Every year, there are countless real stories and news about women going missing or being attack attacked by vicious individuals are spreading all over various social media. Many experts and social workers keep telling women all over the world not to go outside alone or try to wear unattractive clothes to avoid assaults. However, asking the victims to behave better won't stop the attacker to commit a crime.
When prevention of the attack is failed, knowing how to protect yourself in such circumstances can save your life. There are so many tips you can use to protect yourself from unexpected attacks and assaults. In this article, we will share these tips for you to learn how to defend yourself from an unexpected attack.
Use Some Basic Defensive Move To Protect Yourself
Kick the Attacker in the Groin
The groin kick or strike is a common technique used to fight against offensive attackers. However, it's not always the most effective one and you can defend against it with some training.
The best way to defend yourself against this attack is by keeping your hands up at all times and avoiding hooks or jabs to the head (this leaves your groin exposed). But if you don't feel comfortable doing that, here are some other ways:
- Because kicking in the groin is a common act in a fight, it is possible the attacker would be expecting you to do it and block your kick. So when you make this move, you also need to think about what to do next if it doesn't work.
- If the attacker is not male, kicking in the groin is still not necessarily a bad idea. However, you should not expect this move would be as effective as against a man.
Hit the Knees to Destabilize the Attacker
If an attacker is chasing you. Hitting the attacker’s knees is an effective method to force the attacker unable to move closer to you. Besides, since the knees are close to the ground, so you don't have to kick really to destabilize the attacker. This also reduces the chance that an attacker grabs your foot when you are kicking too high.
- If you are knocked to the ground by the attacker, try to keep calm and use your elbows to strike the sides of the knees of the attackers.
Punch the Attacker in the Eyes
Humans are particularly relying on the eyes to acknowledge everything around them, and the eyes are also one of the most vulnerable body parts. If you accidentally encounter an aggressive attacker, then you can try to punch or scratch at the attacker's eyes. If you can make the attacker temporarily unable to see, then you will get a huge advantage in the fight.
However, remember the purpose of self-defense is not mean to start another fight but to protect yourself. Thus, while you are ensuring your personal safety, you should also remember not to jab the attacker's eyes too hard, because you are not going to make the attacker blind.
- If you carry pepper spray with you, just use it and spray the liquid on the eyes of the attacker. The pain caused by pepper spray can effectively make the attacker not able to see for a while.
- Remember your actions should not go beyond self-defense, the purpose of hitting attackers is to give yourself a chance to escape.
Understand the Surroundings
If you realized that you are being followed by a potential attacker, the first thing you should do is try to understand your surroundings. For example, be aware of the time of day you are in that area, and know where the exits and where the bathrooms are. If there are any security guards or police officers around, try to approach them quickly.
Some places have cameras on them so make sure to look up when walking through an area like this, if someone is watching the camera, this can draw his or her attention. In addition, many attackers are not dared to commit violence under security cameras, so this is also a good warning to attackers.
Find Your Voice
In dangerous situations, you should always keep in mind to look for help from other people. Because fighting alone against prepared attackers always comes with risks, it is recommendable unless you have no other choice.
Many social experts also say that shouting and screaming is also good weapons for self-defense. If you are attacked in a public area, shouting and screaming at the attacker can attract attention from other people in the same area.
Besides, even if sometimes your voice may not able to reach anyone in some isolated location, yelling is still a good warning in a confrontation.
- Not all attackers are confident about what they do, sometimes your loud voice can also make them back off.
Do Not Miss Any Chance to Escape
When you are in a dangerous situation, the first thing you should always consider first is to run away as fast as possible. When you are confronting an attacker, your priority is to keep yourself safe, even if running away means leaving your family members or friends behind. Because once you ensured your life is safe, you can ask for more help from other people or nearby police officers.
Arm Yourself With Handy Items
When you have to fight with the attacker, try to grab anything you can use as a weapon to stop the attack. Since knives and guns are extremely dangerous weapons, carrying them is illegal in many countries. So unless you are facing life-threatening danger, otherwise you should not use them at all.
If you want to carry something to protect yourself, pepper spray or a kubotan would be better choices. Besides, you can also use a self-defense kit to keep yourself safe when you go outside.
The self-defense kit is a useful item that has been recommended by many influencers on various social media. You can use this item as a brass knuckle, a kubotan, a warning alarm, and a pepper spray container.
- If you decide to carry any self-defense weapon with you, make sure you know how to use them properly. If you got spare time, it is also a wise choice to take some self-defense training or classes. Even if you don't have much time to do that, you can also learn the lessons with online videos.
- The purpose of self-defense is to protect yourself, not punish the attacker. Therefore, you should not use the weapon to take actions that go beyond self-defense.
