How To Protect and Defend Yourself

Right up there with certain areas of Los Angeles, Detroit, New Jersey, and New York, along with a few dozen other places, I live in one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. I have 26 distinct gangs identified by the police where I live. No, it's not Boston. I moved from Boston a few years ago to afford my dream house.

I bought a small mansion, an English Tudor, circa 1915 that is original to the period and historically persevered. Only, there are multiple shootings, murders, drugs, prostitution, rape, robberies, and domestic disputes every day. You don't want to walk around my neighborhood after 7pm. Living here, I feel much like Sean Connery when he played Forrester in Finding Forrester.

Yet, it's getting better. The police are making headway. We have a neighborhood crime watch and I joined the local civic association. Also, by exerting a bit of political pressure and getting my neighbors to sign a petition, we were able to close off our street and make it a cul-de-sac. Now, the only cars on my street are those who live here or who are visiting. Slowly but surely, we are taking back our neighborhood.

I've done all that I can do. My cars are alarmed, locked, and garaged behind a locked fence. My property is enclosed by a 7 foot fence. I have a dog that hears a cat walking by the house in the snow. My house is surrounded by security lights that brighten my side of the street, as would an airport illuminate their runway, and I have an alarm on every window and door, with locks on the windows that doesn't allow the windows to open more than twelve inches. I'm protected. Yet, if they are determined, to get in my house, the bad guys will somehow gain forced entry.

My girlfriend is a third degree black belt in Martial Arts and could kick my ass if I didn't out weigh her by eighty pounds and have the strength of weightlifter. An ex-boxer, I studied Martial Arts, too, but not to be belted, only to learn how to defend myself. Suffice to say, thanks in part to my training in the military, I know how to protect myself.

For those of you who are not physically fit, I have some helpful suggestions that may save your life. First, put down the donut and the cigarette. My advice to you is to get in enough of a general good condition that, if you were being chased, you can run a couple of blocks to safety without having a heart attack.

1. Don't be a victim. Know your surroundings. Don't walk with your hands in your pockets and your head down. The criminals are looking for people like that. Stay alert. Stay on brightly lit streets and keep away from darkened doorways and alleys. Walk with a friend.

2. If confronted, run. Don't be a hero. There are lots of dead heroes in the cemetery. Leaving the scene is always the best advice. Assume they have a weapon.

3. Carry a whistle with you or scream if you are a woman and yell if you are a man.

4. Have your cell phone handy. Only, remember, the police cannot trace calls to 911 when made from a cell phone, as they can when you make your call on a landline.

5. Get a federal identification card, FID, and buy mace or pepper spray and keep it in your pocket with your finger on the trigger. I don't recommend you buy a gun. Too many times your own gun is used against you because when the chips are down, the average person will freeze and can't take that extra step and pull the trigger. On the other hand, now the criminal has a gun, your gun, and he has no hesitation in shooting you to death.

The above is the best advice for those of you are cannot fight off an attacker. For those of you who are in shape and who are unafraid to do what you have to do in a kill or be killed situation, here is more helpful advice that just may save your life without having to carry a gun and use deadly force.

1. Run. You are not a coward to run. You are smart. The best advice is to always flee and remove yourself from the situation and out of harm's way. Always assume they have a weapon.

2. Just as written above, don't be a victim by putting yourself in a place or a situation to be victimized. Stay alert and know your surroundings.

3. If he has a gun or a knife, give them whatever they want. It's foolish to die for money, a watch or a ring. Material possessions can always be replaced. Moreover, even if he doesn't kill you, you don't want to be stabbed or shot.

4. If they try and put you in a car, make your stand there. Refuse. Fight for your life, if you must. Do not get in the car. It always turns out bad if they are able to drive you to a different place, a place that they know and a place where they are comfortable. Remember to not get in a car with your assailant.

5. You must have the mindset that you will kill this person if you must to save yourself because they will kill you. This is no joke. They will kill you. Any veteran who has been involved in hand-to-hand combat type of situation knows what I mean. If you don't have the mindset to take a life then, whatever you do, don't get in a life and death fight with him because he doesn't want to be caught by the police and go to jail and chances are, he has that desperate mindset and you will die.

6. Buy a Kabuton. Kabuton's are a 3-4" steel pipe that fits in the palm of your hand, is easily concealed in your pocket or purse and hangs off your keychain. You can do some serious damage by wielding a Kabuton and they are legal. They even sell a book on how to use the device.

You can kill someone with a Kabuton if you force it in their eyeball, as you can cause serious damage if you force it up their nose or in their ear. Yes, it sounds terrible, but this person wants to hurt you, maim you or kill you.

If you make a fist around a Kabuton, it will give you enough weighted zip to your punch to knock out your assailant. Only don't punch him in the eye, the mouth or the nose, hit him hard with an uppercut under the jaw. That will temporary stop the blood flow to his brain and knock him out.

The nice thing about a Kabuton is that, it has the element of surprise. If you use it correctly, you can inflict enough pain to give you the time to run away.

7. Buy a pair of Sap Gloves. These are weighted gloves with steel shot in the knuckles. The police use them. They make good workout gloves. They have the kind with fingers for the winter time and without fingers for the summer time. I own both pairs. I love them. Each glove weighs an extra half pound to a pound. You can knock someone out with one punch if you hit them right and hard enough without damaging your hands.

8. Take a martial arts course. You don't have to have a black belt to be proficient in martial arts. Just look at some of those ultimate fighting champions. They use a combination of tactics to win, which is what you must do to survive.

9. Break a bone. It's easy to break someone's finger or fingers, especially if you are pressuring their fingers against your Kabuton.

The kneecaps are very vulnerable and easy to snap if you know how to kick. It only takes 6 to 8 pounds of force. Only, you want to do it in a fast kick and you don't want to miss because then your assailant will kick you.

Any joints are a good target, such as wrists, ankles, and elbows. They can easily be broken with the correct amount of leverage.

10. Learn where the pressure points are, especially in the forearm and hand. You can use that to your advantage by making your assailant drop his weapon. Although I don't recommend you fight someone with a gun or a knife, you may have no choice if he's trying to get you to go in a car with him.

A strike to the Adam's apple is painful. If you don't believe me, gently tap your own Adam's apple.

A hard strike to the temple could be deadly. Don't try this at home.

11. Those Karate chops that you see in the movies to the side of the neck, really work. They cut off the blood flow to the brain. Most times they are temporary and will knock someone out for a few seconds or a few minutes depending on how hard the blow and the person receiving the blow. Only, don't practice on your friend, because you could kill them. Use a dummy or a heavy bag to practice your Karate chops. Unless you are proficient in Karate, use your forearm to give the blow instead of your open hand.

12. How much do you weigh? Step hard on their instep. Fall back on them. Put your weight into it. Crush them. Use your weight against them. Broken bones to the feet are easy to do and very painful. Moreover, breaking your assailant's foot will hinder him from chasing you and allow you to the time to run away.

13. Easily anyone can toss another person by taking advantage of and using their forward momentum. You don't have to be a Judo expert to toss someone over your shoulder. Only, don't try it unless you've practiced and mastered the technique in a gym or dojo.

14. Learn how to do a head butt. As a boxer in the ring, head butts are really effective. Only, you don't want to be the one receiving the head butt, you want to be the one giving the head butt.

A head butt followed by a knee to the groin followed by a stomp to the instep and a hard kick to the knee with your downward sloping foot will certainly be enough to incapacitate your assaulter allowing you the time to flee. You don't want to hang around there ala Rocky Balboa with you're your hands raised over your head while you dance around in victory because some of these guys may be hyped up on drugs and can take more punishment that you may be willing to dish out. Run. Get the Hell out of there now.

15. Use whatever you have available, a briefcase, pocketbook, keys, car antenna, bottle, whatever, don't be afraid to scratch his face and/or pull his hair. Get his DNA under your fingernails and hair in your hand to identify your assailant latter.

Stay safe.

You may be wondering how I know all these self-defense techniques. Well, I'll tell you. Have you read some of my stories? Some of them are pretty bad. If I'm going to continue to write, I had to learn how to fight.