Pepper Spray, Stun Guns, and Tasers… Oh My!

I just read an article about another neighborhood that has become fed up with their escalating crime rates. These residents are no longer going to tolerate these crimes without fighting back. The community has decided to host a Self Defense and Safety Awareness Training, much like many, many communities across the United States.

While these programs inherently seem like a good idea, you must also consider the false sense of security that often occurs after spending the hour or two “learning to fight back.”

I discussed this awhile back using the Kim Kardashian self defense episode from her Keeping Up with the Kardashians show. You can click that link to see that whole blog post.

There are a couple major problems with these one-time self defense classes.

Problem #1: Anyone can claim to be a self defense expert and decide to host a training class. It doesn’t matter if the class is offered for free, or they charge cash. The expert instructor may even be a black belt or otherwise trained in some form of martial arts, but if this individual is not well-versed with effective street worthy defense techniques, you are wasting your time, and unknowingly putting yourself at an extreme disadvantage if something unfortunate were to occur.

Problem #2: Once you learn these “techniques of mass destruction”, unless to habitually train and practice these moves, I guarantee you will forget them. Many people think that showing up for an hour session will grant them the keys to the self defense kingdom, and many times the instructor will reinforce these beliefs before you leave, telling you that you are all set to handle anything that comes your way. Then you leave, never giving these moves a second thought until you are put in a situation where you need to utilize those since forgotten techniques.

Problem #3: You give away your secrets beforehand. This typically happens when you try to show someone else what you just learned, and is one of the exact problems Kim Kardashian’s sister illustrated for us. Khloe went home and told her step-dad everything she just learned, and then tried to demonstrate. All of her techniques failed, crushing her recently inflated sense of security and confidence.

Ok, so how do I learn some meaningful self defense techniques then, you ask?

Well, solution #1 is difficult. You expect an instructor standing in front of a room of people to be competent and trustworthy. Many times, It may not necessarily the instructors fault, he might truly feel he is conveying effective methods for defending yourself, but has no real world experience to back up his claims that sound good on paper, or worked fine in a training dojo on targets who acted out their role in what we would refer to a perfect environment.

My best recommendation is to take anything you learn at one of these classes with a grain of salt. Carefully consider its merit, but also realize that you are not going to gain 10 years worth of martial arts training in an hour or 2. Keep your ego in check.

Solution #2 is easy. Practice, practice, practice what you have learned. Did I say make sure you practice?

The worst thing you can do in any situation, whether we are talking about self defense seminar information, buying pepper spray or a stun gun, or even playing basketball, is to not practice.

You need to practice enough to make sure you are comfortable enough to do whatever it takes, and effectively utilize these moves in a stressful situation. If you have to stop and think what that instructor told you, you fail. If you forgot what pocket you stashed your pepper spray, or never flipped the safety switch before until you had a thug in your face, you fail.

And we aren’t even talking about 3 hours of hardcore training every day. You can “get away” with 20 minutes a couple times a week if that is all you can squeeze into your busy schedule. Trust me, if you are ever faced with a situation where you need to kick someone in the groin, or douse someone with pepper spray, you will treasure all of the practice time you put in. This isn’t like winning a gold medal in the Olympics; well maybe it is, but a gold medal in living if your life just happened to depend on it…

Solution #3 isn’t rocket science either. One of your best defenses is the element of surprise. Most of the time, an attacker is not counting on you to fight back. Kim and her sister’s problem was they told her step-dad what to do, and what they were going to do. So to prove a point, the step-dad did not do “what he was supposed to do,” which flustered the Kardashian sister and rendered their entire “two hour” arsenal useless.

When you practice, you need a good partner but you cannot rely on one way of doing things. A good example is if your technique required you to kick your opponent in the groin. One, you need your training partner to act the part, and act like they got kicked. The problem is: what is the correct way to react to a groin kick? What if they bend over and fall backwards, what if they simply drop straight down to one knee, or what if they collapse forward into your body? If you only ever practiced one way, how would you react if they did something off-script? You need to be prepared for an alternate finish. What if your attacker was jacked up on meth, and just stood there with no effect whatsoever? What if you missed the groin kick and hit them in the inner thigh, that reaction will be less than what you expected? I bet your Self Defense and Safety Training seminar instructor didn’t get in to that great of detail.

This is where enrolling in a good martial arts school could help. It would probably cost you up to $100 a month, but you would get regular training sessions a couple times a week, and some personalized instruction and feedback. Just make sure you are studying at a reputable dojo that teaches effective and realistic self defense. Something like a good American Kenpo or Krav Maga school.

Tae Bo and Cardio Kickboxing are great if you are looking to drop a few pounds and get in shape, but do not confuse exercise classes, sport karate or traditional tai chi styled martial arts with real world self defense. Train where you want; just realize what you are getting out of it.

Another option is instructional self defense DVDs. Now before you condemn video instruction, think about what you are getting and how often you watch YouTube clips to learn other tasks. Sure, you are not going to master a martial art by going through prepackaged white belt through black belt video correspondence courses, but instructional self defense videos aren’t bad.

What you are getting is an hour to a couple hours of self defense footage, but the difference between these DVDs and the training awareness seminar is that you can watch the DVD over and over again, practicing correctly and fine tuning your skills. You do not have to worry about forgetting what you learned 3 months ago and the local YMCA. Just rewind and review over and over, and you may even recognize the martial arts expert in the video, not just some Joe Schmoe local expert…

Or, if you can’t be bothered with learning all that martial arts mumbo jumbo, you can quite simply go the pepper spray, stun gun, TASER device or other self defense weapon route. These items are effective when used properly (meaning buy, practice, carry and deploy when needed).

Just like the self defense techniques, none of these self defense tools will do you a lick of good if you don’t carry them, carry them in inconvenient places, buy it and don’t know how to use it, or if you are simply unwilling to pull the trigger.

Don’t get me wrong, any extra information and awareness training you can get is a good idea. Anything that gets people to pay attention to their surroundings, and warns people to stay out of dark alleys at 2 AM is good. Just don’t fall into a false sense of security thinking you are invincible after a short seminar or that your new keychain pepper spray is a magical shield of protection. And don’t think avoidance is the key, sometimes bad things seek out good people in good neighborhoods or in broad daylight.

Teach yourself the difference between losing your purse and staying unharmed, or fighting for your life or the life of a loved one. Self defense isn’t an exact science; it is full of gut instincts, practical experience and practice, practice, practice.

Every little bit helps, just don’t rely on one sole mechanism to protect you. Always stay alert, use your head and assess the situation – the best you can. That is all you can be expected to do.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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William Wilberforce was a British politician and a philanthropist. He was also a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. Yes, I had to Google him, but I found this quote on a dog training blog. The quote is quite versatile, and has been referenced many times for many different topics. Originally he meant it during an anti-slave trade speech.

“Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way … but you can never say again that you did not know.”
- William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833)

I was just reading a story about a home invasion in Tallahassee, Florida where a suspect was shot. The comments that followed the story were rather odd. Many people agreed that it was good that there was a gun in the home, while some others had a quite different reaction.

I have used the quote “When seconds counts, police are minutes away,” numerous times. Personally I see this as an accurate statement, in that when a crime of any form is actively occurring, you can either defend yourself immediately, or call the cops and wait for them to arrive a few minutes or more later. This is in no way an anti-police sentiment.

Seriously, while you call 911 and wait for the police to show up, do you honestly think the burglar, rapist, mugger or murderer will also wait for the police to show up before they finish committing the act? Do you think they will willingly allow you to even make the phone call in the first place? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that in a few cases, you will get your phone call off. But that is only if you had warning or someone else not immediately involved called it in.

More often than not, your opportunity to dial the phone will come after the incident has ended and the police will be able to come take your statement if you are still able to give one. The cops just cannot be everywhere at all times. It would be nice, but it ain’t happening.

The most troubling comment on this Florida home invasion story was some holier-than-thou guy that was quite offended by someone using the “minutes away” quote, claiming it was riot inciting.

“Who are you to think you are better at protecting yourself than the police?” was his follow up.

Are you serious? Obviously this individual has lived in a bubble his whole life and has never been in any situation where any sort of violence or crime has ever affected him, a loved one, or anybody he knew personally.

I would have to imaging that him facing armed home invaders at 2 AM in the morning that would not allow him to phone for help might be the only way to change his tune. Which is unfortunate, hopefully his bubble is never popped. Not all bad things go away when you turn off your television set. There are for real bad guys in the world.

Some people need that proverbial 2 x 4 to come crashing down on them. Preferably not in a “Last House on the Left” fashion.

And it’s not just William Wilberforce that will tell you “I told you so.”

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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Wrong House Home Invasion Causes Scare in CA
Man Hides Inside Woman’s Sofa, Waits for Her to Come Home
Home Intruder Dies During Struggle
Kangaroo Intruder Terrorizes Family in Australian Home Invasion

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Over the past several years, I have received many, many orders for self defense products. Whenever I get a new order, I check the name to see if I remember them as a past customer making a repeat purchase. If I remember the name, I’ll look back through previous orders to see what they purchased last time. More often than not, they are now buying something for a friend or family member the second or third time.

But this past weekend, I received a surprise order from a name I remembered for a different reason. We’ll call her Amanda. For about a year and a half, I have been receiving “hate mail” as I called it from good old Mandy on a fairly regular basis. I never really bothered me much, and I never felt the need to respond, but I’ve put up with her calling me violent, saying I promote violence, and even once calling me a “warmonger”, all because I sell pepper spray, stun guns and other less-than-lethal self defense weapons.

She obviously visited the website and blog rather often because she routinely commented on various new products and statements I have made on the blog over the past several months. All expressing negative opinions. I just kind of laughed her off, she seemed to have quite a bit a free time. I did wonder if she was singling me out, or going after other dealers too?

Like I said before, I never responded to her e-mails, but she was persistent nonetheless, seemingly knowing I was at least reading them. Since she never purchased anything from Worth Protection Security, I didn’t feel the need to waste anytime dealing with her critique. I’m in business to sell self defense products to willing customers. If I spent all my time trying to convince people that didn’t want to protect themselves that they should, I’d never get anything done. I’ll write some general persuasive blog posts to argue my case, but I’m not going to one-on-one argue with someone. Even If I feel my point is more correct .

Now that I mention it, it did seem like I hadn’t heard from her in awhile, so I guess I was about due for some sort of contact. So imagine my surprise, when the next time I see Mandy’s name, it is on a order form, actually buying some of the products she previously condemned?

Mandy wrote a rather long message in the comment field of the order, which was good, because I was rather shocked to she her purchase. In her comments, she very eloquently states that she was wrong in her past objections, and I was right. She went on to tell me that one of her closest friends was attacked and severely beaten late last month, and is still recovering in the hospital. She is expected to spend several more weeks in bed, but isn’t expecting any permanent damage.

Her friend did, however confess to Mandy “I wish I had something I could have used to defend myself.” Talk about a wake-up call, which Mandy says those words “hit her like a ton of bricks.”

Her order included 2 canisters of Mace Pepper Gel, a couple of Wildfire pepper spray key chains, and a couple other self defense products. I imagine she was tooling up herself and her friend at least.

Unfortunately, the non-believers and even the on-the-fencers wait until something up close and personal happens to themselves, a family member, or a friend before they decided to protect themselves. It took this brutal attack on a close friend to change Mandy’s mind, but it shouldn’t have had to get to that. But, some folks need brutally vivid evidence to walk right up to them and smack them straight in the face.

Mandy did mention that she fully intended to carry her personal protection items from now on, not just buying them and leaving them at home. That is extremely important. There is nothing worse than actually owning a self defense product, and not having it on your person when you need it most. Carrying a stun gun, TASER, pepper spray, or a telescopic steel baton should be as habitual as putting your wallet in your front pocket (tip for you), or grabbing your car keys on your way out the door. I’ll never go anywhere without first patting myself to make sure I have everything I need on me at all times, wallet, cell phone, keys, and self defense items.

This means even on short, quick runs to the convenience store to grab a coffee, or slurpie. That means even when you to go to the doctor’s or dentist’s office, or even the post office. I carry something on me everywhere I go, except for checking in at the airport (but you can pack self defense items in a checked suit case to be retrieved immediately after landing).

As the late, great SGM Ed Parker once said, “He who hesitates, meditates in a horizontal position.”

Don’t be the one that waits, don’t be the one that hesitates, and don’t let a friend, family member or yourself get severely beaten before you are ready to take action. Be Safe, be prepared, and act now. Protect yourself and loved ones now, and avoid Mandy’s situation.

Hopefully you may only need to protect yourself or a loved one once in your lifetime. Personally I hope you never have to, but wouldn’t you rather be ready for anything, instead of wishing you had something while lying in a hospital bed?

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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Your fighting stance is one of the most basic, yet most argued body positions in the martial arts. Every style of martial arts has their own variation of how to hold your hands, where to place your feet, and how to angle your body. And every martial arts practitioner will attempt to try to convince you why their stance is better than yours.

To a degree, each of these variations has it own merits, and fits nicely within the style and techniques of said art. However, many of these traditional martial arts do not translate very effectively to confronting an opponent on the street. I have practiced sport Tae Kwon Do for many years when I was a teenager. It was lots of fun, a good workout and I won lots of ribbons, medals and trophies.

While sparring in a tournament ring for points, you may lose a match and not get a prize. In a life threatening street fight, you could be seriously injured or lose your life. Don’t think a Billy Blank’s Tae Bo workout position will help you much. Sure it is great for cardo, not so great for real self-defense.

So let’s start with the basics. Turn your body to the side, step back with one foot, knees slightly bent, and hands up. Sounds easy enough right? Well, let’s break it down and go into some more detail. We are going to base this version of a fighting stance on an American Kenpo Karate Neutral Bow, but go ahead and simply keep calling it a fighting stance.

Assuming you are right-handed, the first thing you would do is fortify your stance by turning your left foot 45-degrees inwards. Next, you will want to step your right foot backwards, putting your power hand and leg in the back (more on striking in a later post). Contrary to many 90-degree facing styles, you will want your body facing 45-degrees towards your opponent.

Imaging you are straddling a line on the ground. If you were to look down, you want your front toe and your back heel to roughly line up on opposite sides of the imaginary line at that 45-degree angle. If your feet are too far to either side, correct your stance. The more you practice, the easier this becomes and you will soon not even think about it.

Your feet will be shoulder width apart, with your chest, hips, toes and knees facing 45-degrees. Your head will be facing directly in front of you, eyes on your opponent.

Turning to the side will make your body an even smaller width target, but staying at a 45-degree angle keeps more of your weapons available. This stance is slightly more of an open stance than turning completely sideways, but is far more functional with less wasted motion when using your rear arm or leg. Remember you have two feet, two hands, two knees and two elbows at your disposal.

One of the most important pieces of this stance is having a strong foundation. Bend your knees slightly and keep your feet approximately shoulder width apart. You do not want your feet too close or too far apart and throw off your balance. You want to feel comfortable and be able to move around freely and quickly.

Do not lock your knees and stay on the balls of your feet. This will help your speed and help prevent injury from a low kick. Bent knees still have some give; a locked leg has nowhere else to go. Keep this in mind when striking your opponent. If an attacker’s knee can no longer support him, he will be unable to fight or chase you. Two-way concept here.

Your weight should be distributed 50/50 between both of your feet, with your heels only slightly off the ground. Your shoulders should be square over your hips and your back should be straight. If you feel any twisting, leaning or other discomfort, you are probably out of position. Once you settle into it, this should be a very compact, comfortable and natural feeling stance.

The last major component is your hand positioning. You want to keep your guard up to protect your face, without losing protection to your body. Your front fist should be just below your eye level, with your arm bent at a 90-degree, but cocked at a 45-degree angle. Your back fist should be closer to your chin, with your elbow about a fist width from your body, arm also cocked at a 45-degree. Keep your pinkies facing towards your opponent; don’t twist your hand into an awkward position.

Resist the urge and correct any chicken flapping of the elbow. You will need to be able to block shots to your side, rib cage and other vital areas with minimum movement. Your front arm needs to be high enough to protect your face, but not obscure your view. Each arm will accommodate the slight adjustments needed to go up or down depending on the incoming attack, while still protecting your opponent’s main targets.

Remember to keep your hands close enough to your body so that you can properly block, but not too far away, leaving other parts of your body open for an attack. This will take practice, but eventually become instinct.

Don’t chamber your rear hand. If you don’t know what this is, good. There is no practical street application for this. Seriously. Also, if you are left handed, follow the previous directions in mirror image. Once you get good at one side, you will also want to practice your off side too. No exceptions, you do not want to be one sided.

There are many other considerations, especially when adding other stances, moving around, blocking and striking, but we have to start somewhere. “Putting up your dukes” is about as basic as we can get. Practice, practice, practice.

That is it in a nutshell, Fighting Stance 101. As I said earlier, there are several variations, some with minor tweaks, and some with major differences. The best fighting stance you can possibly use is the one you are most confident with and are successful at defend yourself with.

If you had to emulate the fighting stance of a famous martial artist, at least pick a successful UFC Mixed Martial Arts fighter with good form. Stay away from the Hollywood movie actors that have cool looking choreographed fight scene moves and crazy stances. I liked Kung Fu Panda as much as the next guy, but I’m not trusting any of his self-defense moves on the street.

In addition, the Karate Kid’s crane stance only worked once, and that was back in the 80s. Although if you busted it out on the street, your attacker might fall to the ground laughing and you might be able to get away. Not suggested however.

Remember, there is no shame in getting away, you know the saying, to live and fight another day. Nevertheless, if push comes to shove, and shove comes having to defend yourself, make sure you are ready.

It also wouldn’t hurt to sneak a canister of pepper spray, a stun gun or telescopic steel baton into your fighting stance. In fact, get yourself two steel batons and you can go all Jeff Speakman on an assailant. It would take some practice, but Jeff Speakman (American Kenpo Instructor/Actor) is the man. If you can find it, buy or rent The Perfect Weapon (1991). Last time I checked it was only available on VHS though. You can probably YouTube all the good clips if you want.

If you are looking for some more details, you can check out some of the instructional fighting DVDs available, such as Combat Karate with Dale Comstock.

Like I said previously, there are as many fighting stances as there are martial arts or fighting systems. Your basic goal is preventing your opponent from hitting you in the face, while allowing you to strike them in one of their vulnerable areas. If you can do that standing square forward with your arms at your side, more power to you.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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If Michael Vick was still involved on the fight circuit, he might be giving celebrity chef Rachael Ray a call to see if her red-and-white pit bull Isaboo is available.

Apparently this hell hound has attacked at least five other dogs, while going all Mike Tyson like in his last incident, biting off another dog’s ear.

Ray is now “grief-stricken” and afraid for her dog’s life, as he will likely be put down after his violent history. Ray was even injured in one of the previous attacks when she attempted to intervene in her dog’s antics.

This last time, the talk-show host was walking the pit bull down a Greenwich Village street in New York City.

“As the other dog walked by, Isaboo lashed out so quickly and ripped the other dog’s ear off before its handler could pull it away,” says a witness to the attack. Luckily a vet was able to reattach the victim dog’s ear.

Rachael Ray and her attorney husband, John Cusimano offered to pay the medical bills and any additional costs. Can you say lawsuit?

As bad at these several attacks on other canines is, Ray is extremely lucky that her precious Isaboo hasn’t yet attacked a person or worse yet, a child. Which seems may just be a matter of time, given his track record.

So next time to see Rachael Ray strolling down the street, or trying to peddle her All Natural Pet Food Line, make sure you have your Mace Muzzle canine repellent or an Ultrasonic Super Dogchaser before Isaboo makes a 30-second meal out of you or your dog.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

Related Posts:
More Tips for Encountering Aggressive Dogs
Dogs Trap Postal Worker, Attack Car Tires
Dog Bites Boy, Boy Bites Dog. Take That!

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Back in the day (and by that I refuse to admit it was that too long ago), we used to play “cops and robbers” or “cowboys and indians”. Opps, am I still allowed to call that game that or is there a newer politically correct term? When we played video games, we were playing Centipede, Pac-Man and the original Donkey Kong. Yes, the one when Mario was second billed to a monkey.

We used to actually play dodge ball in gym class! We watched violent cartoons like “Bugs Bunny” and “Tom and Jerry”. And it seemed like society was pretty normal, at least it seemed the news wasn’t reporting as much crime and adolescent mayhem.

More recently, children are exposed to the likes of Tommy Vercetti, the popular character from “Grand Theft Auto 4 – Vice City”. He is a perfect stereotypical bad guy that gets what he wants by any means necessary. Not the best role model.

Computer games don’t affect kids, I mean if Pac Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music.
– Marcus Brigstocke

You are always seeing reports about how today’s video games are negatively influencing our youngsters to such an extent that they actually want to gravitate towards violence. The sad part is that some misguided adolescents actually find it funny and amusing, while killing “school mates with a gun”, slashing your dad’s throat with a knife over a video game, or just trying to rob a jewelry store for kicks and laughs.

I suppose this is a far cry from a cat and mouse smacking each other silly with a frying pan or wooden mallet, then immediately getting up and returning the favor before running away. Did we just understand action/consequence better back then? I mean I would watch the cartoons, laugh, and then NOT hit my brother with a frying pan. I knew the difference. What is so different today?

Take for instance that botched “Benson Jewelry and Loan” robbery attempt a couple years ago by Brandon Bowie and Kendall Tealer. Fortunately for the owners, but unfortunately for the would-be burglars, there was a gun behind the shop counter for security.

While Bowie pulled a gun on one of the owners, the other owner pulled their gun on 18-year-old Bowie and 17-year-old Tealer. Bowie was shot and fell inside the business and ended up paralyzed, Tealer was shot then collapsed and died outside when attempting to flee. The authorities found in favor of the store owner, and deemed he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot the two armed robbers.

It was later reported that both of those burglars had a disturbed childhood and a history of criminal activity already at an early age. You can bet it wasn’t from watching “Tom and Jerry”, but is quite similar to something you might see in Grand Theft Auto I, II, III or IV.

Nonetheless, the important thing is that in this unfortunate day and age of violence, you can never be safe enough. I personally consider those people with Pepper Spray cans or TASER Devices for self defense to be much wiser than those wandering around oblivious to the possibility that they may need to protect themselves. Even worse, when you might need to protect a loved one from harm.

It’s nice to think you will just run away and make it, but that is pretty weak when you leave your wife in high-heels lagging behind, or your children unable to catch up.

You see, some people understand that dangerous opportunities don’t leisurely stroll up to you and wait until you are ready after knocking. They just run right up, violently knock you over and can leave you completely lifeless.

Your best bet is to be alert, and be prepared, packing self defense weapons at the ready, backed by having practiced using said items so you are both competent and confident using them. It is NOT enough to have pepper spray with you, if it is buried at the bottom of your purse or if the first time attempting to use the device is at the brink of being attacked. Epic Fail.

Self defense and personal protection, by definition is personally defending and protecting yourself. When seconds count, the police are minutes away. And like that story last week from Toledo, Ohio, you can’t even count on people driving by in broad daylight.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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If you haven’t been formally introduced previously, let me introduce you to Mr. Telescopic Steel Baton. Baton, Reader. Reader, Baton.

A telescopic steel baton is neither a high school coach’s whistle, nor a walking stick. We are talking up to 26″ of solid steel thug-bashing pain-on-a-stick. Not to knock personal alarms which do serve their purpose, but nothing beats a solid whack to the ribs, or hobbling blow to the knee quite like a telescopic steel baton. Just ask Nancy Kerrigan.

When fully collapsed and stored, your baton will only take up about 9″, give or take depending on if you purchased the 18″, 21″ or 26″ models. The sizing corresponds to then strength and size of its wielder. A big burly trucker would probably pack a 26″er, a 5′5″ petite woman may prefer the 18″.

But don’t let the difference between the sizes sway you. Each one is going to get the job done with a quickness and cause some serious injury and trouble for any would-be attacker.

Talk about walking softly and carrying a big stick, quite the physical and psychological advantage.

No one is trying to strongarm you into buying self defense products but you have to believe in the statistics spread over the past few years, all pertaining to violence at different levels. Day by day, our environment is coming up with prominent signs of danger.

It used to be the dark damp alleys you had to worry about, now you could be victim of an assault during your leisurely stroll through the park in the middle of the afternoon, or taking your morning jog before work.

Just last week, there was a story in the news about a 26-year-old autistic woman in Toledo, Ohio that was raped on the sidewalk by a 15-year-old thug on her way to the library. This occurred in the middle of the day, with several cars just driving by. The woman was followed by the attacker, knocked to the ground, threatened with scissors, had her sweatpants pulled off, and was raped while yelling for help in broad daylight. The attacker then stole her cell phone as he fled the scene.

Eventually one woman, who had already driven past, gave the incident she just viewed a second though, and decided to call 911.

Of course the police arrived well after the assault and rape was over. It was even reported immediately after the attack, the victim attempted to borrow the cell phone of a man walking down the street to call the cops, and the man refused and kept on walking. La la la, I can’t hear or see you…

Are you serious?

I’m thinking minimum someone should have pulled over along side, laid on the horn for the duration and phoned the police right then and there. Next best, someone armed with pepper spray, a stun gun or perhaps a telescopic steel baton could have intervened and given this punk a working over. Let the cops clean up when they got there.

The juvenile delinquent was found later, and sure enough, it is reported that he suffers from mental issues. As if that wasn’t evident from his public display of aggression…

I am counting a number of people that could use a good wake up whopping to knock some sense into them.

Just a flick the Telescopic Steel Baton and it will automatically extend itself to the maximum attitude-adjusting capacity. This will engage a rather satisfying sound, as the positive locking system snaps into place. This serves a dual purpose, one to let you know your baton is ready for business, and secondly, your soon-to-be target will know he is about to be pummeled. If he had a lick of sense, he might even turn tail and vacate the area right then and there.

In addition, these trusty sidekicks have a couple of other features besides its low public profile and solid steel construction. It in encased in a comfortable foam handle for easy gripping and maneuverability, and it has an optional LED light to double as a flashlight.

Be Safe, Be Prepared, Don’t Just Stand There, Take Some Action.

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Happy New Year!

To welcome in 2010, I’d like to repost the link to a previous year’s New Year’s Resolution post. Although the old post is still valid, I resolve this year to write a *new* New Year’s message next time.

New Year’s Resolutions: Personal Safety for Yourself and Family!

Make 2010 the year you are serious about the safety of yourself and loved ones. Take your safety into your own hands and protect yourself from harm.

So if you missed it the last couple times around, here is the link again. If you read it last year, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a second glance.

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Sunday, November 8, 2009; 1:49 PM
by Ken Stanton

“I’m making a bold prediction: this year, the bill will pass to allow state-permitted individuals to carry on Virginia’s public campuses; next week, we will be making the case for it.

November 9 – 14 is Defense Education Week, hosted by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus at colleges across the country, where the issue will be brought forward as we advocate for self-defense rights on campus. The argument is simple: there are no grounds to deny the right to carry on campus lawfully and responsibly for the purpose of self-defense.

Campus is not immune to crime, and students, faculty, and staff who have permits should have the choice to carry while on campus, with their firearm being a last resort should their lives be endangered. Such permitted individuals must be 21, have had a background check, and have received training, some of the best measures in the country to ensure responsibility when carrying.”

For the rest of this article, please continue to http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14619/concealed-carry-is-coming-to-virginia-campuses

Pepper Spray, Stun Guns, TASER Devices, Self Defense Products

Popularity: 2% [?]

I have been watching a really good show lately, Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV.

On each Deadliest Warrior episode, they pit two of the most feared warriors in history against each other. Viking vs. Samurai, Ninja vs. Spartan, Pirate vs. Knight… Gladiators, Green Berets, Shaolin Monks, all your favorites get to play.

With real life weapon comparisons and testing, ballistic, forensic and medical expert analysis and computer simulated battles, the show ends with a hypothetical battle, performed by real actors based on the computer’s data analysis. Very 300, Braveheart or Troy like.

Throughout the show there are martial arts or fighting experts of each discipline giving historical background, demonstrating the weapons, techniques and talking smack the whole time.

It is a pretty cool show, even though there is some expert biased and entertainment theatrics thrown in there. The computer can’t take every possible consideration into account, and you can’t actually pull 1000 of each warrior from history and stage an real series of fights to the death and take notes.

No one runs away in these battles. Except the Ninja. While he didn’t run during the computer simulations, the representative Ninja Master did state that he might have just run away and come back to kill the Spartan in his sleep.

So when do you run away?

Demosthenes, an Athenian orator and statesman was also an infantryman at Chaeronea. In August of 338 BC, a great battle took place between the Macedonians and the Athenians.

Demosthenes fled from the battlefield as Macedonia ended up victorious, and 3000 Athenians were killed. Demosthenes was criticized for deserting the battle, but to anyone who called him a coward, Demosthenes responded, “The man who runs away may fight again.”

From that line spoken almost 2500 years ago, the modern day version “He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day” is derived.

So again, when do you run away?

If some punk is trying to steal your wallet at knife-point, you may opt to give it up and hand it over. Hopefully that was all he wanted and leaves. But what if it wasn’t?

What if your kids or spouse was there? I am betting your kids cannot run as fast as you can, or your wife in high heels…

I have made the joke before about the guy that just needs to outrun his buddy, not the bear chasing the two of them. Not really an option on the street… especially with other loved ones involved.

You don’t even have to get all Spartan or Samurai either.

A quick shot of pepper spray just might painfully distract some loser long enough to shuffle your kids to the car and get away or escort the wife to another safe location and call the police. Sucks if you don’t have any.

A stun gun, Taser or other self-defense option may also help. You aren’t trying to stand toe-to-toe in a fight to the death, your intent should be to only stick around long enough to disable your attacker and get away to safety.

Don’t be unprepared. All of the historical warriors had quite the arsenal and knew how to use it. But you aren’t going to need to carry a katana sword, bronze shield or composite bow. Although I bet no one would mess with a guy decked out in a Spartan warrior armor and weapons. At least not to his face…

Pepper spray on the keychain, personal alarm in your pocket, stun gun on your belt. It doesn’t matter what items you choose, just pick a couple and learn how to use them. You won’t necessarily get a spot on Deadliest Warrior, but then again, maybe you can keep yourself out of the Evening News as a victim to a crime.

Be Safe, Be Prepared. This is Sparta!

See Also:
300 Reasons to Learn to Defend Yourself.

Popularity: 15% [?]

American International Group is apparently warning their employees to take “protective measures” due to the public outrage over AIG’s retention-bonus payments. Supposedly a company spokeswoman has confirmed that the memo was indeed legitimate.

MEMORANDUM

To: AIG Employees
From: AIG Corporate Security
Subject: Enhanced Security Notification
Date: 3/18/09

————————————————–

Due to a growing sense of public attention fueled by increased media scrutiny, AIG Corporate Security would like to highlight certain protective measures all employees can take in order to increase their overall safety and security.

It is crucial that everyone remain vigilant during this time and understand that if any given moment a threat is perceived; 911 should be dialed immediately. All other information, suspicious behaviors, questionable activities, etc. should be reported to your local building security as soon as possible. In order to mitigate these threats we have provided the following safety and security guidelines for your review:

- Avoid wearing any AIG apparel (bags, shirts, umbrellas, etc.) with the company insignia

- Ensure any badges with the AIG insignia are not readily visible when exiting the office

- Be aware of individuals who appear to be out of place or spending an inordinate amount of time near an AIG facility and report these sightings immediately to building security

- At night, when possible, travel in pairs and always park in well lit areas

- Avoid public conversations involving AIG and do not engage any media personnel regarding the company

- Immediately report lost or stolen employee badges to Corporate Security

- If you think you are being followed, immediately dial 911

- Do not give out personal information over the phone or via email

- Ensure visitors are escorted by an AIG employee at all times when inside an AIG facility

- Immediately report all windows, locks and doors that are broken or appear to be tampered with

- Question individuals that you do not recognize and appear to be out of place; if you do not feel comfortable doing so, notify building security or your local authorities in order to do so

- Avoid propping doors and be aware of those attempting to “Piggy Back” into AIG workspace

We ask that all employees remain vigilant and report any threats/suspicious behaviors to your building security as soon as possible. Again, if an immediate threat or danger is perceived, 911 should be dialed immediately. Individual Senior Business Managers should ensure that such information is also reported to Corporate Security at (212) 458-2020 following the aforementioned instructions or as soon as practical.

It seems people are rather upset about the use of bailout money by AIG and the threats, protests and other media backlash is starting to concern employees and Corporate Security. Perhaps some more thought before things got out of control may have prevented some of this?

It is sad that there are probably only a couple dozen high level executives actually reaping any benefit from the money while any employee all the way down to mail room staff may now have to look over his or her shoulder if he or she wears an AIG logo shirt.

Not that many AIG employees are probably too proud of the company anyways, but in this economy, if you have the luxury of a job, you probably aren’t too willing to quit and look for another.

Especially with AIG on your resume.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

Popularity: 13% [?]

It’s starting to warm up a little bit and finally feel like spring. I did have some frost on my windshield this morning, but it was nothing that the windshield wipers and some washer fluid couldn’t handle.

But it looks like there are still some frigid spots around the country.

A 71-year-old man from South Dakota successfully fended off a 20-year-old man armed with a knife early yesterday morning.

Rapid City Police say the elderly man was scraping ice off his car when Talon LaClaire pulled out a knife and demanded money. It is reported that the senior used his ice scraper to fight off the attacker. After being bested by the old man with a plastic ice scraper, the robber fled to his girlfriend’s house nearby.

Next thing LaClaire knows, he gets into a fight with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, the 71-year-old called the police, who dispatched a K-9 unit to track the man down.

Apparently with nowhere else to flee to, the would-be attacker surrendered to police without additional incident.

LaClaire was charged with attempted first-degree robbery for his altercation with the senior, then an aggravated assault and domestic violence charges after the argument with his girlfriend.

Definitely not his day.

A robbery conviction could net the man up to 25 years in prison, with an additional 15 years for the assault charge, although I’m sure he wouldn’t get the full sentence.

While not quite as lame as the plastic candy cane self-defense, but you suck if a 71-year-old guy kicks your butt with an ice scraper, Sonny. Hopefully it was at least a long handled ice scraper, not a tiny hand-held model.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Fresh off yesterday’s story of mascot rage on Chuck E. Cheese, today we have McGruff the Crime Dog getting clocked in the face down in DC.

District of Columbia Police officer Tyrone Hardy was wearing the full McGruff ensemble and passing out flyers to a group of kids on the corner of 14th Street and Spring Road in Northwest Washington this past Saturday. You know, the Take a Bite out of Crime drill…

Around 2:30 in the afternoon, a Metro bus pulled up to the curb along side McGruff and the bus driver hopped out. He nonchalantly adjusted the side-view mirrors then walked up to the occupied Crime Dog.

The bus driver, 38-year-old Shawn Brim, trying “to be funny,” punched McGruff dead in the face as the kids stood by confused and horrified.

So while McGruff staggers to regain his composure, kids screaming on the sidewalk, and passengers on the bus yelling at him, Brim climbed back on the bus laughing to himself and drove away.

“But nobody here finds it funny, believe me,” a Metro spokeswoman said. “That kind of behavior is not tolerated.”

Neither did the officers working with McGruff who jumped into their cruisers and pulled him over about three blocks away.

The police mascot who usually teaches kids how to stop crime before it happens, had little chance of seeing the shot coming. The costume has an oversized head with limited visibility. Hardy ended up with a swollen right cheek but refused medical treatment. He did however call in sick on Monday.

“He was in good spirits,” but Hardy seemed more concerned that the attack “upset the kids,” says Lt. Alan Thomas.

Brim has been employed by Metro for over 15 years was charged with simple assault and has been ordered to undergo drug and alcohol testing. He also has a history of arrests in DC, including a prostitution charge in October 2006, possession of PCP in 1994 and the illegal possession of a gun in 1990.

I don’t know what these people are thinking. I suppose the Chuck E. Cheese mouse isn’t a very imposing figure. But you would think that freaking McGruff the Crime Dog, a well known Police mascot, who is probably being worn by a cop, with several police officers standing near by, would be moderately safe from being roughed up?

Am I wrong? Well, apparently yes.

I know there was a funny scene in a movie where someone got into a fight with a costumed mascot, but I can’t for the life of me remember which one it was…

All I remember was the mascot was doing pretty good until the other guy smacked the head backwards and then the mascot couldn’t see anymore and got schooled.

I bet the San Diego Chicken doesn’t have to put up with this crap. He looks like he could hold his own. Perhaps he can give some mascot self defense tips to these guys and show them how to bust out some Kung Fu Panda moves.

It is looking like there might be some people interested.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Gerald McCullouch, former actor on the popular TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was attacked on the New York subway recently. Apparently, he was using his laptop in the early morning hours on his way home to Manhattan from JFK Airport when a man attempted a grab and run.

McCullouch, known as Investigator Bobby Dawson on CSI, told his side of the story to a reporter for the New York Daily News:

“It was about 2 am. I noticed someone cross in front of me. Just as the doors opened, he reached for the laptop. I guess he thought he’d grab it and dash out the door, but I gave him a body shot to the chest.”

“We were in each other’s face. I think I punched him again as the doors closed and the train started leaving the station. I’m watching MTA workers on the platform looking in. I thought, ‘Great, now I’m alone in this car with him.’”

What would Bobby Dawson do in this situation?

“The train was halfway out of the station when it stopped. Then about 10 cops jumped on the train and got the guy handcuffed on the floor. I told them the guy had a knife. They found it hidden under a seat or something.”

The assailant was charged with robbery, assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

First off, I don’t care who you are, at 2 am in the morning on the NY Subway, keep the laptop in your bag and pay attention to what is going on around you. Don’t make yourself a potential target by flashing high value items and looking preoccupied.

Next, unless you are Mike Tyson, punching someone in the chest probably isn’t the best idea. One, it is 2 am in January, in New York City. It was probably just above zero degrees, so I am assuming the assailant was wearing a nice thick, winter jacket. A stun gun is capable of zapping through a couple inches of clothing, but a normal punch to the coat is going to take away from some of the expected impact.

To give the actor the benefit of the doubt, being reported as a “keen boxer” and all, perhaps this was the only clear target available, instead of a kick to the knee or a shot to the nose, throat or chin. Seeing that this “body shot to the chest” only prompted the assailant to brandish a kitchen knife, not collapse to the ground in pain…

Luckily McCullouch’s leather jacket, the assailant’s weak grip on the blade, or perhaps pure luck caused the knife to harmlessly graze his back. Another stroke of good fortune was the “about 10 cops” that happened to be in close proximity and were able to quickly apprehend this guy. There aren’t scene cuts and take twos in real life and a real life CSI team was not required in this case.

Check out some of our tips on public transportation safety or any of our other personal safety tips. The best way to view a crime scene is on a fictional TV show from the safety and security of your couch.

Be safe, Be prepared.

Popularity: 3% [?]

A man in Sacramento successfully used candy cane to subdue attacker wielding a kitchen knife. I can’t make this stuff up if I tried.

Apparently the intoxicated 49-year-old suspect went over to a neighbor’s house on Thanksgiving and began waving a kitchen knife at a group of people gathered out on the lawn. He ended up cutting several peoples’ clothing before one of them decided to fight back.

Luckily, the home was already decorated for Christmas. Yes, on Thanksgiving.

One of the manly men in the group grabbed a two-foot-tall plastic candy cane lawn ornament and fended off the knife-wielding drunk until the police arrived on the scene. I’m not sure what technique was used, whether it was held by the curved end and used as a fencing sword to parry the knife, or if the base was held to use as a make-shift club.

I guess the candy cane is more functional in a self defense capacity then a pink flamingo lawn ornament would have been. Then the guy would have just been laughed at, swinging a plastic bird around…

Regardless, in this holiday version of rock-paper-scissors:
Kitchen knife cuts turkey…
Turkey covers candy cane…
and Candy cane subdues kitchen knife. (No lizard or Spock needed, and like I said before, the flamingo just doesn’t work)

Police arrested the man with the knife was on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and determined the candy cane crusader acted in self-defense as was not charged with anything.

Sadly it was necessary to make that special determination.

If you missed the Lizard Spock reference, it’s from nerdy The Big Bang Theory TV show. They came up with a new Rock Paper Scissor version that was pretty funny if you follow that humor.

“It’s very simple. Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and, as it always has, rock crushes scissors.”

You will need to YouTube the clip for the full effect.

Back to the knife incident, you won’t always get lucky enough to have early (way early, and just because the stores put out Christmas stuff the day after Halloween, it doesn’t make it right) Christmas decorations handy to fend off a knife-wielding lunatic. Or drunken, turkey gorged losers with kitchen knives.

Be alert, have a real plan, and be prepared to defend yourself or your loved ones when necessary. Even Spock can get owned by a well prepared posionous lizard.

Popularity: 10% [?]

During the winter of 1994, I spent 8 weeks in Fort Jackson, SC for Basic Training in the US Army. Out of the 8 weeks, I don’t remember exactly why now, but I ended up at the medical center for most of one day. I missed the half-day session on hand-to-hand combat. Personally, It didn’t bother me a whole lot, I was seemingly well versed in the martial arts by then and as much as I wished I was present at that training session, it wasn’t a huge deal.

Unlike training and qualifying with an M-16 rifle, the hand-to-hand combat training wasn’t a critical task and did not affect basic training completion. Which was sad. Perhaps if I was a combat arms soldier, the hand-to-hand training would have been more robust, but they must have figured us support troops didn’t require it.

Which in retrospect was true. I spent 6 years in the service and didn’t see any combat or conflict time. I was in between Desert Storms, and only spent a year in peace time Korea, while the rest of my duty was in Virginia.

I didn’t have the Afghanistan and Iraq rotations like the troops do now. A report just came out of Fort Lewis, WA where they are attempting to deepen the hand-to-hand training due to the more stressful situations that the soldiers are currently expected to deal with. It is becoming less and less uncommon for deployed soldiers of various backgrounds to be faced with a situation where some sort of physical hand-to-hand or self defense related confrontation may arise.

Whether it is restraining a unarmed, but non-complying Iraqi prisoner, or facing a knife-wielding terrorist, some extra training goes a long way. When 3 or 4 untrained soldiers struggle trying to handle one guy, there is a problem.

Sure these soldiers are trained how to read a map, survive in the desert/jungle, shoot a rifle and a wide variety of other extremely useful military training tasks. But what if they never actually got into a fist fight or other real physical altercation?

“You have a kid out of high school, he’s never been in a fight before, they get a chance to learn what it feels like to get hit in the nose,” says a Fort Benning Army Combatives trainer.

“And then they get over it. They realize they’re OK, it wasn’t that bad.”

During the U.S. Army Combatives School training, “They get their first fight out of the way,” says the instructor. “Because you don’t want the first time they ever get in a fight to be when they’re over there (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.).”

If this sounds too harsh, you are missing the point. We are talking about the men and women who are thrust into harms way to defend the freedoms near and dear to your hearts.

“In some of our units this is ingrained in our culture, the combat arms,” says Sgt. Maj. Frank Grippe of Fort Lewis. “But I’ve got to have it throughout all the units…”

“We owe it to the trooper, we owe it to the families that they come back alive,” he said. “We owe it to the taxpayers that every trooper out there has the most positive effect on the fight, and negative effect on the enemy.”

Many more non-combat arms units are now employing various training sessions at basic, intermediate and advanced levels, and hopefully this becomes ever increasingly wider spread. I wish I had more of this training while in the military, but like I said, I didn’t end up a clueless support troop in the desert hiding behind the sufficiently trained combat arms guys.

So what does all this mean for the vast majority of non-military civilians “safely” living state-side? well ask yourself the question. Have you ever been punched in the nose? Have you ever been knocked to the ground in a physical altercation? Do you know what to do if you are being bullied by 1, 2, 3 or more aggressive individuals?

If you are not capable of handling yourself in a basic self-defense situation, you are doing a disservice to yourself and a disservice to your loved ones looking up to you to protect and provide safety and security.

And we aren’t talking about a scene in a Jason Statham or Jet Li movie where he single handedly takes down 15 men armed with handguns, baseball bats, and steel chains. But I did just read a news article about a man attacked in a parking lot by two unarmed teenagers. The man had about $300 bucks in his wallet, a really nice watch on his wrist and a briefcase with at least an expensive Blackberry and Ipod.

The two assailants, didn’t steal any of these items, they just beat the hell out of this guy in broad daylight and put him in the hospital. No reason was known, the police just ruled this an isolated case of thrill seeking assault. Not too thrilling for the beaten and bloodied guy. Probably his first fight ever.

To use another movie reference, I am also not talking about starting up a local Fight Club like the Brad Pitt and Edward Norton movie. Because we all know the first rule of Fight Club…

Yes, you can learn some basic self defense from a instructional fighting DVD. No, you will not become the next Bruce Lee, but if you watch, listen and practice the moves, you can become proficient in some basic techniques that may help prevent getting hit in the nose, or worse.

Of course, for the less hands-on types, a shot of pepper spray from 6-10 feet away is just as good as a forceful shot to your opponent’s nose. Again, once you practice, practice, practice using it. Spray, run to safety and call the police.

To appease the many “best defense is avoiding bad situations” advocates, I will be the first to admit that if you are not there in the first place, it is better than all the self-defense training and pepper spray in the world. So yes, keep avoiding potentially bad situations, do not go out after dark, and lock your doors with a dead bolt.

But if some bad buy seeks you out in a parking lot in broad daylight, or breaks the window on your sliding glass door in the middle of the night when you are sleeping in your own house, I hope you can still passively avoid the danger. Can’t happen? Read the news; look up assault, home invasion or robbery.

Popularity: 7% [?]

To say I was watching television the other night isn’t exactly true, it was more like I was using the laptop in the living room and the TV was on in the background. My wife went to bed and handed off the remote and the TV just stayed on. After a few minutes the Democratic National Convention came on covering the nomination. I was mostly oblivious until a 5 minute span of applause with Barrack Obama saying Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping) jarred my attention.

Seriously, it went on forever and I tried to just ignore it. But it was the most annoying noise in the world and I was not able to disregard the TV any longer. I grabbed the remote and started clicking, passing a few more stations with the Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping)…

No Thank You Obama, Go away. I’m not sure how much longer this went on after I flipped stations, but I’m sure quite awhile. I wasn’t really interested in watching TV, so I was just looking for something less annoying to fade into the background. I ended up stopping on the Keeping Up With the Kardashians reality show re-run, which I haven’t ever watched before, but it wasn’t as annoying as Thank You. (clapping) Thank You. (clapping)…

Since I was now distracted away from my computer I started to watch a few minutes of the show. The first part I caught was the younger daughter getting busted for paying the local dog walker to do her chores for her. It was kind of funny, she gets $50 to do a few simple household jobs and decided to contract out the dishes, washing the car and cleaning her room to this guy for $20. Not a bad deal until her step-dad Bruce, walks in to the house and sees this guy cleaning the windows in the living room.

So now I’m sucked into this silly reality show to see what else these crazy Kardashian sisters are up to. Then It started to get boring and I started back on the laptop about 50/50. Something about Khloe reluctantly getting setup by her sisters with a dating service… Blah, blah, blah… Eventually after a few lame scenes, the show got good again.

Apparently the 2 lesser famous, non-Kim Kardashian girls own a clothing store. If you are a serious Kardashians viewer, forgive my general recollections of the finer details. I think Kourtney was the one at the shop and this guy comes in and starts throwing stuff around and trashing the place. He rips a shirt, knocks over clothes and throws a drink at her before he leaves the shop. She then calls Khloe who rushed over to the shop and calls the police.

What transpires after the incident is that all of the girls and the mom are now scared for their safety and concerned by the lack of security in the store. Now my interest is sparked again. What are these prissy, giggly, fashion-elite girly girls going to do?

If you said sisters Khloe, Kourtney and Kim Kardashian should take a Karate class, you are correct!

This scene and the next are worth the price of admission. So now the Kardashian sisters are at this self-defense school. The self defense dork, I mean expert instructor starts teaching the gals some moves they can use to help defend themselves. One of the key techniques is some sort of thrusting butt strike, used to defend against someone coming behind you and giving you a bear hug type attack. No, seriously.

Of course this spawns a school-girl like giggle fest between the girls and a couple sisterly comments on something else Kim Kardashian’s butt is good for. Now in Kim’s defense, her butt would probably work well at stopping traffic. However, stopping an attacker on the street… not so good.

So the girls continue to learn some more moves, a couple good elbow strikes, hammer fists, and more butt striking. They even had a guy in a padded suit come out so they could practice hitting a real target. The next couple minutes show the girls both seriously attempting some techniques, but mostly fooling around and goofing off. Surprise, surprise.

The lesson is over and the girls are very confident of their newly learned self defense moves. When they get home, the step-father becomes interested in seeing what they learned. One of the girls, I think Khloe offers to demonstrate. So the step-dad comes up from behind as instructed and applies a good tight bearhug.

Instinctively, Khloe executes a perfectly timed “butt strike”. Sadly, nothing happens. The step-dad now tightens his grip and Khloe, now with a confused and disappointed look on her face tries again, again failing. “Why isn’t this working?” Khloe asks.

Now the step-dad laughs and says “What if I do this?” and picks her up, takes two steps forward, throws her on a chair and holds her down. Kourtney and Kim look on in horror. Now all the girls are upset that their one-hour self-defense mastery course at an upscale McDojo failed.

The mother decides she has the answer to their personal protection dilemma and sets up a special field trip for her and the girls. Next the girls end up at a downtown gun shop and firing range, much to the surprise and discomfort of the Kardashian girls. The mom is dead serious, but the girls don’t quite seem receptive to this idea. Then Kim sees the latest in shooting fashion, an khaki canvas ammo vest. Now that she is properly accessorized, she is ready to go kick some ass.

They proceed to the firing range, where they are given a lesson in using a hand gun and are given the opportunity to fire at paper targets. Luckily paper targets don’t shoot back. Now they are starting to get into this shooting thing. The mother comments on how her girls look like Charlie’s Angels in their designer clothes and high heels while shooting the guns. After blowing away some inanimate objects, Kim asks if there are any bigger guns she can try.

The guy from the gun shop goes and gets the biggest gun he has, an M16 rifle. “Is this what they use in wars?” asks Kim. “Yes,” answers the gun shop owner. “This is what they use in wars.” Kim “Rambo” Kardashian takes some target practice with the M16 and shoots some holes all over the paper target. And not in a tight, well aimed group.

The shooting lesson is over and the mom is all excited about buying hand guns for everyone. The novelty quickly wears off and all of the Kardashian girls are reluctant to actually own a gun and bring one into their clothing store to protect themselves.

And rightly so, after the one-hour karate class fiasco, how can they expect better results after a one-hour shooting class? The last thing you want is Khloe, Kourtney or Kim Kardashian pulling a lethal hand gun in a crowded clothing store. Well, the shop wasn’t ever actually full of customers when I was watching, but still. And everyone except the mom realized that, really quick.

Scary.

To make a point, their brother Rob, and Kourtney’s boyfriend Scott both dressed up in black clothes, masks and armed themselves with fake guns to pretend to holdup the clothing boutique. Unfortunate for the pranksters, Kourtney immediately recognized her boyfriend’s voice when he yelled for them to get on the ground. The girls were however quite scared for the first few moments when the armed, masked men busted in to the shop late at night.

Ultimately at the end of the show the Kardashian sisters hinted that they might consider hiring a Security Guard.

Hopefully they do something smart.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Every time I have to pay out towards the premium of my auto insurance, or my homeowners insurance or my life insurance I think of how much money I seem to be wasting. It seems like I just pay every month to these people and get nothing in return. Until, something tragic happens. And these tragic occurrences are (hopefully) pretty few and far between, if ever.

However, heaven forbid, the rare instance may arise and you may actually be involved in a car accident or your house catches on fire. All of the sudden that few hundred dollars that you seeming have been wasting becomes the smartest investment you could have made.

Personal protection devices or self defense weapons are no different. As a retailer of these products who makes a living selling pepper spray, stun guns and tasers, of course I would suggest that everyone carry some form of personal protection and competently learns how to use and defend yourself and loved ones.

I also hope once you are properly tooled up with a couple items, adequately protected and comfortable using these self-defense implements, I truly hope you are never put into a position to have to use them. The reality is, contrary to the happy-go-lucky Give Peace a Chance songs, there are people in this world who do bad things. Bad things to otherwise good people. For no reason, and at unexpected times.

Most rational people do not drive their car around without automobile insurance, some do, but all the more reason to have liability and collision protection yourself. Most people have homeowners insurance to provide financial protection in case of a loss of property due to a fire. It is just the right thing to do.

However many people are not prepared to protect or defend themselves in case someone threatens their wellbeing. Theft, assault, kidnapping, rape or worse. It can happen, just read the news.

All of the sudden a $4.88 pepper spray seems like quite the minor expense as the bare minimum investment in starting to build up your personal protection arsenal. Of course it is highly suggested that you arm yourself with a slightly more robust personal protection kit than a simple ½ ounce key chain pepper spray. But it is at least a start, and better than the nothing you had previously.

Even the $349 C2 Taser’s price tag in insignificant compared to the life it could save. Your life or the life of a loved one is worth far more than the cost of a warehouse full of tasers. I could count up the number of cases of Tasers in our warehouse, multiply it by the dollar value per case and calculate the net value of the whole lot.

Now you come up with the dollar value you assigned to your life. Or the life of your spouse. Or the life of your children. Bet there isn’t a comparison, no matter how many cases the warehouse can hold.

Sure I am not talking about a 110% guarantee that carrying pepper spray, a stun gun or a Taser will protect you every time, from every possible scenario. Especially if you bury your Taser in the glove box in your car and you get jumped in the parking lot 50 yards away. Especially if you attach the Mace pepper spray to your key chain and never figure out how to draw, aim and shoot your product. Especially if you rely on a hand held stun gun to protect you while making poor situational decisions.

But I love having options, and I love having what I call a slight edge. Something that you can use to your advantage if you need to. When talking your way out of a bad situation is no longer possible. When avoiding trouble didn’t work and you are now faced with potentially dangerous circumstances.

Don’t think it can’t happen to you. You can hope for the best, just be prepared for the worst. Personal Protection Insurance. Don’t leave home without it.

Cell Phone Stun Guns Squidoo

Popularity: 6% [?]

Ever wish you just had a bodyguard? You know like the rich celebrities that always walk around with the big gorilla sized entourage? Madonna, Britney Spears (when she was still popular), Justin Timberlake. They all fork out big bucks, $200,000 minimum per year to have personal security service escorts.

If you are the President, Vice President or First Family, you get free 24/7 bodyguards in the form of the Secret Service. Free for them because us taxpayers pick up the bill.

So what about us regular folk without the infinite bankroll?

”This is cerebral work. For me, it’s 80 percent mental and only 20 percent physical. If you’re good at what you do, it’s almost like playing chess. You want to be a few moves ahead of the crowd, the paparazzi. You’re thinking about how many exits there are, where the car is at, how am I going to get my client out of this situation safely.” says Eric Burrows, one of Justin Timberlake’s head of security.

A good dose of situational awareness goes along way. Even if you aren’t dodging the paparazzi. When possible, avoiding potentially dangerous situations or doing simple habit altering things that may just be enough to keep you safer.

Do you walk to your car with your keys already in your hand, or are you spending 2 minutes fumbling through and digging to the bottom of your purse in the darkened parking lot while standing next to your car? Better yet, have your key chain pepper spray already in your hand just in case.

Sometimes the moons are just aligned against you. You aren’t looking for trouble, but sometimes trouble is looking for you.

It has been shown that some criminals may even prefer to attack families that appear distracted and otherwise vulnerable. Many would be attackers thrive on jumping couples, in groups, and aren’t afraid to nail a guy that is obviously out on a date.

Why? Because they know you are already distracted… and even more important, they know you will likely freeze up for fear of letting anyone get hurt who is under your watch. All these creeps need is one or two seconds of this freeze-up time to get the job done. Boom, car-jacked, kidnapping, robbery… or worse.

So pay attention to what is going on around you. Most of the time, you are going to need to be your own bodyguard, or the bodyguard of a loved one or a companion. This is not a simple thing, if you have no idea what you’re doing.

Even people who trust you may be confused by the adrenaline rush caused by a sudden threat. They likely won’t hear or comprehend shouted instructions, and will likely make wrong moves that could get them seriously injured during a confrontation.

The worst thing you can do is turn your back on them and attempt to take care of business. A common tactic among kidnappers is sending one or two guys in to distract you, while a third creep comes up from the behind and snatches the person they want.

She’s gone, and you won’t even realize it until it’s too late and you turn back around.

Gregg Wooldridge is one of the nicest guys around but he is also known as one of the baddest cats walking the planet. He has put together an essential training package every man should take the time to watch, learn and master called Be The Bodyguard. This special DVD training is not hard, but very, very effective. The first 80% is the proper mindset, getting your head together before anything bad happens.

Be The Bodyguard stresses a companion control instruction that will simply change your life. Understanding how to truly and effectively protect yourself or anyone with you will make you a changed man. More confident, more worthy of confidence.

Do not forget, old people and kids can’t run away. Your girlfriend or wife may be stunning in that tight black dress and high heels, but she won’t be able run away, no matter how athletic she is. Or you may end up being with a co-worker or friend who simply doesn’t know anything about self defense or personal protection.

In any of these cases, you alone are the go-to guy. You are the one who must thwart the kidnapping attempt, stop the car-jacking, or remove the threat completely.

When I say completely, I mean entirely. If you catch my drift.

It can be cruel world sometimes. As a man, we are looked upon and required to be prepared to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Attitude is good and Gregg Wooldridge can teach you this proper attitude to have. You will also learn how to keep your awareness level at the right stage of readiness.

Think about it. How would you respond right now if you were being carjacked? What if you or a loved one was being held at knife point?

Can you effectively protect yourself, your spouse, your child or any other loved one from a robber, carjacker, rapist, intruder, kidnapper, terrorist or anyone else with malicious intent?

It would be nice to believe that nothing will happen to you, but the reality of it is that an ounce of protection could be worth more than a pound of cure. What is Worth Protection to you? Your belongings? Your family? Your personal well-being?

Don’t wait until it is too late. Be The Bodyguard, arm yourself with pepper spray, a stun gun or a C2 Taser. Know what to do, people are looking up to you. Don’t let them down.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Everyone procrastinates. No big deal right?

I hate mowing the lawn. More often then not, the grass in my yard ends up taller then it should be by the time I get around to cutting it. Oh well, no one is going to die over it.

I’m sure you can think of several things you should have already done, but have yet to start. I’m sure you have a slew of excuses on why they haven’t been finished. No time, no money, no motivation, would rather watch TV, maybe someone else will do it for me…

Let’s go back to my yard for a minute.

No time – well that’s debatable, but I can usually find a spare hour if I really try.

No money – gas is pretty expensive these days, but my 2 1/2 gallon gas can in the garage lasts quite a few mowings, especially how often I get out there

No motivation – now we are getting closer.

Would rather watch TV – I can think of plenty of things I’d rather do than mow the lawn.

Maybe someone else will do it for me – the kids can’t grow up fast enough to take over this responsibility, but no such luck yet.

What about a more serious issue?

I get plenty of people visiting my website, some buy, some don’t. I understand people surfing for information, then taking some time to make up their mind. But I’m sure some people are taking an unusually long time to decide or ultimately end up deciding not to bother. Or saying “I’ll get one later”. No big deal right?

Well procrastinating about grass cutting and procrastinating about protecting the safety and well-being of yourself, your loved ones or your belongings is quite a different story.

Seriously, If not now, then when?

Coulda, shoulda, woulda is NOT what you want to be saying to yourself after hopefully surviving an incident that coulda, shoulda, woulda ended up differently if you bought some pepper spray, a stun gun, taser or any of our wide variety of self defense related products.

You never know when you, your spouse, your parents, or your child might draw the attention of an ill-intentioned creep. If that happens and you are not prepared, hopefully the loss is only material related. Stolen purse, stolen wallet. Could be prevented, but no one had to get beat up, raped or killed.

More serious, if the problem did escalate or the money was not the target, hopefully procrastination did not leave you high and dry.

Purchase your self-defense weapons of choice, and practice using them. Know how, when and why to use them. Arm yourself, arm your spouse, arm your kids away at college, or anyone else you care about if you feel they would procrastinate protecting themselves.

Cell phone stun guns are great, no one would notice the difference between it and a real cellular phone. Keychain pepper sprays are convenient and easy to use. You always have your keys on you, make it a habit to carry your keys by the keychain pepper spray canister and always have it ready to deploy if necessary.

I just had a pepper spray order the other day from a 4th degree martial arts black belt, well versed in several martial arts. He told me he believed even someone like himself should carry and equalizer or two.

Have options, know what to do, be aware, be safe and be protected.

You and your family are Worth Protection. Don’t procrastinate any longer.

Seriously, If not now, then when?

Yours in safety,
Rob

Popularity: 5% [?]