Tip #5 is quit carying pepper spray.  I know I've mentioned this before but I think it bears mentioning again. 

Pepper spray is tricky.  Depending on the brand and like a million other factors, things can just go wrong and I don't want you to trust your safety to something with so much potential for disaster.

A can of pepper spray that you don't train with is about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine.. 

If you currently carry pepper spray, I'm not actually against it.  I think it has it's place.  I do have a couple questions for you though:
 

1. How far does your pepper spray or mace shoot?  Have you tested that to know for sure or did you just read it off the can?
2. How fast can you get it out of the bottom of your purse or from wherever you keep it?
3. Does it shoot wide like a mist or focused like a squirt gun?
4. When was the last time you test fired it?    

If you carry and you don't know the answers to the above questions please just leave it at home.  That bottle of harsh chemicals has just as much potential to harm you and your family as it does harming a bad guy.

If you haven't fired it in the last 6 months, you are better off without it. 

That's actually a good rule for any defensive tool weather it's a knife, a gun, or a teacup.  (Yes a teacup can be used as a weapon but only if you practice.)

Maybe you are a knife chick and you think you are off the hook.  Nope!  When was the last time you trained with your knife?  Do you know which major muscle groups to attach in order to disable your opponent quickly?  When was the last time you sharpened your knife or stabbed a piece of dry wall to check your grip strength?  

Listen, I don't care if you carry a tazer, a stun gun, or a .357.  If you don't train with it, leave it at home.  

The sad truth is that a lot of people who cary a defensive tool, don't train with it nearly enough.  

Many people cary things like pepper spray or tazers because it makes them feel a bit safer.  I'm not against feeling safe but it can become a false security blanket if you aren't careful.  Remember, your mom made you quit carrying arround that dirty old thing for a reason.   

The moral of this email is that it is unwise to carry arround tools that you d no't know how to use.  They could easily be more harm to you than they are good.  

That's all I've got for you now but I'm going to do my best to be more consistent writing to you in the future.  Please hold me to it.  

Stay tuned for more info on the Women's Self-Defense Seminar.  We may even do some teacup defense.  ;)

Merry Christmas from Waxahachi Texas, where I'm visiting my parents and it's 70 degrees on Christmas Day!  I hope you are all well and that you are having a great holiday with family, friends and fun. 

I've been getting some great responses about when you all would be willing to fight.  Lots of you have put a significant amount of thought into the questions I asked in the last post which has been super cool.  Keep it coming. (If you missed that one you can check it out here)

For this post, I wanted to dispell a myth real quick.  Some of you may find out this Christmas that Santa isn't real... oops sory.  But what you're also going to find out is that the crotch shot is not nearly as effective as you think.  Over the years I've heard from several women that if they ever got attacked they'd just kick him in the nuts.  

It's not a terrible plan and if it's all you've got, use it, but it's also not the best plan because so many things can go wrong.  

First of all, that area is pretty easy to defend.  Guys practice their whole life protecting the family jewels and it's a natural instict.  Secondly, It's a small target that is pretty well protected from most angles.  You've got to be in just the right position in order to do damage.  Lastly, a shot to the boys should give your attacker a significant amount of well deserved pain but that's all it does and if he's drunk, high, or pumped up with adrenaline, he may not even feel it till tomorrow which is too late for you.  

The self-defense techniques that you will want to learn are ones that provide pain compliance as well as structural control which goes beyond pain and works weather it hurts your oponent or not.  Our goal in all of this is to get the most amount of pain and structural control for the least amount of effort.  

I'd like to give you three targets that are actually better than a kick to the gonads.  

Number 1: Eyes

Put that georgeous manacure and those acrilyc nails to good use.  Attacking the eyes often off balances your opponenet and offers a step beyond pain compliance.  If you take out his eyes, it doesn't matter if he has a high paint threshold, he wont be able to see you which will give you a chance to escape.  The face in general is extremely sensative and full of pressure points.  Scratch, claw, and dig at the eyes and face.  This will give you pain compliance and depending on how well you do it, you might get some structural control as well. 

Number 2: Knees

God made our knees to bend 1 way.  If you are attacked and you force you're attackers knees to bend any of the ways that God didn't intend them to bend, he's going to have a tough time chasing you down. His structure will collapse and it will take a skilled doctor to get him back up and running again.  A knee attack offers pain compliance as well as a step beyond.  I'd recomend attacking the sides of the knees.  Knees are weaker resisting side to side movement than they are resisting front to back movement.   Using a downward kick to the side of your attackers knees, you can easily damage the tendons in the knee which is not only painful but will demobilize your attacker no matter what his pain tollerance is. 

Number 3: Ears

This one, is a favorite of mine because it's extremely easy and super effective.  I look for techniques that take little to no strength and provide maximum results and this one is awesome.  Make a cup with your hand similar to what you'd do if you were scoping water out of a bucket.  With your hand cupped strike the attacker on the side of his head.  Imagine that your hand is full of air and take the air and shove it into bad guys ear.  

This technique does not take a lot of force so be careful with it if you are practicing.  You can practice on yourself but start slow and work you're way up so that you don't hurt yourself.  This strike, when done quickly and with intent, can be extremely painful for the attacker but it also has the capability to damage the inner ear which affects vision and balance.  

Remember that when we talk about self-defense we are talking about violence and it should only be used in defense.  While it may seem harsh to intentionally take away someones vision or tear their ACL, it's worth it if it saves your life.  I talked about that a bit in the last post which you can check out here.

You are worth protecting and you don't have to ever allow someone to hurt you or take advantage of you.  I hope that these posts empower you and give you knowledge that brings confidence and self-worth.  That's my goal.  

Send questions and comments my way!  I enjoy hearing from you all. 

Merry Christmas and If I don't see you before next Friday, Have a Happy New Year too.  

Andrew

PS. If you know others that would enjoy these tips.  Please share this with them.  They can read on the blog or subscribe to the emails.  

Well, I hope you are more prepared for Christmas than I am.  I think I've only got two gifts purchased so far. Zoe has already painted masterpieces for everybody on her list, so she's way ahead of me.  

With Christmas coming up this may not be the most festive topic but I think it's extremely important.  As I've been thinking about what tip to write about I can't think of anything that doesn't relate back to this very simple principle.  

It's the foundation of self defense.  Before you learn fancy moves or jedi mind tricks you have to ask yourself a question. This question, although it's very simple to ask, can actually be quite difficult to answer.  Here it is: 

Are you willing to fight?  

Take a second to pause and actually reflect on that question.  If your answer is yes then I have some follow up questions below but if it's not a yes...  

If your answer is no, or maybe, or even if it's "only in certain situations" what are those situations?  

Before we get too far into a discussion on self defense we really have to dig into answering the question, "What am I willing to defend and how far am I willing to go to defend it?"  

Are you willing to hurt someone that's trying to hurt you? What if they were trying to hurt your family?  How 'bout a complete stranger?  

We all have lines that we aren't willing to cross but sometimes we don't know where those lines are until we are faced with a situation.  I dont know about you but I don't want to have a personal ethical mealtdown in the heat of the moment. Instead, I do my best to think through posibilities and make decisions when I'm not under the crazy amounts of stress.  My hope is that if I make those decisions now it will prepare me if, God forbid, I actually have to make them later.    

Here's just a short list of some of the questions that I ask myself.

Where is my line? and by that I mean, when will I start fighting?  
During a vocal confrontation before it turns physical will I under certain circumstances, initiate physical contact or will I stick to the playground rule my dad gave me? 

His rule went something like this, "Don't ever START a fight but if THEY start it you better finish it."  

Think about these question for yourself.  

Will you wait till after you've been physically assaulted and then fight?
Will you fight to protect a stranger? What kind of strangers will you not fight for?
Are you willing to be transported?  (*Hint* I'd recomend a no answer here)
Are you willing to physically fight someone smaller than you?
Are you willing to gouge eyes, break bones or otherwise damage someones body permanently?  
Are you willing to take a life if that's what it takes?  

These questions are complex and difficult but they are all important.  Click her and tell me about any that stand out to you.  I have opinions on all of them but you will need to think through them all and answer each according to your own context and belief system.  

If you're stuggling to picture yourself inflicting damage on another person that's actually probably a good thing.  It means you have a soul.  When you stop having a problem with the idea of hurting another human being, we need to talk.  But assuming that you have wrestled with these questions a bit, lets dig a bit deeper.  

The question, "Are you willing to fight?" is actually based on a more foundational question.  Are you worth defending?  In my view, I am worth defending because my daughter and my church count on me as a leader and provider.  If I was gone, my daughter would grow up without a dad and I'm not okay with sacrificing her future because someone decided they wanted to hurt me for a foolish reason.  I am worth defending because as a person, I have value that has been given to me by God.  I bear his image and that is worth defending.  

I have drawn lines, that I am not willing to cross.  I have situations in my mind that I wont fight for.  Situations where I would chose my death over the death of someone else, maybe even my attacker.  But I can also think of situations where a person's actions and/or intent to harm others have caused them to forfeighted their right to life and I am willing to take it.  

That's not a decision I take lightly and you shouldn't either.  It's also not a very Merry Christmas message but when we discuss self defense we need to know the boundaries.  How far are you willing to go to defend yourself and those you love.  

Please respond with your answer so that I can tailor upcoming women's self defense tips to your specific situations and boundaries.  

I hope you all have a great Christmas.  

Andrew 
www.andrewlinderer.com

Our first women's self-defense tip is keep your ears open.  Being able to hear is extremely important and not just in protection from a mugger or potential attacker.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen people, not just ladies, bump into somebody or almost get hit by a car because they had both headphones in while they were jogging or walking down the street. ​

A study was done at the University of Maryland on accidents where the victim was wearing headphones.  Of the 116 cases that were studied 70% resulted in death, 90% occurred in large cities and a warning was sounded before the accident for 29% of the cases.  But the number that truly boggled my mind… 55% of the victims were hit by trains. 

TRAINS!

It's tragic but it's also completely avoidable. 

With both headphones in while jogging, hiking, shopping, driving or waiting at the airport there are all kinds of things that you could miss.  A car, dog, person coming up behind you.  A security alert over an intercom system.  Your child crying, or a train whistle.  I could go on but I think you get the idea. 

I use my headphones all the time but I only use one of them.  This lets me enjoy my music, or phone call or whatever but keeps my other ear open to listen to what's going on in the world around me.  Situational awareness is the most important element of any type of self-defense but especially of women's self-defense and your eyes can only see so much so keep at least one ear open at all times.  It might save your life.  

If you think someone you know might enjoy this tip please feel free to share it with them by clicking below or just by sending them "this link" so that I can add them to the list. 

Let me know if you have questions or comments on this tip.  I'd really love to hear your thoughts. You can comment below or email me directly at andrew.linderer@gmail.com.
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