Women's Self-Defense: Your Weapons, Your Targets

Even if you are not trained in women's self-defense or martial arts, you should know that there are a few basic women's self-defense moves that will at least give you enough time to get away.

First, be aware when walking down the street, going to your car, or at any time. Not getting into a self-defense situation in the first place is the best women's self-defense there is. Know your boundaries - literally. If someone crosses the physical lines you draw mentally, back away and get away. In any situation in which you feel threatened, assess your situation and get away if you can.

Second, your goal in a women's self-defense situation is to survive. Survive and get away. Sometimes all it takes is a loud yell, called a "kiai" in karate, to scare away an attacker. I know personally of two incidences in which just a loud kiai was enough to scare off an attacker.

OK, let's say you've decided to fight. It's not the only decision you can make, but it is one decision. There are primary targets on a human being that are very vulnerable, even when hit with minimum power. They are located down the centerline of the body - the nose, face, neck, solar plexus, and the groin. Those are your basic targets.

You may think that the obvious target to go for is the groin. Not necessarily so. Most men expect you to hit their groin first and in any case, are very protective of their groin area.

One of the best women's self-defense targets to hit first is the nose. A fist held like a hammer (hammer fist) and driven hard into the nose will disorient, if not stop all together, even the biggest attacker.

Driving the heel edge (bottom edge) of the palm (palm heel) up into someone's nose won't kill them, like you've heard, but it will definitely hurt them. Believe me. I've been hit hard with the heel of a palm (palm heel) straight up into the nose before (accidentally), and it totally destroyed my sense of where I was, plus it hurt like heck. I totally lost my orientation for plenty long enough for someone to get away from me had I been an attacker. I like this technique (palm heel or hammer fist to nose) in particular... because I know it works.

If you hit the face as a women's self-defense move, hit with your elbow right to the jaw. Or head butt the person right in the nose and face. Hitting with the fist takes a little finesse, and I wouldn't really recommend it to a beginner with no prior martial arts experience. A good solid elbow, however, is much easier to deliver as a women's self-defense move.

A sharp poke to the eyes is another option for women's self-defense. If you choose to do this one, put two fingers together, the middle finger on top of the index finger, to make a stronger finger "poker" weapon that won't bend when it hits flesh. Then get away once they react!

If you slap both ears hard at the same time with open palms, you are likely to break someone's ear drums and cause them serious pain. This is something you can't practice on a person but could certainly practice on a heavy bag or any other two-sided surface like a sofa cushion. And again, get away after you strike!

The next target for women's self-defense down along the centerline of the body is the neck. Try an experiment. Take your own two fingers, the middle finger on top of the index finger, and poke them stiffly into your own trachea and downwards hard. The last part is critical. Even doing it gently, you will feel yourself choking and gagging. Imagine doing it for real as a women's self-defense move, poking your two fingers down as hard and as deep as you can into an attacker's trachea. (The trachea is the v-shaped soft spot on the bottom of the neck.)

The solar plexus lies just under your breast bone. To find it on yourself, ball your hand into a fist and strike yourself (not too hard) just under where your rib cage comes together. You should be able to tell that if you struck someone full force there, you would knock the air out of them. The weapons you can use on the solar plexus are a fist, palm heel, hammer fist, elbow, or even knee. One good women's self-defense move is a strong elbow straight back into the solar plexus. It can knock the wind out of an attacker. Again, striking the solar plexus effectively in women's self-defense takes a little practice.

Last but not least for the women's self-defense targets along the centerline of the body is the groin. There are a number of grabs and strikes to this area. The basic idea is to cause extreme pain. Remember, in a women's self-defense situation, the guy is trying to hurt you, so don't be shy about hurting him. Grab his groin, squeeze, and pull. Hit it with your fist or knees - hit it with anything you can think of, even a rock. (Sorry, guys, I don't mean to make you cringe.)

This brings me to a particular point. As women, we are trained to "be nice" and not to hurt others. Throw that right out the window if you are protecting yourself or your loved ones. Be tough, be hard, be strong, and be fast in a women's self-defense situation. Then get away.

Probably the most important thing I can say at this point is that if you want to be sure you can defend yourself in any women's self-defense situation, find yourself a good martial arts school. Practicing on a regular basis will do a number of things:

1. Teach you proper technique

2. Give you many more women's self-defense choices (Some are really cool; all are fun to learn.)

3. Hone your reaction time, so that defending yourself is instantaneous, without thought

4. Give you the cardio capacity to carry out women's self-defense moves, and

5. Through experience, give you the confidence to know that your women's self-defense moves will work.

There is no substitute for practice. Period. I can't emphasize that enough. But in the meantime, while you look for a good women's self-defense course or martial arts school, practice these moves over and over.

In review, the targets and weapons for basic women's self-defense are:

1. Nose - palm-heel or hammer fist

2. Face - Elbow to the jaw or head butt to the face

3. Eyes - poke with two fingers held together

4. Ears - slap both at the same time with open palms

5. Neck - poke with two fingers downwards into the trachea

6. Solar plexus - fist, palm heel, elbow, knee, or hammer fist

7. Groin - grab, squeeze, pull, hit, knee

Should you choose to study martial arts, you will find that there are more weapons at your disposal, such as knees, feet, kicks, joint locks, and many more. And there are many more targets as well. Studying martial arts is both fascinating and fun. I hope you get the chance to do so, as have I.

Source: Martial Arts School

Personal experience, 15 years, mixed martial arts

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How to Choose a Martial Arts School for You or Your Child