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Stories like this keep me writing about women’s self-defense! On Saturday, February 23, 2008 a girl was jogging in East San Diego County near a college. A man leaning against a RV, grabbed the girl as she ran by. He took her down a hill but this brave girl fought back! While the details of the struggle are sparse in this story, she managed to break free and get away!
Picture from here. This suspect I believe was found dead on Tuesday, February 26, 2008.
Well this story apparently has a bitter-ending… this guy was found dead today but he had attacked other women before this girl. The good news is the teenaged girl was able to fight her way out of the attackers grip. This guy was apparently not a slouch but the girl was able to get away. Why?
Well the first reason that comes to mind is the girl was willing to fight back! By fighting back the guy could not concentrate on the matter at hand, namely getting the girl to a secluded place so he could gain the upper-hand. By fighting back the girl gave herself a chance that she would not otherwise have had.
What if she could not have gotten away? Was she better off fighting back? I would still argue yes! Why? Because the girl was able to increase her odds of getting away relatively unscathed, by fighting back! Had she not tried, she would have had to depend on the guy dropping dead from a heart attack for a chance (two words come to mind – slim and none)!
I have long been a proponent of women and children learning not only self defense, but strategy as well. One of my favorite web sites is Strategic Living. Joanne Factor not only teaches self-defense but teaches students how to keep in control of dangerous situations! Mentally hardening ones self is every bit as important as learning how to kick and punch. A person that can fight, reason, and assert themselves, is truly a survivor!
A person cannot plan for everything but he or she can hedge their bets. I wrote a post entitled Weapons for Self-Defense where I made the point that everyone was responsible to mount their own defense (at least initially)! Cops will certainly arrest the bad guys when they are caught but are unlikely to be their to witness the crime.
Another post I recently pointed out that Sandra Bullock inspired viewers to fend off attackers by watching the movie entitled, “Miss Congeniality.” The post also has several examples of women who successfully fought off their attackers and got away!
My advice to women everywhere is do what you can to prepare by taking self-defense course, getting legal weapons, and by owning dogs and husbands (did I just say that? 
). Whatever you do to prepare – Please stay vigilent in public places and safe in your homes.
March 1st, 2008 at 7:58 am
Love your site. Would you mind contacting me via email. I have a couple of questions. Thanks- Nathan
March 10th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I am so glad the girl escaped. Preventing attacks is the best option however, the next best option is to be prepared. In some cases, having the extra measure of security from Pepper spray or a stun gun may be the difference between life and death. I just purchased a pepper spray pager for my mom and a lipstick pepper spray for myself. I hope we will never have to use them but I am glad that we have them. My favorite site for personal self-defense products is http://www.2dsecurity.com
March 15th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Hello Liseeloo,
I agree that being prepared is the best plan. I like learning self-defense, having dogs, barriers (like locked doors with deadbolts), having legal self-defense weapons including mace, pepper-spray, & stun-guns, baseball bats for the home as well as a handgun.
One way to look at this layered defense strategy if you will, is to see baby bunny rabbits practicing their escape maneuvers and play fighting. I know a lot of purists in the martial arts arena believe that weapons don’t really matter because you won’t always have them if you need them. I disagree! I think that the more ways of eluding an attack – the better!
Anyway – thanks for the link – I have taken a look and this page seems well put together. I like the links for various pieces of the whole picture on the website.
Regards,
John W. Zimmer
MySelfDefenseBlog.com
June 30th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
There have been (2) fatal muggings in the last (3) months in the Cleveland
area. Both have been against women in metro parks in broad daylight.
You have to practice self defense. I belive in the MAP method:
M artial Arts- Take a class or study the techniques use on this website. I am relly impressed with the videos and techniques on this website, I will be recommending this website.
A void dangerous situations.
P ack a stun gun , pepper spray or at least a personal alarm.
Let’s not let criminals dictate our lifestyle.
June 30th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Hi James,
Sorry to hear about the muggings… I don’t really care how folks defend themselves but they should do something. I agree that self-defense would help and think pepper spray or such would be one more great thing in anyones bag of tricks.
Take care,
John W. Zimmer
September 25th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Keychain Pepper Spray…
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