Originally Posted by
maxmarkov
There are a lot of very good points in this article. Knowing martial arts is certainly better than not knowing any self defense whatsoever, the more things you know the better, however, if women are not aware of the other important variables involved, even black belts in several martial arts won't be enough. As much as they should learn self defense, they should also be taught how to avoid, prevent and reduce risks.
The article talks about guarding your drinks and not blindly trusting everyone, which are certainly good examples, but I'd like to add a few more. To be as safe as possible when you're for example walking on the streets, you have to be aware of your surroundings all the time. This means that you don't want to be distracted by conversations, you don't want to stare at your smartphone, you want to pay attention, to see and hear in all directions, in order to identify potential threats and dangers. This smartphone-addiction is a particularly big problem nowadays.
Lets assume you're in an alley, if you actually pay attention, the chances are much higher that you will see the group of men approaching you in the distance. If you feel uncomfortable, change to the other side of the street and keep paying attention to them. If you notice that they want to follow you to the other side of the street, if you can, turn around and go back to the main streets, if necessary run. This leads me to the next important points:
1. If possible, avoid alleys altogether. Alleys aren't just "darker", but they're also smaller and more narrow with more potential dangers involved.
2. Avoid being alone, especially at nights. Choose the streets and routes that are the most crowded. The more, different people are around the less likely it is to be attacked. Ideally you want to be in a group of people you trust and who can defend you and themselves aswell. If for example your job requires to work late into the night, you want to be picked up and brought home by your father or your brother, your boyfriend or your husband, etc.
3. Even if you are an incredible martial artist: DON'T PLAY THE HERO! One of the most important lessons in any martial art is that fighting should be your last resort. Getting into a fight has higher risks than avoiding it. If you identify a potential threat, you rather want to run and get into safer areas than play the hero and risk to be overwhelmed, especially when you're outnumbered. Even the greatest MMA world champion of all time is still mortal (unless his name is Renato Laranja). If somebody else is in danger and you want to help, you want to gather as many people as possible (there is strength in numbers), before you do anything on your own, and even then it's dangerous, but that's a different topic.
4. If the laws in your country or state permit it, you want to have a Taser with you. A Taser in combination with high martial arts skills? Very powerful. But we have the same rules here too, you want to avoid confrontations, you don't want to look for them. If Tasers are illegal in your country or state, you want to at least have one of those loud, portable alarms with you.
5. If you take the subway, tramway, bus, whatever, you also want to sit or stay in those parts with the most people. There have been several cases of women being attacked and sexually assaulted inside subways, so you have to really be careful everywhere all the time.
A few more things. Everything I just wrote should be OBVIOUS to any individual capable of thinking. BUT, for whatever reason, so many people, even many who know, are still too careless. Here's a prime example: women getting drunk. There are so many young women who think it's "cool" or "funny" to be drunk, hey, everybody else does it too, right? Wrong. Women are already more likely to be attacked and assaulted and yet they are willing to become even easier prey? Extremely stupid. Even having your boyfriend with you won't necessarily help you in that situation lady, especially when he's drunk himself. Let me repeat, getting drunk isn't just a lack of self-discipline, it's further increasing the already high dangers of being assaulted.
Summary: don't be distracted, be aware of your surroundings everywhere, all the time and try to be around in crowded areas if possible. If possible, have people you can fully trust with you. Avoid confrontations and fight only if necessary. Once you have an opportunity, run towards the safest, most crowded areas and look for help.
