| Don't take your personal safety for granted. | | | | your doors, use buddy system, let people know |
| Take charge with these five easy to learn self | | | | where you are and when you’ll be home, etc. |
| defense tactics to help keep you safe. | | | | I understand that as independent modern women |
| Every day the news is filled with horror stories | | | | we shouldn't have to report to anyone or |
| involving women as victims of violent crime. We | | | | restrict our activities because we wish to go |
| worry about ourselves and female friends and | | | | alone, but we still need to apply common sense |
| relatives. While no one can guarantee your | | | | as a component of our self defense tactics. |
| personal safety, even in your own home, these | | | | 3. Trust your intuition. We are born with "gut |
| self defense tactics can help reduce your chances | | | | instincts". If, through the years, we haven't denied |
| of becoming a victim of violent crime. Practice | | | | and suppressed them these instincts can help us. |
| awareness. You must be aware of what’s | | | | If you "have a bad feeling" there is probably a |
| going on around you at all times. Keep your ears | | | | reason. Stop if you can and try to figure it out. Is |
| open. Sometimes your ears can hear what your | | | | it supernatural? Possibly, or perhaps you saw or |
| eyes can't see-behind you and around corners. | | | | heard something in the periphery that don't |
| This won’t work if you have ear buds in! | | | | consciously register, but caused your mind to |
| Make frequent visual scans. While this not only | | | | send out an alert. |
| helps you to see what’s happening around | | | | 4. Have a plan. Be prepared to defend yourself if |
| you, but it gives the impression you have | | | | you have to. It's not enough to know how, |
| confidence. Which brings us to the next of our | | | | verbally or physically. You need to know that you |
| self defense tactics: | | | | can and will execute the plan if/when the |
| 1. Appear confident. Hold your head high. Keep | | | | circumstance presents itself. Hopefully you’ll |
| your spine straight and shoulders back. Look at | | | | never encounter a self defense situation. A martial |
| people's faces. Perpetrators are looking for | | | | art class or a self defense class is an excellent |
| victims with low self esteem (first impression of | | | | way to get hands-on experience and to |
| those starring at the floor) and they tend to | | | | understand the actual feel of these techniques |
| steer clear of those who already saw them and | | | | with a partner. Just remember, if you freeze-up in |
| can identify them. | | | | real life, the plan is worthless. |
| 2. Use common sense.This should be a given or it | | | | Self defense tactics need to become second |
| should be first, I'll compromise and put it in the | | | | nature. You don’t want to live in a state of |
| middle. Don't go to an unfamiliar place alone, in the | | | | paranoia. Being prepared will help you gain |
| dark- and many less extreme examples. Lock | | | | confidence and independence. |