Nelson

My assault happened in my home, and at the time would not have been available, but this tip could be useful for medical emergencies or to signal alarm.. Today most cars have the remote alarms, and it has way more use than just locking and unlocking your car. Keep your purse or car keys on your night stand whether in a hotel room or home. If something happens in the middle of the night, you can press the car alarm to scare off someone trying to break in– when you are worried that the call for help alone might not be enough.

Whenever a single friend of mine gets itchy about being single, bemoaning the fact that they are not with someone, I pull out a story from my archives of the Bad Relationships You Could Be Having, which are stories of some awful dates, relationships, o…

Regarding eye contact:
A defense minded person neither seeks nor avoids eye contact unless dealing with a person in moderate proximity. Eye contact creates a connection with other people, often inviting interaction. For example, think what happens when you meet the eyes of a sales person, pamphleteer, petitioner or pan handler. Immediately they will call out to you, approach you or ask you to come to them, and then ask you for something. If you maintain physical distance and do not seek distant eye contact, they are more likely to bother someone else. That being said, never be seen as deliberately avoiding eye contact, as that appears weak and fearful. I think it best to return eye contact only if it is offered by someone else or if you are nearing reaching distance of someone else.

Eye contact during combat:
If you are in a position where you are about to fight someone, and are not an extremely experienced fighter, do not look into your target’s eyes immediately before attacking. A skilled fighter will see your pupils change size a half second before your throw your combative, giving them more time to block and counter attack.

Finally, the advice on #45 may be slightly off the mark. If you hurt your attacker or bring them down, hurt them again for good measure while they are less able to block. If I am a smaller, less skilled or less fit person and manage to land a lucky attack that knocks a mugger off balance for a second, chances are the mugger will get angry, chase me and catch me if I immediately flee. If my first attack seems to work, I would follow it up with a more debilitating attack to make sure that they can’t chase me. If you kick a mugger in the crotch and he doubles over for a second, kick him in the knee, punch his throat, etc. If he goes down, stomp on or kick something and make sure he doesn’t instantly bounce up, chase you down and then wreak vengeance upon you. If someone is worth hitting once, they are worth hitting until you are sure that they can no longer threaten you. That brief moment when they are off balance might be your one and only chance to finish them off before they get you.