Relationships October 2, 2018
Call her a knock-out, and she'll knock you out.
Although society has made some progress with female rights, women are still struggling to safely walk the streets. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network “RAINN,” one out of six American women is a victim of an attempted or completed rape. In 2010, a National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey found that nearly 25% of women “have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner” in their lifetime. These statistics are scary, but learning self-defense can help women feel more empowered in their space. With the popularity of Ronda Rousey and women’s MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), women are starting to learn effective fighting techniques. Here’s some essential self-defense for women to know.
Remaining mentally stable is the most important rule for high-risk situations. When attacked, adrenaline spikes, and your body enters its “fight or flight” mode. Freaking out may seem logical, but in real life, it can cost you.
Here’s a nature analogy for you. When lionesses take down their prey, the victim goes berserk, using every ounce of energy it has to escape. The lionesses simply wait for their prey to exhaust its reserve before going for the kill. It’s crucial that you remain calm and keep your intent clear. Even if you’re terrified, never let your attacker know.
The best self-defense for women? Running. Avoiding a physical confrontation can guarantee your safety. Try to stay aware of your surroundings, especially if you’re in a shady area.
We often overlook verbal warnings when it comes to dealing with a potential attacker. However, these warnings are essential. Shouting commands can surprise your opponent while simultaneously alerting others that you need help. Establishing strong verbal boundaries like “Stop, back off” seems simple and unnecessary, but it may buy you a few seconds to prepare for an escape. Or, if there are no other options, it can help prepare you for a fight.
You should also know that self-defense for women —and for everyone— does not rely on strength and speed. It relies on timing, accuracy and footwork. Footwork is especially crucial, as it controls the distance between you and your assailant.
A good rule of thumb is to always keep your lead foot outside of your opponent’s lead foot. This will allow you to dodge at an angle instead of backpedaling. Your opponent will then have to react to your movements, which will buy you some time.
If an attacker decides to grab your wrist, don’t panic. Simply force your elbow upwards and try to touch their elbow. This will force your wrist free from their grip due to the change in leverage. Like other effective self-defense techniques, this move requires little physical effort.
Unlike mixed martial arts, the street has no rules. Your assailant will not be following a code of conduct, so why should you? In a life or death situation, you must mentally prepare yourself to physically harm your opponent. Any hesitation may cost you your life.
Self-defense for women utilizes strikes against the most vulnerable parts of the human body. That usually involves the eyes, solar plexus, chin, throat and —the ultimate target— groin.
When you do strike, imagine aiming for the spot behind your target. This ensures that you follow through with your attack, which gives you a better chance at landing. For example, if you’re aiming for the head, imagine the spot behind the head and throw.
This is the most simple and effective strike in a violent street confrontation. It was Bruce Lee’s most famous weapon, and it’s taught at various martial arts and military academies. When aiming for the eyes, make sure to keep your fingers slightly bent to prevent breaking your fingers.
I should remind you that this attack is fairly brutal. Don’t hesitate to use it, but only do so if it’s absolutely necessary.
While any punches are better than no punches, using closed fists in a fight will most likely result in broken fingers. Unlike characters in movies, people will move and react in response to a strike. It’s all too easy to miss your intended target and hit a hard bone, such as the forehead.
A good solution for this problem comes from Krav Maga, the official martial art used by the Israeli military. When striking, keep your hands open and your palms up. This strike still contains the force of a punch, but it doesn’t risk injury to your hands.
Aim for the nose. When hit, the nose can cause your opponent’s eyes to water, buying you time to run or do more damage.
The knee is an extremely hard part of the body. When flexed, you can use your knee for a strike and feel minimum pain.
Because it requires little wind-up for maximum power, knees are ideal in close quarters, where there is no room for a solid kick or punch. Aim for the groin or torso. If you snap their head down, you can also knee their face.
The main goal is to create distance. In self-defense for women, it is essential to remember that escape is the the objective; do not prioritize incapacitating your opponent over bolting. However, with this strike, you might be able to do both. A well-placed knee to the groin will bring any man to the ground.
Perfected in Muay Thai, elbow strikes are like knee strikes, because they need little wind-up to generate a lot of power. If someone grabs you from the front, you can use your elbow to force space between you and your attacker. Throw the elbow from the side to hit the head, or throw it upwards to hit the chin, nose or throat.
The head is also home to some very strong bones. You can use your skull in situations where your arms are incapacitated, like when someone grabs you from behind. It’s a quick, hard shot that can surprise your opponent and give you space or time.
Nothing hits harder than a solid body-shot. Boxers who have perfected this technique are able to knock out their opponents with a well-placed strike.
You will have to practice this movement a few times before throwing it in a fight. When standing face to face, aim a punch behind the lower side of the body. This is where the liver is. When punched, this organ can shut down the body. You can also kick it, too.
When thinking about self-defense for women, kicking your attacker’s legs might not come to mind. However, the leg-kick is a valuable strike. This highly underrated technique is perfect for anyone without the flexibility for an effective high kick.
This strike mainly uses the shin bone, which is an extremely hard bone in your body. However, there are many nerves in the shin, so it needs conditioning. Professional Muay Thai fighters can condition their shins to the point where they can crack through a baseball bat, or a tree, with ease.
Of course, we aren’t asking for you to be a professional Muay Thai fighter. But conditioning your shins will give you an advantage in a fight.
If your attacker keeps advancing while you’re moving backward, hit their advancing leg hard with a downward arc. Aim for the knee. Your kick could cause it to hyper-extend, and then they’re unable to chase you. Cut off at an angle to avoid being rushed into a potential barrier, such as a wall.
The side kick is mainly used to maintain your distance from an incoming assailant. When practiced correctly, this kick is an ideal way to cause damage, control distance and keep out of harm’s way. It can instantly incapacitate your opponent.
Check out the video below on how to practice this strike.
This kick is the hardest to master, but if done correctly, it’s easily the most devastating strike you can land. While not everyone is gifted with a knock-out punch, almost everyone is capable of a knock-out head kick. This kick requires hip flexibility and awareness of footwork.
Like most strikes, the power of this kick comes directly from your hips and pivot of the foot. Aim for the spot behind the head before throwing this kick.
If possible, set this kick up with a sequence to catch your opponent by surprise. When practicing self-defense for women, it’s beneficial to prepare different sets of strikes. We recommend starting with a jab to the eyes, body shot to the liver and then a head kick to finish. Three easy steps to put an attacker to bed.
Grappling is the most vital and misunderstood aspect of unarmed combat. While most people may think that boxing or kicking are the main elements to self-defense, ground combat techniques like grappling are the most essential techniques in terms of control.
From my experience in mixed martial arts, I’ve learned that striking is chaotic. Even a professional fighter will get hit during an extended back-and-forth strike exchange. Grappling is much less unpredictable, as it prioritizes control and technique over speed and strength.
Look at how effortlessly UFC champion Ronda Rousey tosses her male sparring partners. It’s her control and mastery of judo that allows her to forgo strength in favor of skill. While learning self-defense for women, you should have elements of striking and grappling to maximize your chances of escape.
Koshi-Waza, or the judo hip toss, is one of Rousey’s favorite techniques in the Octagon. It focuses on throwing an opponent by utilizing the hips as leverage, which allows a small person to throw someone twice their size.
The most basic hip toss is the Hane Goshi, where you get your hips under your opponent while maintaining upper body control. After you are in this position, sweep them over your hip.
Judo is excellent in self-defense for women, as it involves grabbing your opponent’s Gi, or uniform. Clothes are ideal for hip throws and grappling techniques.
To pull this off, a person must be confident that they have the superior angle and that their attacker is roughly their size. If your attacker is much larger than you, it will be harder to execute this lock.
When applicable, though, the wrist-lock can gain you control in a violent situation. Grab two fingers with each your hands and force the hand down while bending the fingers upwards.
Another favorite of Rousey’s, this basic arm-lock can help you incapacitate an opponent standing up or laying down. The basic idea is to keep their arm straight and bend it backward.
It’s important that you extend your hips upward and keep the opponent’s thumb pointed up in order to hyper-extend their arm. Keep your knees pinched and at least one of your legs across the head when applying this lock.
Also known as the double-wrist lock, this move places tremendous pressure on the shoulder blade as well as the arm. Like many grappling techniques, the Kimura necessitates practice before you can pull it off on the street.
In movies, chokes always involve the attacker using both their hands and forcibly asphyxiating their victims. Hilariously untrue. It takes a tremendous amount of strength and force to actually crush someone’s windpipe with your bare hands. When someone does attempt to choke you this way, simply raise your hands and chop down on their elbows. If you can sneak a knee into their groin, go for it.
The most effective chokes are blood chokes. They involve blocking the blood flow from the carotid arteries to the brain. This will essentially cut off circulation, resulting in your opponent passing out. This is extremely dangerous, so in self-defense for women, it should only be used when absolutely necessary. Holding a choke for too long can result in permanent brain damage or even death.
This is the most basic and effective blood choke in mixed martial arts. It’s ideal if you can get behind your opponent, then take their back with your arms. Circle your right arm around your opponent’s neck with your elbow underneath their throat. Then use your right hand and grab your own bicep while sliding your left hand behind your opponent’s shoulder. Finally, bring your elbows together and squeeze. This applies pressure to the carotid arteries, which can put your attacker to sleep within 10 seconds if executed correctly.
Going off the principles of Judo, this Brazilian Jiu Jitsu move involves your opponent’s own clothing. Like a rear-naked choke, start behind your opponent’s back. Then grab your assailant’s collar and sweep it across their neck. This will allow greater leverage with less energy, making this choke a deadly tool. Depending on how strong you are, they may go unconscious within seconds.
This blood choke is a very popular technique due to its simplicity and effectiveness. It’s especially good if your opponent is preparing for a tackle.
Your opponent should be bent over. Wrap your arms around their head until your wrist is underneath their throat. Then, clasp your wrists together and pull upwards, applying pressure to their neck and cutting off blood flow.
Again, this is an extremely dangerous technique that can result in death, and it should only be used with perfect control and awareness.
But what if your attacker is choking you?
It’s important in self-defense for women to stay calm, but it is especially essential if you are in a choke hold. Hyperventilating will only make escaping harder.
Keep your chin tucked down to prevent their arms or hands from wrapping around your neck. Either bite, bend or grapple with their fingers and wrists. When you have created enough distance, escape.
If your attacker is mainly using their fingers, Luca Goffi from the Krav Maga Training YouTube channel recommends raising one shoulder up and another shoulder down. As you do so, turn your body.
While you are in the choke-hold, try to avoid striking. Hitting someone in the face or groin is painful, but it will not prevent them from choking you out. Focus on creating distance first. Once you have room to breathe, then you can strike.
Self-defense for women becomes more and more effective with practice. Now that you’ve learned a few techniques, it’s important to condition them to the point of muscle memory.
If you do get into a dangerous situation, know that escape is always the best solution. Try to avoid an event where physical violence is necessary. However, if it is necessary, stay prepared, and keep these moves in mind.
It’s time to take back the streets.
