Posted on 05/08/2012 4:28:12 AM PDT by marktwain
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A growing number of women are arming themselves with self-defense knowledge and weapons, they say, to protect their families and property from crimes.
Even in the middle of the day, walking alone makes Cindy Curwick a little uneasy. "And suddenly he came up behind me, jumped on my back, and threw me down and put a knife to my throat."
The Fresno mother and grandmother was the victim of assault not once, but twice. Both times when she was running alone.
"I finally got in touch with the rage that, how dare someone do such a thing to me," Curwick said. "Somehow or another I had to find a way to channel that rage and defend myself against it.
Cindy enrolled in the Rape Aggression Defense or "RAD" class at Fresno State. Taught by her own daughter -- Fresno State Police Sergeant Jennifer Curwick.
"It's open to the public, any woman can come. You don't have to be strong, you don't have to be big, it's physical things anybody can do," Sergeant Curwick said. "We're talking about personal weapons, what you have on you all the time. Your head, your voice, your hands, your elbows, your feet, your knees. Then you have the skills and confidence to defend yourself if you need to."
College students Briana and Ashley Jonas say their confidence has grown from learning about guns and how to shoot them.
Ashley Jonas said, "It's just nice to be comfortable with something instead of being scared of it."
Action News asked, "Do you think if something happened, you could defend yourself?"
Ashley Jonas replied, "Yes. If you're in fear of your life, you're gonna use a gun."
(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
A gun in her purse or her pocket may not be of much help in that situation. She should certainly get a gun but the most important weapon she can bring to a fight is already between her ears. She and everyone should learn to be aware of their surroundings and learn to sense the threat before they get jumped.
In Kalleeefornia you will get arrested for saying the word “gun” never mind actually using one.
This just adds to my worry. My mother still lives there, and she’ll be 99 in 3 months. If somebody jumped her, she’d break in two. But, she refuses to move.
I know several people who live in now bad neighborhoods. They've spent most of their lives there and will not move.
Tell your Mom not to jog alone.
As long as they keep wearing MP3 headphones (dunno if this is the case here), no amount of gray matter or training will help.
The key phrase from the article - emphasis mine. Armed or not, practice situation awareness wherever you go -- "reading" people and situations so you can react appropriately and avoid any threats.
She had to be raped twice before she was enraged enough to do something about it?
Just got my firearms permit here in NJ....Waited about 2 months....and I’m going to my first NRA class “Women on Target”......can’t wait.....
There are a lot of interesting martial art exercises for increasing sensitivity and situational awareness.
I read a post on a similar thread where is the poster recommended having a “swivel head”, for me, this is not my best option. The image of someone looking in every direction for trouble, just strikes me instinctively as defensive prey behavior. It appears a certain way, you act a certain way, and your energy follows.
When I walk through urban areas, I always enter a meditative state with the image in my mind that I am a lion crossing a wide stretch of veldt, miles of open grassland, and miles away in the distance is a gazelle. My attitude is focused and intent on something seemingly far away, I am walking as though I wish to make no noise, and yet at a high rate of speed, and my energy, my behavior, is not of a prey animals, but of a hunter. My basic attitude is that I’m trying to creep up on something that I don’t want to see me coming. Just communicates certain body language tips that makes a person looking for a victim decide to let you pass by, and also predisposes you for a maximum response with 100 percent effort for the person too stupid to let you pass by.
At least in my case, I can be staring on the ground walking for miles, but the first person who really looks at me hard stares at me I feel it almost physically and I snap my head right up and look them straight in the eyes. of course, I use my eyes, but in fact I focus more on how I feel about a situation rather than reminding myself to look for trouble if I feel in the zone I trust it and this is where I’m at right now.
Another good exercise for situational awareness is a tool that people use to guide reverse back fists and reverse kicks accurately... some focus on distancing and foot placement and trust to hit in the general area. I found for myself that the training tool I find most effective is wooden pilings, posts, and telephone poles that I walked past in my daily constitutionals. Usually when no one’s looking...LOL Once I’ve walked past a piling, and it is out of my field of vision, I stop without gauging distance or placing my feet any certain way, and deliver these reverse attacks strictly by feeling where the post is. Sometimes I do it gently and stop just before contact just to make sure I’m sharp or for practice, and other times I feel fully confident and deliver a full energy strike and try for a certain tone from the wood. No matter how conditioned your hands are, a strike delivered off center will peel your skin off just like anybody else’s and hurts like a beach. After a couple years of this kind of training, this doesn’t happen anymore.
The intent of the exercises is there more you begin to rely on your feelings or gut instinct like an extra arm, with immediate physical penalties for inaccurate results.
Apologize for the voice text typos and 4 rambling...
I found myself in an Los Angeles Chicano neighborhood one time, in a three-piece suit, and getting mean glances. I hunched my shoulders forward, jutted out my jaw and clenched my fists and kept on going. No one bothered me. Maybe nobody would have, but I felt that projecting a “Don’t mess with the Gringo” attitude eased the situation omewhat.
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