Self Defense Strategies Everyone Needs to Learn

Self-defense Strategies are essential for both men and women, but statistics show that 81% of women out of a 1000-women survey reported some form of assault or harassment. Thus, it’s highly important that women prepare a self-defense strategy to prepare for dangerous situations. 

If you have the training and experience, then you may be able to form a strategy as soon as you encounter a creepy stranger in the elevator. Even if you’ve never experienced such a situation firsthand, you must have heard about it from someone you know. But just because it hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean that it won’t. Hence, you should start being smart about your life and possessions and manage risks carefully.

Although you may have never experienced a lack of security in which you felt physically unsafe, self-defense can provide reassurance in such cases. It helps in realizing that you can take a few steps for your own safety by confronting danger confidently. By learning self-defense strategies and techniques, many people feel

• Better equipped to deal with rude, offensive, and violent strangers
• Safer against strange public vibes
• Positive toward personal and physical safety
• Higher self-confidence

Walking home alone or taking a dark route increases your risk of encountering danger. In situations like those, it’s natural to feel physically unsafe due to a lack of self-defense knowledge. 

So, whether you’re a man or woman, we have compiled a small but quite helpful list. The list of Self-defense strategy can help nearly everyone find a way out of unfortunate circumstances:

Top Self-Defense Strategies for Everyone

You should know that the world of self-defense isn’t confined to a single type of art and fighting style. From Kravis Mega (i.e., Self-defense strategy and fighting system for Israeli Defense Forces) to modern-day martial arts, you can learn a variety of self-defense techniques.

Often, people opt for self-defense strategies and techniques after experiencing a dangerous situation like mugging, harassment, and whatnot. Fortunately, you can take preemptive action to stop that from happening in the first place. The answer? Opting for the self-defense strategies below:

Never Underestimate Your Instincts

You will often hear news reports, interviews, and audio tapes from victims of an assault or robbery. One of the main things that they will say in common includes the phrase “I/we had a bad feeling about it.” So, it’s true that humans have natural instincts that somehow alert the mind and the body of incoming danger. The best way to deal with such instincts and urges isn’t to suppress them under the blanket of paranoia. Instead, you should tread carefully when you think something is or might not be right. 

Everyone has a voice inside their head (metaphorically speaking) that can predict the outcome of a certain action before it has happened. Although the prediction isn’t as vivid as a clear image, it fulfills the concept of alerting your brain. So, the next time you feel that taking the bus late at night is dangerous or perhaps that you shouldn’t walk home through a bad part of town, listen to your instincts.

Create a “Target Denial” Mindset

Often, victims lose a battle before it even starts by accepting that they’re the perfect victim of the crime. However, this is a failed strategy that renders an individual powerless against various forms of attacks and offenses. You can avoid becoming a victim of an incident by becoming inaccessible. For instance, if the person behind you in the street is looking at you weirdly, quickly change your lane.

If you think that it’s not safe to use the elevator of a building because a creepy stranger is standing in the middle of it, you can turn around and take the stairs or, even better, wait for the next elevator. Don’t think less of yourself by labeling your personality as “cowardly.” Quickly becoming inaccessible in a situation where danger looms is a smart self-defense strategy.

Use Simple Fighting Techniques

Regardless of which martial art techniques you have been practicing or what mentor you’re learning under, you will learn that one of the consequences of being in a dangerous situation is the immediate (temporary) loss of great motors skills. It’s the result of adrenaline release that just about anyone will face in a situation like that.

In challenging situations, you can’t expect to execute a perfect roundhouse kick. In fact, you may not even be able to implement techniques that you’ve practiced previously. Therefore, stick with simple techniques and movements to counter or even strike the first blow. Here’s a list of techniques that you can use as part of this self-defense strategy:

• Eye Strike

You can execute this technique whether you’re standing up straight or lying on your back. Do you know how you instantly lean back when you see something approaching your eye? Well, you can use that technique to counter your assailant’s advances. 

You can drive your fingers towards the assailant, effectively closing their eyes. This may cause them to recoil or even fall back if you hit the eyes. Even if you can’t swing your fingers near the assailant’s eyes, you will have created a temporary vision block to land a devastating strike.

• Heel-Palm Strike

Note to self that hitting with an open hand significantly reduces the probability of encountering a hand injury. That’s because it’s a non-confrontational stance where you will show your palms, keep your hands open, and set verbal boundaries. Once you have set a safe zone by extending your hands and screaming verbal cues, you can easily strike the assailant in the face if they approach you.

• Knee Strike

Executing a knee strike is one of the easiest ways to deliver a standing kick in self-defense. It’s much easier to perform since you don’t risk losing your footing, and you stay as close to the ground as possible. After all, not losing your footing is a crucial part of engaging in a self-defense strategy because a lot of adrenaline might be pumping inside your body at the moment.

Simply raise your leg in a standing position and curl a little bit to the left or right as the assailant approaches or gets a hold of you. And as soon as you find an angle, strike your knee into the assailant’s groin. In many cases, a knee to the groin has ended fights and helped ensure immediate escape.

Keep the “Element of Surprise” With You

In any self-defense situation, you will find that the element of surprise is a great secret weapon. Most assailants and predators feel confident that you can’t defend yourself. Therefore, they build on that misconception. You can feed into that misconception by maintaining a non-confrontational stance. Otherwise, they may become aggressive, reducing your chances of overcoming the hurdle. 

If you take a martial arts stance, they will quickly become aggressive because they realize that you know how to handle yourself. Instead, take a stance where your shoulders, hips, and arms are forward. You can also keep your arms bent and hands open. This allows you to land a surprise attack because they’re not ready. 

Pick a Positive and Confident Stance

Don’t cross the street looking scared and frightened that someone might be following you. Just like animals in the wild, criminals choose their victims based on weakness and vulnerability. So, if you appear distracted, confused, or frightened, you increase your chances of looking like a target. At the same time, you reduce your chances of escaping from the situation.

But, if you walk with confidence and look alert, you’ll appear as if you’re aware of your surroundings. Keep looking around. Turn your head and shoulders back to make sure you’ve got eyes on any unusual activity within a specified distance of you.

If a confrontation seems inevitable, use the element of surprise to your advantage. This allows you to escape quickly and avoid confrontation. You don’t even have to wait long. While you’re in a conversation with your hands up and open as you set verbal boundaries, you can land a serious first blow. In this scenario, choose an attack such as a knee to the groin or an eye strike to dodge the assailant and run away from them.

Conclusion

Whether an offender strikes from the back, front, or side, self-defense knowledge can help you stand your ground and keep your guard up. You can learn how to defend yourself properly through various fighting techniques. It’s better if you can practice a specific fighting technique, such as Krav Maga, Muay Thai, or even mixed martial arts. There are many active modern self-defense systems around us.

You can build strength, undergo high-intensity training, and learn the swiftest moves to stay out of potential danger in unusual circumstances. But don’t forget, the idea behind basic self-defense is to help you avoid injuries, not make you feel like you can take on a group of muggers. For more information, tricks, and survival tips, check out Survival Hacks!

Reference Links:

https://www.healthline.com/health/womens-health/self-defense-tips-escape#get-extra-training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww1DeUSC94o

https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/basic-self-defense-moves