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I just reviewed a youtube video of Dr. Ruthless® “Self Defense with Palm Strikes for Women.” Talking about a great video demonstrating how small women can inflict pain against an attacker… this is great! Her (Melissa Soalt’s) webpage is here. I encourage everyone to take a look at the video and webpage.
I have been teaching my step-daughter bits and pieces of self-defense lately as she is going off to college next year. So far I have taught her some basic kicks, knees, palms, elbows and punches. I have added critical distance and I have pointed out move around at angles. She will not always be able to back away at an angle to insure her safety. The attacker would soon realize she was a paper tiger! So I have taught her how to use critical distance along with intermittent strikes to give her a chance to defend herself.
I let her experience the timing of stepping just out of an attack at an angle and then step right back in with a palm – elbow combination. She was enjoying feeling that she could actually hurt me (I was letting her strike the padded part of my boxing glove) with the palm and then follow up with the elbow to the side of my head!
While I tend to focus on the nuts and bolts of self-defense, another women’s issue is being assertive. Women need to take stock of their own abilities – mental and physical, to create a plan for themselves. One website that talks about women’s self-defense preparation is Joanne Factor’s Strategic Living. She (Joanne Factor) makes a good point (paraphrasing) when she tells women to use self-defense as part of an overall plan to live well (strategically). I think focusing on the whole package psychologically will put women in a better position to deal with many situations before they can turn into an attack!
My step daughter will gain more self-defense experience fighting with me until she is off to college. Her mother and I will have to trust that she will make good choices and if she gets into a pickle – know how to use her palms, knees, elbows, kicks and eye-gouges!