Self Defence for Women

I am as outraged as one could be with the spate of attacks on women in India in recent times. While I would personally like to inflict tremendous physical pain on the perpetrators and hopefully maim them while keeping them just about alive, here are some helpful tips for women in such situations. I think we underestimate the power of preparation and personally every woman who reads through this post should practice some of these moves at home.

Years ago, Reader's Digest published this article which discussed a set of 3 simple, but effective moves every woman should practice.

1. The first one is the eye-poke. Basically you use your fingers (the forefinger and the middle finger) to poke the attacker in the eyes. Forget about whether they'd go blind. I don't think blinding someone should be your concern in such a situation.
2. The second move is the seat-belt maneuver. You basically do the reverse of what you'd do to put on a seat-belt. You move your elbow from about waist-height to shoulder-height in one swift move. The elbow is a great point to focus your strength one. You will be surprised at how much damage you can inflict with surprise.
3. The final move is a kick in the groin of the perpetrator with your knee. This should buy you enough time to get some help or at least run away to safety. I fully understand that sometimes you can't physically overpower someone but you can surprise most people.

So repeat after me - eyepoke-seatbelt-groinkick. Now go practice. Make sure anyone who tries to scare you even for fun the next time round, regrets the experience. I am sure with an increasing number of instances of women inflicting substantial damage on their attackers, there will be some deterrence if not reduction in such incidents.

For more resources on being prepared, click through and read each of the following links

This one has basic moves as well as a simple education on pressure points to inflict damage

Using Pressure Points 

Personal Safety for Women

The website Self Defence for Women has excellent links on such topics, in general. Do refer to it.

Sadly, I don't know any martial arts but I do know how to hurt people. For example, people don't expect other people to bite. If ever, you are in a desperate situation, don't hesitate to bite that other person, real hard. People get off with far less on grounds of self-defence. Concern for that person's well being is not your prime concern in such a situation. Save yourself.

And if you are a guy reading this, next time you hear about someone groping/harassing a woman, help the woman ensure the perpetrator can't stand up for a while, if not forever.