Women's Self-Protection Tips for Brighton and Hove

Jul 21

Written By Brighton Women's Self Defence

Today let me share with you some tips that can help you identify a key problem in self-defence

In order to help you identify the key issues, I need to share with you some stats.

A little heads up before we start, the slides below look at the numbers behind the four most common forms of murder against women in the UK in 2020.

As heavy as this all sounds, there is light at the end of the tunnel so hang in there.

I'll be listing valuable tips throughout, and if you're training with us/or thinking of training with us, then you'll start seeing some similar threads of conversation.

If you have experienced something in the past, you might find it a bit triggering. It is probably best to wait to view it, or share it with a friend and ask them to read it first to see if you might be ok with it beforehand.

For everyone else, we need to see this so we can continue to raise awareness about gender-based violence and understand

Armed with the facts below, you can have informed conversations at work or with your friends, which could prompt them to take action on some self-defence and ultimately save their life

Awareness is the first form of defence.

This slide outlines the most common forms of murder towards women in the UK in 2021

Most of your may be thinking, murder is a little far fetched and it is not likely to happen to you.

and you're right, but we need to think a little more broadly.

Check out this blog on The Colour Codes of Awareness

There are 2 takeaways that apply to you

It happens way more often than we really hear about it
Regardless of the type of violent attack towards women, the numbers are the numbers (92% of all violent attacks are from a male.... who you know) within the UK

The reality is that, the more we can raise awareness of the reality, the more you can do something about it.

When we think self-defence, we think of punching and kicking.

One of the main problems with most modern self-defence is this obsession with thinking self-defence is only striking, much like boxing, kickboxing etc.

At least, that's what everyone wants to learn when they first come to me, I mean, it is terribly FUN!!

Like REALLY!!

Hitting your way out of a problem is a good SKILL to learn, but as the slide suggests, it CAN’T be your only focus.

There are 3 other areas to consider

(there are more, but for the purpose of this blog and not overwhelming you with info overload)

While kicking and punching could help, we can't be so naive to think that's the only skill we need

What if someone came up behind you, grabbed you and threw you on the floor?

Unless your a semi-pro, then you’d probably be ok (mostly)

Right now

What is important for you right now is knowing what to do with no training, and then you can get going with that on our courses or jump in on the next Round (check the website for info) ;)

As we previously discussed, most self-defence systems do not practice defence against sharp objects.

The number 1 rule of life is

we can not expect to do something we do not train for, practically if it's a high stress situation.

So back to the slide

Sharp objects are responsible for 40% of murders towards women.

When the adrenal response and your 1st brain is at full speed, you will not be thinking straight if confronted, let alone, with a knife.

Tip 1: Create space at ALL costs.

The number one form of defence is space, YOU might think that's easy enough, but trust me when I say, people trip over themselves all the time. Especially in fighting or even play fight environment

Most people will say things like, run away

But I hate to be the bearer of bad news, as we said above unless you train it, it won't work!

You might get away for a second or two

but what if they chase you?

your back would be exposed

What if you pull a muscle?

(ever warmed up for hill sprints before?) it takes a good 15 -20 mins

And what if you're wearing the wrong shoes?

The list go’s on

Key: Learn to manage the distances with your surroundings

The more you train, the better you get at judging distance.

It's probably one of the most important skills you could ever learn, not just for getting away, but if you can't get away you can control the individual by closing space too

In regards to knives and what you can do right now

Give them what they want, money etc
Stay as far away as possible and draw attention to yourself by shouting things like ‘please don’t hurt me’ ‘I’m scared stay away’
Do not attempt to take the knife

This leads us on to tip 2

Tip 2: You will get cut if you confront it

When dealing with sharp objects, no matter how skilled you are, you have to consider the probability of you getting cut. The trick is to get cut in no vital areas (this can only be done through training and it still can not guarantee your safety). You can, however, learn skills, like declaration, managing spaces and appearing as non-confrontational as possible.

In some cases they show the object before they use it, it's your chance to do whatever you need to do to survive

Learning situational awareness and having the ability to quickly and decisively analyse your surroundings is a skill everyone can learn, and it would help with almost every type of attacker.

Again, it's not taught in most self-defence schools

Striking is responsible for 17% of murders.

If you are not familiar with striking, it’s kicking and punching

The best form of defence for striking is pre-empting triggers or elevations in aggressive behaviour, is your best chance of avoiding any harm.

It's never that easy in real life, especially if you know the person, it can lead you into a false sense of security

Skills you can learn are similar to knife defence with the action of, you may end up 'fighting'

Tip 3: Distance management

both standing up and on the ground, learning to control a fight by using your leverage can be a lifesaver

The options available to you once you have learned ground skills considerably increase, such skills can help you reduce their ability to harm you by punching and kicking. And increase your ability to neutralise them by using leverage and not so much strength

Learning to punch, block and kick can only get you so far.

Tip 4: In self-defence, we need an ending

A finishing move that lets us escape safely, and does not put you or family/friends at further risk

in regards to a finisher (escaping safely), kicking and punching only give us one or two options

Kicking someone in the balls so hard they don’t get up
Knocking them out

Any one of these options isn't really viable, despite common belief.

Stamping on someone's knee, striking their elbow, choking them out or making them submit/break another limb is the best way to ensure your/your family's safety as they ain't getting back up after one of them moves

I get it, it sounds horrific, I will do another post on this and many other topics mentioned

including the law just so you know what is legal in the UK :)

but heads up (as long as you feel you are in high levels of danger and if they are bigger, stronger and more aggressive than you they are certainly a realistic form of defence)

Strangles is responsible for 11% of Murders

It only takes about 30lb of pressure to break a windpipe, any man can easily achieve that with their hand strength.

Tip 5: Eye gouge like your life depends on it

If you find yourself in this position, your best move with no skills is eye gouging (but you still need to practice this or when brain 1 is going crazy, you won't do it)

However, if you have trained you can definitely get out of a strangle from a non trained person quite easily, whether from standing, pinned against a wall or on the floor/bed.

Learning grappling skills is a great way of being able to control the situation without it potentially getting worse

By training these types of things, we can ensure our personal safety

TIP 6: Strick as a tool

Striking can be used as a tool to soften up, so you can implement your escape move.

however, be warned, striking (especially if you are not sufficient at it) you run the risk of agitating and escalate the person, putting you at further risk.

Blunt objects make up for 7% of murders

Getting hit by a blunt object can be devastating, with no skills you just need to get away however if you can

Tip 7: Protect your head

As a non-skilled person, getting away is always your best move and under all circumstances, keep your hands up and in front of you

Unfortunately, as a non-trained, your options are reduced and even something like keeping your hands up can be a hard thing to think about in the mix of adrenaline

So tip 8