Anticipation – How To Prepare Yourself For A Dangerous Situation

Some criminals feel that women are easy prey because they are not as strong as men and could be easily overcome in a mugging, rape or other criminal act. However, women can prove their mettle by being smarter than the criminal and that means anticipating potential threats and dangers in advance. It is always better to be prepared for the worst and it not happen than being caught unawares.

Anticipation in regards to self-defense means that you use whatever is handy in protecting yourself against an attacker. It means buying time while assessing the environment around you for a way out or potential weapon. Anticipation also means you should always carry with you a few items for self-defense that cannot be seen but can easily is reached in case of an attack on you as well as know how to use them comfortably so that the act is effortless.

Prevention plays a big part in anticipating a dangerous situation by avoiding it all together when possible. Most preventative tips are common sense but sometimes, when in a hurry, you may forget. Here are some no-nonsense preventative tips to avoid criminal acts against you:

Trust your instincts. It's that inner gut feeling that makes you hesitate before acting. It's that itch between your shoulder blades or that creepy crawly sense along your scalp. If you feel the least bit uncomfortable about a situation, get out of it. It is that pure and simple.

Awareness is the most important self-defense tool in your personal arsenal. When you are aware of your surroundings and scope out potential trouble, you can avoid many dangerous situations. If it means asking for a security guard to walk you to your car, so be it.

When you plan to be out and about in public, do not wear anything flashy like expensive jewelry as that is just a beacon for thieves.

Look confident and walk with your head held high. This presents you as a difficult target to muggers, thieves and other criminals. They want easy prey, not someone who will fight them and make their job harder.

Keep eye contact and keep an aggressive stance to your body if confronted. This tells the would-be criminal that you do not suffer fools and they would likely do so if they attempted anything with you. It is all about attitude.

Do not put yourself in a situation where you would use a taxi or bus in an isolated situation and do not hitchhike. Public transportation can be safe but only use it when it is busy or crowded to prevent a criminal act against you.

If you cannot prevent an attack against you, the next line of self-defense is using what is in your environment or on your person to protect yourself. Anything can be used as a potential weapon whether it is your teeth, fingers, keys, a bottle of perfume or a rock off the street. If thrown to the ground, you could pick up sand to toss in the attacker's eyes or use a tree branch to hit them. Palm a piece of glass to slice your attacker with or stab them with a stick. You do what you have to do to have enough time to escape. This may also mean kicking, screaming, biting, scratching, hitting and more. If the attacker's pants are baggy, try and pull them down as this will slow their actions and pursuit or use your own belt to try and beat them in the face with the hard buckle.

Carrying mace on your keychain or a taser in your purse are smart self-defense moves that could save you in a tense situation. Even a loud whistle you can blow can be a deterrent as it would bring attention on your situation as well as the attacker, which they do not want. There are plenty of potential weapons in a woman's purse and all you have to do is identify them and practice pulling them out quickly to defend yourself should the situation ever arise.