Keep in mind that your assailant may try to shoot through the door. Once
you have the door shut and locked, do not stand directly behind it.

The Strike Plates

Your dead bolts will be useless if they are installed directly into your
wooden casing using the thin strike plate that comes with the locks. Buy
high security dead bolt wells. These are heavy steel straps, about 5” long,
with a built in well for the dead bolt. They are attached with 3” screws to
the casing, and 2” screws to the studs inside of the wall.

The Peep Hole

Install a wide angle peep hole so that it is at eye level while you are
kneeling on your side of the door, about four inches from the knob edge.
You want to be able to kneel beside the door and look out. You present a
smaller target by kneeling. By placing the peephole to one side, you
should be able to hide behind the wall and look out the peep hole. Also,
a peephole at this level will be ideal for use by children.
Equipment to have in your sage room
In addition to making a secure safe room, you must consider what
equipment or supplies you should keep in it. The following list is a basic
list. Add to it as you see fit.

Cellular Phone or a separate phone line - A cellular phone is best in case

the intruder has cut your regular phone lines.

Flashlight and spare batteries - Consider buying the rechargeable

flashlights that
you leave plugged into an electrical socket when not in use. Get the kind
that come on automatically when the power goes off.

Fire arms and extra ammunition - My personal choice for a safe room
would be a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun using 00 Buckshot. You are more
likely to hit the intruder.
This is a personal call for you. Use whatever you can reliably hit with.

First aid kit Fire extinguisher

Sign for window - so that emergency personnel know which room you
are in by looking from the outside.

Collapsible ladder - If your safe room is on the second or third level, you
may need a way to exit through the window.

In addition, since your safe room is, by definition, the safest room in the
house, you should store your valuables and important papers in this
room. Remember, if the bad guys choose not to enter your safe room,
they still have the rest of the house to rob.

Reinforcing the walls

If you have no other choice but to use a room with a sheet rock wall
exposed to the bad guys you can armor this wall two ways: Easier: Cut a
2” hole bellow the light switch besides your door jamb. Pour pea gravel
or sand, with a funnel until you reach the hole level. Patch the hole with
wall patch then sand and paint.

Harder: Cut the same 2” hole. Insert a large garbage bag through the
 hole. Pour concrete with a funnel into the bag. The bag will expand with
the weight of the wet concrete and fill the space between the studs.
Patch the hole as above.

Conclusion ?

The purpose of this booklet is not to be the definitive work on self-

defense and risk reduction. It has been designed to stimulate your
thinking regarding the development of a workable, personal, self-
protection plan.

It is quite possible to become paranoid in your thinking. This book is

designed not to make your paranoid, but simply to get you to change
your way of thinking and living.

Take the time to perform an assessment of your current situation. Look

at your home, work, travel, and leisure situations. Implement some or all
of the methods for risk reduction outlined in this booklet.

Decide whether or not you need to take some instruction in self-defense,

the use of pepper sprays, etc. Should you attend a rape prevention
seminar? Should you take a firearm training course? Should you
investigate your local and state laws regarding the carrying of a
concealed weapon.

I hope you never find yourself in a situation where you need to physically
confront someone else. But if you do, you don’t have to be a willing
victim and at the very least you don’t have to be easy prey for criminals.
You must tell yourself that you are fighting an animal, for that’s exactly
what your attacker is.

Stay Safe!

***************************************************************

END.
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