Basic Self-Defense For Women – Using Your Body As A Weapon

Unless you are at the ready with your self-defense weapon of choice like mace or a taser, chances are you may not be able to reach your weapon in the event of an attack. You might only have a split second to make a move as to whether you could run and escape or stick to your guns and fight. While the flight response is usually engrained in most of us when confronted with danger, it is not always the best solution for you. What if you were nowhere near help and no one could help? If you ran, it would only make the attacker angrier and take out that anger in a fiercer fashion when he caught you.

Trying to go on the offensive after running and getting caught usually does not work self-defense wise. Only run when you know help is nearby or if you have hurt the attacker enough to distance yourself from them. Part of self-defense is the knowing when to run and when to stand your ground and convince your attacker that you are not worth the hassle. For this move to succeed, you will want to view your body as a potential weapon against the attacker. Here are several weapons that God gave you to protect yourself in self-defense:

1. Elbows are a woman's best friend. They are sharp and can do a bit of damage pain-wise. However, you have to learn to throw your weight into an elbow jab to get the maximum effect. What you do is twist at your waist and use both your lower and upper half to power your elbow swing. Aiming for the ribs, nose, throat, groin and diaphragm area can temporarily debilitate an attacker so that you can get away.

2. Hands are great for many defensive moves but not punching. In relation to men, women simply do not have the upper body strength to put enough power behind a punch. Therefore, use your hands in other ways such as poking eyes out and clawing. Also, finding the most sensitive areas to pinch, twist and tear is also a smart move. The inner thigh area near the groin, the upper inside of the arm and of course, and the groin area are places that are the most vulnerable to pain.

3. Heads are hard and can cause great pain to your attacker. Because the bone in the skull is thick, you could easily head butt an attacker and break his nose or even a tooth. The head butting move can work whether you are grabbed from the front or from the behind. Yes, it will hurt you but not cause much damage unlike what your attacker would suffer.

4. Women's knees are a natural for the groin injuries as they usually are near the right height to do some damage on a male attacker. The kneecap is quite strong and can render a man temporarily defenseless if they are hit in the groin.

5. Teeth can cause damage too but this may come with a hefty price tag – a chipped or broken tooth or even the chance of contracting diseases from your assailant if you draw blood. You might want to reserve the biting for when you have no other alternative.

6. The feet are always an effective self defense tool. The ball of your foot is strong and perfect for stomping on the attacker's instep. The ball of the foot can also do a bit of harm to the attacker's Achilles tendon as well as the ankle and calf area.

While being attacked does not leave you much chance to think ahead, try to assess your situation at a glance. That way you know when a biting move will or won't work just as much as a head butt or a groin kick. First and foremost is your safety so follow your own body's instincts for self defense.