Brittney Richardson, pictured with her mother, Barb, knocked down a would-be abductor - a man in his 30s. "She did what she was taught," said her instructor, Amanda Christensen.
Posted on 04/30/2006 6:18:49 PM PDT by Graybeard58
WESTMINSTER - Brittney Richardson didn't have to think about her next move when a stranger reached out to grab her last Friday.
She'd been through the motions a hundred times before in karate class, but this was the first time she put them into action.
"Leave me alone," the 14-year-old yelled as the man's hand closed around her small wrist, pulling her toward him.
Instinctively, Brittney swung her right hand and landed a fist on his cheek.
"I heard him thump and (moan) 'Ugh,' " when he hit the ground, she said. "I think it was the fastest I'd ever run."
For two years, Brittney has practiced martial arts at Mile High Karate in Westminster. She's done well. In that time, she's earned a brown belt.
"She did what she was taught," said her instructor, Amanda Christensen, who has a black belt. "And she did it almost step by step."
Brittney was aware of her surroundings, verbalized her warnings, stayed calm and attacked only until the danger was gone. Those are the lessons Christensen has tried to teach her students.
In response to the incident, all eight of the Denver-area Mile High Karate locations will offer a free self-defense class to women over the age of 14 on May 17.
The incident occurred near dusk as Brittney was walking home from the grocery store. On the way to her house near West 92nd Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard, she cut through an apartment complex to shorten the walk.
A white man in his 30s with bleach-blond hair and "really perfect teeth" beckoned to her. As she got closer to him, he started walking beside her.
Then he grabbed her.
The self-described "girly girl" kept her cool as she fought off her would-be abductor, who tried coaxing her with promises of "you'll have fun." Instead, she said, "I punched him in the face ."
After Brittney got home, she and her mother reported the incident to police, who were unable to find the man.
"I'm very proud" of Brittney, Barb Richardson said. "I'm thankful that she had the skills."
Every child should be taught to kick, gouge, scream, run like hell, do whatever it takes to not be a victim.
Good for her!
Every would-be child molester should get even worse than what this sicko got. Great job girl.
Misread once and it's over...better to keep pulling the trigger until the noise stops.
She should have stayed a moment more and given him a karate kick to the groin, and then maybe the police would have found him.
I'll bet that guy got the surprise of his life. Won't see him in the neighborhood again.
misc ping!
She is to be praised.
I only wish you could have killed him after he hit the ground.
Brittney Richardson, pictured with her mother, Barb, knocked down a would-be abductor - a man in his 30s. "She did what she was taught," said her instructor, Amanda Christensen.
Impressive. . .at 14, already aware of what most adults will never learn: that self-defense is a fundamental, moral duty. . .
A 14 yr old girl normally isn't going to be packing heat. This was probably the best thing for her to have done.
Good girl! Way to go!
Is that before or after the matter gets referred to the security council? :)
I hope my daughter has this much wherewithal when she gets this old.
Brittney: "I'll have fun kicking your butt and making sure you spend the rest of your days drinking dinner through a straw."
Color me incredulous. She was defending. He attacked. She was not attacking. Ever.
I hate journalists.
/johnny
Good catch, I skimmed right by that.
It's the journalist's knee jerk lib mentality at work.
The libs may find this successful act of self-defense to be a threat. It's not in their nature to accept it when innocent people prevail over the guilty.
I won't be surprised if the libs begin a push to regulate martial-arts schools in the same way they practice gun control.
Thanks for the photo. Now I have something to aim my admiration at.
I wonder, do you think her dad's intimidated now?
...in the local emergency room. LOL
So police are now looking for a white man in his 30s with bleach-blond hair, who is currently spitting "really perfect teeth."
I don't know what you mean. Why would he be?
I am looking on line now for a karate school near where my 11 year old grand daughter lives, I will pay for it if I can get her interested in it.
Kidding. Her mother looks about the same age as the crook, therefore her dad might be the same age. Surely he's making comparisons if that is true. Just harmless wordplay and speculation, Beardo.
She use karate to 'attack' and it worked? Maybe we should ban it.
I had my daughter take martial arts - it should be taught in school - given credit as gym.
If the schools wanted to do something valuable, rather than indoctrination into homosexuality and socialism, teach them how to defend themselves.
I was in training, years ago, as a teacher for Aikido - but some very effective self defense moves can be taught without years of classes.
We need to teach our children EARLY, especially girls, moves that will allow them a window of escape.
NO
she did the exact right thing. The goal is to get away safe. Had she stayed to 'kick" he could have grabbed her leg and there might have been a very bad outcome.
When a young girl like this is attacked, the goal is to get to safety, not 'capture' the perp.
it's up to you - get her into training now - 5 is a good age to start - YES IT IS
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know.
Kudos to you.
Remember, we never know when or where we may be attacked, therefore the only 'weapon' we can be sure to have with us, or immediately available, are our hands and feet.
We need to know how to use them.
Every time I see a story about another raped or murdered child I think "if only" they'd had a fighting chance by having had defense training...
When the crickets chirp, you can go home!
Just kidding, I think she did the right thing!
Well, it's not armed citizens ping list material but I thought you'd enjoy reading it anyway.
I highly recommend martial arts for anyone, but especially for women and young girls. I've been doing Taekwondo for almost 4 years- it's changed my life.
Cool!
Still, a very happy ending.
The self-described "girly girl" kept her cool as she fought off her would-be abductor, who tried coaxing her with promises of "you'll have fun." Instead, she said, "I punched him in the face ."
Hopefully next time she'll punch lower.
did i misunderstand something in this sequence of events ?
the man was "beckoning to her"and she proceeded to be within his grasp ? in his space ?
first rule of street smarts is you never get near someone acting that way,speaking to you--the same way you never go over near someone in a vehicle calling to you for directions etc.
wrong training regardless of martial arts .
Schools routinely punish kids who defend themselves, right along with their attackers usually, why would they teach them how do it more effectively?
I met the love of my life while taking his jiu-jitsu class. Luckily, he was unethical & had no problem dating a student.
If you want to do damage, go for the knee. Do damage, then run like hell. This girl did the right thing.
Teach her. Grab her from behind. Teach her to go ABSOLUTELY limp. Its amazing how hard she'll be to move. Grabbed from behind - stomp with everything on the instep, elbows hard left and right, from the front - fist/knuckles to throat, palm hard to nose shoving up, gouge eyes, then kick him in the crotch - that's always the last as its expected but once you've put him down - its very satisfying.
In a rape/abduction situation you scream, kick, bite and do everything to stay out of a vehicle. Scream "Fire!". Don't really understand this but lots more people will respond than you cry "Rape!".
;-)
Check with your police department for recommended self-defense classes.
I was taught to drop the assailant and, if possible, to then jump up and down a few times on his ribcage, to inflict permanent damage and/or kill him.
but the kid did all right, even though the perp got away this time.
Yes - I followed the links - still not even remotely funny.
nobody wants to "get involved" in a crime - they might have to physically intervene, and most folks are chicken.
on the other hand, everyone (at least, those who have never smelled human flesh fry) likes to see a good roaring fire.
it is just human nature.
That is an interesting response to this story. Speaks volumes about your opinions of men and their thought processes.
My 18 year old daughter is a black belt and has done some teaching. I'm pretty tough and I am sure she could easily kick my a$$.
I posted some info at #42 of interest and then re-read a post that (#18) I responded to and it may get ugly. Sorry. I just wanted to go back and post a link to interested parties ...
I agree with you about the knee....Chows disable their enemy by always attacking the knee, a cat , aims for the wings of a bird (sorry to say), but the disabling is important, a man with a hurt groin can still run and grab, the ankle is another one....and , of course, the temporal lobe, real hard and he's out!
I agree with you about the knee....Chows disable their enemy by always attacking the knee, a cat , aims for the wings of a bird (sorry to say), but the disabling is important, a man with a hurt groin can still run and grab, the ankle is another one....and , of course, the temporal lobe, real hard and he's out!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.