The ultimate defense in any situation is to be trained and well prepared. If you are properly prepared to defend yourself, you will not just be able to protect yourself, you will be able to defend your whole family, especially your children, in any disaster scenario.
First Prepare Yourself – Women’s Self Defense
As a woman, self-defense becomes more critical. I cannot rely on my size or strength to overtake a potential threat. That doesn’t mean that I’m not strong, or cannot handle myself, but it does mean that I, and other women, need to be more prepared to handle potentially violent situations.
Basic self-defense courses are always a great place to start, especially for those who are just beginning. In addition to martial arts and weapons courses, there are many self-defense courses designed specifically to train a woman how to protect herself, and thus her family, in any situation. However, every woman, whether they have the time to take the course or not, should know a few key points to successful self-defense in any situation.
Open Your Eyes to Your Surroundings
- Is there anyone watching you? Look around at all times, and recognize if anyone is following you or casing you. Early detection to a threat can be key to survival in a post-SHTF scenario, or in any potentially violent situation.
- Watch people’s hands as you are walking, if they are concealed unnecessarily that might raise a red flag.
- Don’t look away when you pass a potential threat while out walking. If you gaze down you not only look unthreatening, but you look vulnerable too. Keep your head up and avoid being seen as an easy target.
Protect Yourself
- If you do end up in an altercation, you must defend yourself. If an assailant is coming after you, be sure you protect your face and head.
- Try to stay two arm lengths away from any assailant if you can. Staying away at this distance when possible keeps you out of the range of punches and kicks, as well as hopefully keeping any assailant from pinning you down or grabbing you.
Use Your Strengths against Their Weaknesses
- In self-defense you must do what you must, so don’t be afraid to hit below the belt. A knee to the groin usually stuns an assailant just enough for you to get away safely.
- Hard parts of your body do damage. Use your elbow to strike a threat in the throat or face. The heel of your hand in an upward motion can also do a fair amount of damage on someone’s nose.
- A swift kick is also a strong defense tool. Make sure you kick with the bottom of your foot, like if you were trying to kick in a door. You don’t want to kick with the top of your foot, it doesn’t provide as much force and can injure you a lot easier than kicking with the bottom of your foot.
Get Away
- You aren’t trying to really hurt someone, you really are just trying to get away safe. Do your best to put a barrier in between you and the assailant, a car, a fence, a wall, anything that can buy you more time for your escape.
- Yell for help. Honk your horn. Make some noise. You can’t always count on people coming to your aid, but if you are loud out might just scare a potential threat away.
- Use what you can. Use pepper spray if you have it. Find items around you to throw or use against any potential threat. Create obstacles and barriers in-between you and the assailant if you can to aid in your getaway.
Children & Family Self-Defense
In the event that you cannot be there to protect your young ones, you want them to be able to defend themselves to their best ability, which is why self-defense is truly a family affair.
The first question you have to answer for yourself and your family is how old should your children be before they are introduced to self-defense. The truth is, this is different for every family. This is a conversation that needs to be seriously discussed before you begin to train your children in self-defense. It should be considered that each child is different, has a different maturity level, and may be prepared at different times in their young lives. That being said, young children, in some parts of the world as soon as they can walk, have been taking karate classes and have become well versed in self-defense, so don’t be afraid to consider children’s self-defense as a part of your overall prepping plan.
Martial Arts
Martial Arts is the most common form of self-defense practiced by youth. Instruction usually emphasizes self-defense, rather than aggression and can not only teach discipline but also respect for parents and other authority figures. Students can begin classes as young as 3 and even without a full knowledge of disaster preparation, a young child can pick up skills that could help them
protect themselves in potentially harmful situations.
Martial arts are especially beneficial for families, as not only can it provide life-saving information, but classes can provide you with a hobby you can share with your family, while it keeps you in shape too.
Firearm Training
Another self-defense tool that the whole family can share is shooting. It’s another great hobby for the whole family, once the children are old enough, and it can save your life in the long run. Take some time to visit your local shooting range and find out what youth and family courses are available. Being able to shoot accurately in a defense situation is invaluable, and something you can share with your children when they are old enough to handle firearms.
There are a lot of aspects to being prepared for TEOTWAWKI, but being able to defend yourself is something that can help you no matter what sort of thing happens in this crazy world. When you have a family to protect, whether you are a man or a woman, you must know how to handle yourself and be able to defend against would-be attackers. Preparing with self-defense courses is one way to properly train yourself, as well as give you an opportunity, today, to spend more time with your family, a luxury hard to find in this fast-paced world we live in. Take the time to prepare yourself and your family today.
