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

Canadian actor, Corey Haim was pronounced dead at 2:15 AM on March 10, 2010. Hopefully I’m not breaking this news to you for the first time, like I did to my wife a few hours after it happened. She thought I was kidding.

Best known for his 1980s Hollywood career as a teen idol, Corey appeared in a number of films such as Lucas, Murphy’s Romance, The Lost Boys, License to Drive and Dream a Little Dream.

By far, my favorite Corey Haim movie was The Lost Boys (and Lost Boys: The Tribe, even though he only cameo’d during the credits in the sequel).

In The Lost Boys, Haim played Sam Emerson, whose family recently moved to Santa Carla, California, a coastal town plagued by gang activity and unexplained disappearances. Which ends up being vampires.

During the course of the movie, Sam meets The Frog brothers, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan, who are self-proclaimed vampire hunters. They give Sam a vampire comic book to instruct him on how to defend against and kill vampires. Eventually Sam believes the brothers, and the rest of the movie continues with the guys trying to kill off the vampire gang and save the Emersons. We probably all know how it ends.

For the most part, I think more people would know how to handle a vampire or zombie attack, rather than defending themselves against a human assailant.

Sure some of the tactics differ depending on the actual vampire movie, but the traditional standbys are pretty well known and accepted. For sake of argument, lets just use crosses, holy water, garlic, wooden stakes and sunlight.

I would wager a bet that just about anybody could have come up with this standard list, and would know how to use each item on a traditional Hollywood vampire. Let’s face it, even if you don’t like vampire horror movies, you have seen or heard enough about them to know this without thinking very hard.

Zombie self defense in traditional horror movies is slightly more involved, but I’d also bet that once you heard the methods, it is something you would remember. Killing a make believe zombie is memorable because it is unusual and uncommon. Seeing a zombie movie and learning the techniques is one of those “I’ll never actually need to use this, but for some reason this is burned into my mind because it is interesting.”

Think of all the other stupid meaningless trivia stored in your bin of useless knowledge. You will never forget why the chicken crossed the road. You will always remember what came first, the chicken or the egg. Ok, well maybe not that one.

But what about some simple tips about defending yourself or loved ones from a human being with criminal intent? Rapist, murderer, run of the mill thug wishing to do you harm?

To be honest, even if you can recall Tips 1-8 out of the list of top 10 self defense tactics, you may not be in any better shape than if you splashed the thug with holy water or crushed garlic (although garlic juice to the eye wouldn’t be pleasant.)

Not even the Hollywood vampires will follow a standard script, just like certain vampires in certain movies will act differently when exposed to certain tactics. Just ask Corey and the Frog brothers.

Self defense is much more than memorizing a set list of moves. You need to train your mind and body to enter a dynamic state of awareness and a dynamic course of action. No two attacks or scenarios will ever be the same.

Without getting into a ton of details in this post (more to follow), truly your best line of self defense is recognizing a potential threat well in advance, and avoiding the situation altogether, before it even happens. When possible.

In the cases when this is not possible, and a situation wasn’t noticed until the last minute, or no forewarning was given, you need to employ a dynamic course of action.

Dynamic means ever changing, depending on any new environmental variable that is introduced. Go with the flow, but know who, what, where, when and how. This is not following a set script. This is having a well defined bag of tricks, if you will. Depending on what happens, you need to be able to employ a custom solution, and if some variable changed mid stream, you need to be able to quickly adapt to that change, and dynamically change to a new appropriate course of action.

Think of something you are really good at, such as your job or even your favorite hobby. How many times at work do you effortlessly “put out fires”? Big or small, things of all sorts go wrong or unexpectedly at work, and with out batting an eye, or with only minimal effort, you solve the problem and carry on with your day. These actions are normal occurrences, or things that you have trained to handle over and over again. Or you have enough working knowledge and experience that you can dynamically adapt to any given situation and take care of it.

Let’s categorize three types of home handyman. The professional, the handy-around-the-house husband, and the totally clueless.

The totally clueless person may call a professional electrician to come change a burnt out light bulb. The handy-around-the-house husband may be handy enough to install a ceiling fan in place of a ceiling light fixture. The professional electrician would be able to convert a fuse box to a circuit breaker box and rewire the home if necessary. Of course there are also several other in-betweens. It all depends on how comfortable that person is with what needs to be done, and how dynamic the actions of the person are if something else happens.

What happens if the husband successfully installs the ceiling fan, and then 1/2 the house’s power goes out? Can he fix it or does he call the electrician? Break out the Time-Life Home Improvement book and see what happens.

On the street, you can’t break out a manual, and calling a professional is not always practical. Hopefully you have enough self defense know how to get by. Depending on the situation, you may need to come out swinging. You might need to play along and wait for an opening to attack or flee. You may be able to just hand over your wallet and end it.

But you have to have the bag of tricks down and be ready to adapt to the situation, without going all deer in the headlights. You don’t necessarily need to be a 10th degree Grand Master martial artist either. Have a plan, have some options, be handy-around-the-street. Practice in your head, practice in person.

I’ll follow up over the next few weeks with some ways to turn some traditional self defense tips into a dynamic self defense mindset. It’s not that hard, doesn’t require taking a lifetime of devotion to gain martial arts mastery, but it can help you think like a professional martial artist and take charge of your personal protection.

Self Defense – Defending one’s Self. – Go with the flow, adapt, overcome.

Be Safe, Be Prepared. Rest In Peace Corey.

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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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To borrow one of the anti-gun control slogans “Guns Don’t Kill, People Do”, I’d like to offer the following:

“Stun Guns and Tasers Don’t Kill, People Do”

If a person really wanted to kill or otherwise injure you, just about any object could work. A steak knife, a tire iron, a two inch thick tree branch cut into a club, even a ball point pen used in a certain manner… Equal opportunity at its finest.

Yet you will not find crazed opposition picketing in front of Bic Pen Headquarters or otherwise trying to ban and regulate pen use.

But seriously, even if some sort of ridiculous legislation was passed to specifically make it illegal to stab and kill someone with a ball point pen, it would not stop a criminal from doing so. Criminals could care less what the laws are. Best case the killer may opt to use a legal mechanical pencil instead… yeah right.

Let’s for the sake of argument, we use the newer, politically correct term of “Less-than-lethal” self defense weapon, since “Non-lethal” falsely implies that a fatality could never occur… (insert eye roll here)

So now a police officer, doing his unenviable job of keeping the peace, and protecting the public comes across an unruly person resisting arrest or attempting to harm someone. It does not matter if this person was pulled over for speeding or is being chased down the street after robbing a liquor store with a gun.

The uncooperative suspect is going to be tasered if he does not comply with the orders of the police officer. Stop means stop, no means no. If the officer does not have a “less-than-lethal” TASER Device as an option, he is left with his baton or gun.

But then you are going to have people question their judgment while trying to uphold the law, protect civilians, and keep themselves safe in the process? I’m not talking about blatant Rodney King style police brutality, which is wrong and would need to be dealt with on a case by case basis. No one is arguing that. I’m simply talking about police officers doing their jobs, apprehending the bad guys, and protecting themselves from those who resist arrest. And OMG possibly having to use a TASER device!

It is so easy for those not in harm’s way condemn something, but these same people would be wishing they had a stun gun or a TASER device if they were being beat half to death by some thug in an alley. That is unless they would just rather have their cell phone to call 911 instead, I mean violent criminals have rights too, who are you to fight back…

Did you see that story the other day about the math teacher who tackled a shooter in a Colorado school parking lot? A 32-year-old gunman was walking through a middle school parking lot with a bolt-action hunting rifle, taking shots at students. He shot 2 kids before David Benke tackled the man, and wrestled him to the ground.

What the hell is wrong with some people these days, you may ask?

Good question. You just never know when minding your own business, some random lunatic with a gun, baseball bat, pocket knife or machete might turn his head funny and trigger a chemical imbalance induced act of violence.

Personally I’d rather have a telescopic steel baton and some pepper spray first, then my cell phone to call in the cleanup crew afterwards. Unless there is a real “protect and serve” police officer already standing there. But I’m not going to wait around and take a beating, especially if there is only a “observe and report” security guard watching from a safe distance.

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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When the air gets frigid, and the snow starts to fly, it’s just a simple fact that things start to slow down. No one likes to brave the cold weather more than they have to. This in turn, means less people to target and fewer criminals out to commit their acts. Like supply and demand… and being lazy.

Sure there are still burglaries, muggings and whatever other nasty crimes going on in the winter, just less of them. Let’s face it criminals are lazy. You go out and get a job, work hard, make some money, cash your check and then some loser on the street mugs you and steals your wallet, iPod and cell phone. Why work when you can just rip off someone else who does? Hrrm, that kind of sounds like this redistribution of wealth crap, Obama’s answer to the US economic troubles? Well that’s another story.

Back to lazy criminals. So basically you have fewer criminals willing to camp out behind the bushes in the freezing cold or less hoodlums hanging out on the streets causing trouble because it just isn’t fun to stand around freezing your butt off. And it’s just too hard to run away with your loot in 2 feet of snow and on icy streets.

Many of the areas that have been recently affected by the sudden back-to-back(-to-back) Mid-Atlantic blizzards have noticed a temporary lull in criminal activity. Don’t get too excited, it won’t last long.

Once the streets get plowed or the snow starts melt, the stir-crazy thugs will be back in business. The economy isn’t getting any better, and the criminals are not getting any less lazy.

Once the good weather hits and spring has officially sprung (it isn’t too far off, no matter what that stupid groundhog says), the thugs will be back in full force.

Get yourself ready now; don’t wait until the streets are hopping.

If you are living in a location that isn’t experiencing Jack Frost Winter Wonderland conditions, you probably are not getting any seasonal breaks and should be tooled up year round. Just in case. You never know when the next lazy thug may target you for a redistribution of your wealth… or worse.

Be ready to redistribute your supply of pepper spray or voltage from your stun gun. Fair is fair, right?

Be Safe, Be Prepared.

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The term Self Defense is actually a misnomer, what you really want is Self Offense. But it is 10 times harder to market self offense, everyone wants to hear self defense. It sounds nicer. To most people, offense is what the aggressive, black cowboy hat wearing bad guys do. Offense is what the street thugs with bad intentions do. No good person wants to be like the bad guys…

OK, so lets reverse the thinking for a minute. Do you want to chase or be chased? Think cheetah vs. antelope. The chaser always has the advantage, and the chased only has to be caught once. Then it is over. Dead antelope.

But what if the antelope decided that at the split second he was about to be chased – he would turn the tables and attack the cheetah? Sure the cheetah is stronger and faster, but what if the antelope forcefully and unexpectedly kicked the cheetah in the throat? Or gouged out his eyes? Hey, the cheetah started it. Or, less realistic for the antelope example, but when we revisit the human being scenario, what if the potentially chased person was armed with powerful pepper spray or a cell phone stun gun?

You want action to action, not reaction. As soon someone conveys their intent to harm you, BAM! It is on. Shift your gears to the offensive and make the creep sorry he made the mistake to mess with you. Be it with pepper spray, a TASER C2, a Stun Master stun gun or a flurry of martial arts strikes and kicks, let him have it.

Be Safe, Be Prepared, Take Control of the Situation.

Action to Action, it won’t make you a bad guy, and it may save your life.

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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 you like Seth Rogen movies and haven’t seen “Observe and Report”, it’s pretty good. Much better than “Paul Blart, Mall Cop” in my opinion. Both movies poke fun at the rent-a-cop stereotype.

However, the following rent-a-cop story from Seattle is no laughing matter.

Surveillance video captured a brutal assault on a 15-year-old girl by a group of 10 teenagers in an underground Seattle Metro bus tunnel. Apparently the altercation started street level, and eventually made it’s way into the Westlake Station.

The victim was being harassed by the group of 8 guys and 2 girls in a department store, and they followed her into the bus station where the verbal assault turned viciously physical.

The victim is pushed off of the platform, into the bus lanes, and then gets mercilessly beat down, at least 10 punches to the face and head, kicked and stomped in the head a 1/2 dozen times, and then as the victim lies motionless on the ground, she gets stomped in the head again for good measure.

When they were finished, the gang of hoodlums took off with the girls purse, cell phone and iPod.

How can such a travesty occur at 7PM at night? Weren’t there any bystanders that could have come to her aid? Weren’t there any security guards on duty?

Of course there was. A bus full of people watched the events unfold from the safety of the bus. Worse yet, at least three contract security guards, in uniform (bright yellow jackets, big bold SECURITY written across the back) stood by and Observed, and called in a Report by radio, but offered no form of assistance what-so-ever.

“All of the passengers, we were all up against the side looking, like, who is going to do something? Do something, do something!” said a witness that was sitting in the parked bus next to the attack. “Why on earth are there three security guards standing there watching it? And actually allowing her to come back and kick her in the head again!”

Even when the beating is over, and the guards could safely do something, you see on the video that none of the guard even bend down to check on the girl to see if she is breathing or needs any help.

“Really? You’ve got three male security guards and there’s a young girl getting kicked in the head, lying on the ground, motionless? And they couldn’t do anything? Doesn’t seem like security,” says the witness.

The guards from Olympic Security Services are not trained police officers or even Metro Transit employees. Apparently this is quite the cushy job, just hang around in the tunnel and talk on the radio. Not like they have to secure anything.

“If you’re not there to help out in these circumstances, then why are you there?” says the witness. Good question.

According to their outdated contract, the guards are under “observe and report” orders and are not supposed to get involved.

“You look at what’s happening to the victim and you say something got to be changed, that’s just not going to be acceptable. We’ve had that ‘observe and report’ for years in our contract and this incident clearly shows that we need to change that.” says Metro Transit General Manager Kevin Desmond.

The opinion of most of the people who’ve seen the surveillance video commented that common decency should have prevailed in this incident, not contractual language.

Authorities were able to track down a number of the assailants and make a couple of arrests. They also report that the girl will be OK.

So what can we do differently here?

First off, if the $10 an hour rent-a-cop security detail isn’t getting trained or paid enough to actually do a damned thing, get them the hell out of there. Use the combined saved salary and stick a real cop or two in there.

Or you can train the security guard to do his job, pay him a real wage and give him some pepper spray, telescopic steel baton and a TASER device. I still can’t believe they just stood there, trained or not.

What ever happened to people like that good Samaritan in San Diego? How can a bus full of people just sit there with their faces pressed up against the windows watching?

How old is old enough to carry self-defense items?

It wouldn’t be the best idea to further arm the teenage hoodlums that attacked the 15-year-old girl. But what about the victim? Well, it would depend on the individual. If you feel your child is mature enough to handle carrying a key chain pepper spray, you never know when it would come in handy. Typically personal alarms are suggested for younger teens, but in this case, I doubt an alarm would have drawn any additional attention.

By definition, self-defense, means just that. The art of defending yourself. Obviously you can’t always rely on others to come to your aid, even in a crowded bus station, with security guards standing around eating doughnuts.

When seconds count, the real cops are minutes way at best.

Be Safe, Be Prepared to Defend Yourself.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Day by day it is becoming hard to live peacefully and life has become even harder for women all over the world. We aren’t talking some post-apocalypse degradation of society like in those futuristic movies, but cases of theft, break-ins, robberies and rapes in the news are just as common as the daily sunset. So what exactly can people do in sticky situations which pit them against nasty miscreants?

Begging sounds good but it doesn’t even wiggle a tick on their ears so it’s best to give them some of their own medicine. Carrying a pepper spray is just too easy, and a small burst of OC spray may be just enough distraction to increase your success at running away.

Another impressive self-defense innovation is the “Stun Master Telescopic Stun Baton”. These batons can serve a couple different purposes such as:

- You can use them effectively as a flash light
- There’s an in-built alarm system which is shrill enough to pierce your assailant’s ears
- More importantly, just flip the safety and press the trigger and your Telescopic Stun Baton extends into a High-Voltage (800,000 volt) shock emitter

This stun baton is capable of causing muscle spasms, mental disorientation, fear and confusion against your target. Once you have purchased this product, just charging it up (it’s rechargeable, no batteries needed) and strap it to your hip. Your Stun Master Telescopic Stun Baton will make those predators cringe with jolts of pure electricity while simultaneously alerting those passer-bys through its high pitched 120 decibel sound.

The best feature is the telescopic reach. It is 21.5 inches long when fully extended, keeping extra distance between you and your attacker. If your attacker has a stun gun himself, or a knife, you want him as far away from you as possible.

The next time you go out on that hiking trip, stroll in the park or just a picnic in lush green woods, make sure you have Stun Master Telescopic Stun Baton with you. You just never know. We understand that deep down inside, every human being demands a safe and secure environment. Although, we can’t make this world a perfect place, you can certainly gain an upper hand through self defense products.

We get many questions asking on if  Telescopic Stun Batons would be effective on defending against dog attacks. Many of the described attacks are vicious attacks on other dogs and their owners, usually causing injury or trama to the pet. Often, there are more than two dogs are involved and breeds like American Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and other large dogs are typically blamed.

As we certainly do not advocate cruelty or mistreatment of any animal, we do believe in the safety and security of our customers first. Everyone has the right to defend themselves,  others, and their pets from unwanted injury or attack. We have been getting several cases of positive feedback on the effectiveness of these Stun Master Telescopic Stun Baton when used in defense against attacking dogs

The effects of a less-than-lethal stun device on a canine is similiar to the effects on a human, and in many cases, the dogs are smaller in size allowing the device to work quicker. No man, woman or animal wants to go toe-to-toe, or paw-to-paw with 800,000 volts of attitude adjusting voltage, while the extended reach of the telescopic stun baton is ideal for keep some distance between you and the animal or reaching the shorter animal without bending down to its level.

Be Safe, Be prepared. 

Popularity: 3% [?]

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.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Electronic road signs are getting hacked in some states and are warning of zombies and raptors down the road. I hate it when the zombies mess up my commute!

Traffic safety officials aren’t amused.

One of the latest breach came during Tuesday morning’s rush hour near Collinsville, Ill., east of St. Louis. The southbound Interstate 255 displayed, “DAILY LANE CLOSURES DUE TO ZOMBIES.”

Similar pranks have been reported recently near Indianapolis and in Austin, Texas.

The Illinois Department of Transportation are concerned that such pranks distract drivers from legitimate hazards down the road, perhaps endangering road crews. Because zombies and raptors aren’t enough of a nuisance, now we have distracted drivers to worry about…

Tampering with official traffic control devices is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $250 fine in Illinois.

Being eaten by a zombie or raptor in rush hour traffic… Priceless.

I found some Zombie Self-Defense Tips (if you choose to ignore the roadside warnings) from How Zombies Work (HowStuffWorks).

Zombie Self-Defense

Whether featuring traditional, shambling zombies or a newer, smarter breed, most movies and games agree on how to survive a zombie attack:

1. Don’t panic.
2. Get away from the zombies. Most of the time, you can move faster than they can.
3. Gather food, water, an emergency radio, flashlights and weapons, and retreat to a secure location.
4. If possible, retreat to a shopping mall, general retail store or other location where you’ll have easy access to food and supplies.
5. Stay away from densely populated areas, where the infestation is likely to be heaviest.
6. Barricade all entrances and stay put at all costs.
7. Don’t get surrounded or backed into a corner or other enclosed space.
8. Remember that anyone bitten or killed by a zombie will become a threat to you and your party.
9. Wait patiently for rescue and make long-term preparations for your survival.

Also, avoid common mistakes like:

* Sheltering in a vehicle to which you do not have the keys
* Leaving blades, cudgels or other basic weapons out for zombies to find
* Teaching zombies how to use firearms
* Giving your only weapon to anyone who is hysterical
* Retreating to a basement or cellar without taking supplies with you
* Getting into an elevator in a building infested with zombies
* Letting personal feelings and arguments get in the way of survival

DISCLAIMER: Yes, this post is meant to be humorous. Zombie Self Defense tips are not 100% guaranteed to work against real zombies, but may prove helpful. All bets are off if you run into a pack of wild Raptors.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I just saw a story about an Atlanta woman who saw a policeman struggling with an suspect on the side of the road and grabbed her stun gun and went to his aid.

Tanisha Cross, who recently got a stun gun this past Christmas from her husband, never thought it would come in handy so soon.

Apparently Cross was headed to the Wal-Mart in Lithonia with her mom when she noticed a DeKalb County police officer being attacked by a suspect.

“I just told my mom pull over, … let’s try to help,” said Cross.

The 20-year-old mother kept her new stun gun in her diaper bag, just in case. She said that while others were gathering around watching what was happening, she sprung into action.

“I went straight for my kid’s diaper bag and I got it and asked it if he (the officer) wanted me to do it and he said, ‘Yea,’” said Cross.

The officer appeared to be having a hard time defending himself because the suspect had taken the officer’s radio and managed to rub some pepper spray in the officer’s face and eyes.

Giving the attacker a hefty jolt, Cross’ timing couldn’t have been better, stunning the suspect in his arms and legs.

The officer was able to regain his composure and fight back until a security guard came to their aid.

“He’s brave,” she said. “He did his best to keep him from his gun. He handled the situation very well. I was just glad I could help him,” said Cross.

Cross doesn’t consider herself a hero, although the officer appeciated the well timed and effective assistance.

“I’m just a bystander trying to help do the right thing,” said Cross.

I’ve got another interesting story about a little old lady in Florida who used a pepper spray on a guy trying to rob the convenience store she was in.

I will post it later on, but until then Be safe, Be prepared.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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% [?]

“I know what you’re thinking, ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ But to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

I didn’t win Powerball last week. It was somewhere in the neighborhood of $165 million. Some lucky soul in Indiana hit it. I believe the odds of winning are around 150,000,000 to 1, give or take a couple hundred thousand (which is twice as likely as the 300,000,000 to 1 chance of being killed by a shark, cue the Jaws music)… But whatever the odds are, be sure they are not in your favor. However, those with no lottery ticket have absolutely ZERO chance of winning, so if you buy a ticket, at least you have that micro-chance of god shining some favor on you.

I read this story last week about a guy, down on his luck in Kentucky. Apparently, he walked into a building, which to his credit, was in fact a bank at one time. However, presently it is an office that takes payments for water bills for the Jessamine South Elkhorn Water District.

So the guy walks in to what he still thinks is a bank, flashes a gun and demands some money. One of the office employees tells the guy they don’t really have money on hand (just checks), to which the robber says “I know you have money. It’s a bank.”

Having to be convinced the establishment is no longer a bank, the confused robber left the building empty handed. What are the odds of that?

Sometimes if it wasn’t for bad luck, some of us would have no luck at all.

A 26-year-old man from Worcester, Massachusetts was shot multiple times in front of Golden Pizza this month. Sadly, last April the same guy was shot multiple times, in front of the same pizza joint. It looks like the man will recover again, but I am thinking he will want to avoid this general area after being shot on two separate occasions.

Come on guy, if Golden Pizza doesn’t deliver, I’m sure someone else in the neighborhood does. Just stay at home. Or buy a lottery ticket. After your past year, you may be due some good fortune.

Did you know the odds of a your house being hit by a meteor is a mere 182,138,880,000,000 to 1 but your chance of dying from a part falling off an airplane is 1 in 10,000,000?

The odds of being struck by lightning typically range 500,000-576,000 to 1 but most people actually survive if hit, with the odds of being killed by lightning at 2,320,000 to 1. Running around during a storm with a large metal pole or flying a kite with a metal key attached would swing the odds back into your favor of taking some damage, but I’m thinking most normal people are generally safe.

So with most odds, there are always circumstances that can vastly increase or decrease your chances depending on what actions you choose to do. Not buying that lottery ticket at all, jumping into shark-infested water with a bleeding wound, etc. Nevertheless, sometimes, no matter what precautions are taken, you cannot always beat fate.

Sure you can take measures to prolong life, such as eating well, exercise… but you have a 1 in 1 chance of death at some point whether it is by shark, meteor, lightning, auto accident, old age… eventually mortality will kick in. Sorry.

Since this is ultimately a self-defense and crime related blog have you ever considered the odds of crime happening to you or a loved ones?

Without a real personal sense of frequency, statistics state one violent crime occurs every 22.2 seconds, a property crime every 3.2 seconds, a larceny-theft every 4.8 seconds, a burglary every 14.4 seconds, a motor-vehicle theft every 26.4 seconds, an aggravated assault every 36.6 seconds, a robbery every 1.2 minute, a forcible rape every 5.7 minutes, and a murder every 30.9 minutes according to the 2006 FBI Crime Clock Stats.

But what does that actually mean to you?

Well, independent of other considerations, your chances of being the victim of a serious crime in your lifetime are about 1 in 20. Drop the “serious” qualifier and your chances of being the victim of a crime in your lifetime are about 1 in 7.

Hopefully, that means someone steals your lunch out of the office fridge and your cosmic quota for being a crime victim is satisfied. More realistically, you or a loved one has a relatively good chance of encountering an unpleasant situation when crime rears its ugly head.

Locking yourself in a fortress and never leaving would be an effective measure of personal protection, but extremely unpractical. Since we all have to live life and interact with the real world, we have collected a number of safety tips for you to consider and leave in the back out your mind. You never know when you may recall one of these tidbits and possibly inadvertently prevent a dangerous situation by employing some common sense, but often overlooked tips for many common daily situations.

We also strongly encourage carrying some sort of personal protection device. Our extensive line of self defense products are of the highest quality and have been proven time and time again that they are effective.

Hopefully, you will never need to use our products in a self defense situation. It is far better to have it and not need It… Then to need it and not have It… Think of it like automobile insurance, except for your personal safety.

However, if you find yourself requiring a means to defend yourself, your family or your home, we have made it our specialty of offering non-lethal ways to accomplish. Your self-defense arsenal may be comprised of stun guns, pepper sprays, Mace, tasers, keychain kubotans, telescopic steel batons, folding knives, instructional fighting DVDs or other featured products.

Once your assailant is incapacitated, run to safety and call the police. This products do not prevent crime from ever occurring, they assist in defending yourself and getting away if and when something unpleasant occurs.

Again, whether it is 1 in 20 or 1 in 7, and after you add or subtract personal habits, environmental concerns, neighborhood safety, Murphy’s Law or your degree of good or bad luck, I’d still wager the bet that it would be a good idea to tool yourself up and be prepared.

Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?

Popularity: 4% [?]

So much for Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee he is not. Apparently a ninja, or at least a lame attempt at being one unsuccessfully attempted to steal two different ATM machines in sunny Florida over the past few weeks. One outside a bank, one outside a Walgreens.

Authorities in West Palm Beach were reviewing some surveillance footage of a hefty man, squeezed into an authentic looking ninja costume. All that was visibly was the overweight man’s eyes, aside from the bulging beer gut hanging over the belt line. Not exactly a martial arts poster child, Bruce Lee would be sad. Kinda reminds me of the old Chris Farley Beverly Hills Ninja movie.

It was not disclosed actually how the man was attempting to sneak off into the shadows with the ATM machines or the loot contained within, but I’m sure it was more covert than the guy in Ohio.

This guy stood in line at a Stow, Ohio bank for several minutes, with a ski mask on. He politely waited his turn and approached the teller, who then asked him to remove his mask before being served.

As if his intentions were not yet clear, it was then when the ski-masked man produced what ended up being a toy gun, and demanded an undisclosed amount of money.

Much to the surprise of this not-so-stealthy robber, the police were tipped off a few minutes before the attempt, and were able to arrest him rather quickly after a brief car chase. I don’t know, perhaps someone noticed this guy while he waited in line and reported suspicious activity?

The last story for the day is more self-defense related, but involves punching a shark.

Looks like an Australian surfer unloaded his fist into the side of the head of a shark while it bit the leg of his 13-year-old cousin and dragged her under the water.

“He’s extremely brave in his actions. He’s probably saved her life.” says a local police officer.

The two were surfing off Tasmania on Sunday when a 16-foot white-pointer shark grabbed the girl by the leg and dragged her under. Her 20-year-old cousin paddled over, punched the shark, who then released its bite. He then put the girl onto his surfboard and paddled back to the safety of the shore. That is a big freaking shark.

The girl was in stable condition in the hospital and is expected to recover. Luckily, her quick thinking and brave cousin was able to take action and thwart what could have been a fatal encounter.

Popularity: 5% [?]

It has been reported that the rate of justifable homicides has been rising in the past couple years to the highest levels in over a decade.

A justifable homicide is when a private citizen kills another person in self-defense while the person is committing a felony or when a police officer kills a suspect in the line of duty. Analysts claim these numbers represent a change in the attitude on the street where regular citizens are taking greater responsibilities concerning their safety, while police officers may be feeling increasingly threatened by well-armed criminals.

Police departments have been faced with arms escalation where they have been forced to utilize higher powered weapons to keep up with criminal offenders, who in turn keep upgrading their arsenals.

Besides Illinois and wisconsin, the other 48 states allow law-abiding citizens various rights to carry some sort of gun. In a recent landmark Supreme Court ruling of the Second Ammendment, law-abiding citizens are allowed keep firearms in their home for self-defense purposes. Still, non-law-abiding criminals are able to freely carry whatever weapons they see fit in blatant disregard for whatever laws or restrictions are in place.

Pepper Sprays are restricted in some way in Alaska, Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts or Wisconsin. Stun Devices are regulated or illegal to own in the states of Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin or the city of Baltimore, MD, and Philadelphia, PA.

Besides the country wide reality check of the Septemeber 11th attacks, widespread looting, chaos and violence after Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, and the increasing desparate acts by desparate individuals in the midst of the current financial turmoil, many people are being spurred to take a greater responsibility for the safety and security of themselves and loved ones. Sad what it takes to turn some folks around, but as long as they finally realize before its too late…

“Americans are simply refusing to be victims,” say a NRA spokesman.

So this brings us to Conscience and Consequences. While few can (but some still do) argue about the benefits of owning, carrying and using a hand gun to defend themselves or their family, either their conscience or fear of consequence prevent them from purchasing and using a firearm.

Are you actually able to pull the trigger and shoot someone? Even if they are dead set on harming or killing you or a loved one? Maybe, maybe not.

Let’s say in the heat of the moment, you are able to muster up the conviction to pull the trigger. Are you so afraid of a possible consequence afterwards that you would rather not have a gun readily available to save yourself and spare a court appearance?

As the old saying goes “Better Judged By Twelve Than Carried By Six…”. Or whatever the juror to pallbearer count was.

Even Jiminey Cricket had an umbrella that he could use to lay the smack down if need be. (Bad conscience reference, I know, it’s less funny if it needs to be explained.)

But you do have to weigh the facts of the situation during those spare split-seconds during a confrontation. We aren’t shooting that unarmed teenage punk trying to grab a purse. He can have some pepper spray to the face. But that naked sex offender in your daughter’s bedroom with a knife at 3 am in the morning is probably getting a bullet. Sorry dude.

Unless you are Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Steven Segal or any other martial arts movie actor that can effortlessly disarm and disable an attacker. Well, Steven Segal does usually pack a gun in the movies.

So for all us normal guys and gals, Is there a day that goes by that crime isn’t in the news? Child abductions, rapes, robberies, assaults, car-jackings, break-ins and home invasions are in the headlines every day. Every law-abiding can use a slight edge. The bad guys have them. Shouldn’t you be protected?

Whether it be a firearm, pepper spray, stun gun, Taser, steel baton, or better yet, a combo of 2-3 items to use at your discretion, Be Safe, Be Prepared.

It looks like things will be getting worse before they get better. Economy goes down, crime goes up. It is simple math, make sure your personal protection measures add up.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Police do not anticipate any arrests, I’m thinking the evidence speaks for itself.

Indianapolis police responded to a call just after 3 AM Sunday morning and found a 64-year-old dad choking out a 52-year-old intruder on the floor in the hallway of his house.

Now this wasn’t just any petty cat burglar looking to score some jewelry and electronics. The suspect was a convicted sex offender, wearing only latex gloves and a face mask. Besides effectively being naked, he also had rope, some condoms and was wielding a knife.

From the report, the intruder entered through a window and made his way into the bedroom of the 17-year-old daughter. Upon waking up and seeing the naked man in her room, the girl screamed and alerted her father.

A struggle ensued, where the father was able to avoid being stabbed with the knife and wrestled the man to the ground. The dad got a head lock or choke hold around the creep’s neck and didn’t let go as the police were called. The intruder was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police spokesman said the sex offender had a pre-existing heart condition which may have contributed in his death. I’m sure the pummeling and choke hold may have also contributed, but lets just call it a heart attack. Of course an autopsy is planned.

Apparently, this man had already jailed for 10 years for criminal confinement and sexual deviate conduct. He also failed to register as a sex offender which listed him as wanted in Boone County to boot.

The police not anticipating any arrests and the planned autopsy kinda bothers me. Let’s repaint the picture. Its 3 AM. Your 17-year-old daughter wakes you up screaming. You find naked man, with a knife in your house, more specifically in your daughter’s bedroom.

Where exactly is there a question worth anticipating? It is pretty clear what this creep was planning. I’m thinking the dad’s self defense actions were quite justified given the situation. What would you have done?

It’s pretty obvious this repeat offender was not properly rehabilitated the last time he spent time in the slammer, pretty sure another trip wouldn’t have mattered much either. One less sexual deviant running around preying on young girls.

Sure there are some less-than-lethal self-defense options, but in the heat of the moment in the middle of the night, all bets are off. You do what you can do, without thinking about it.

Perhaps a window alarm or security system might have scared him off from this house. That just leaves him ready to pick out another house the next day, possibly a house less able to defend itself.

Some pepper spray to his face would have changed his tune real quick, and the UV identifing dye would have made it easy for the police recognize him… Because a blinded, screaming, naked guy running down the street would be hard to pin the crime on…

What if the dad wasn’t home and it was just mom and the daughter? What if the dad was stabbed, the daughter raped and possibly killed, and the same to the mother? I’m thinking this case ended up as good as could be expected. Even with this outcome, I’m sure the family is quite shaken up and will continue to be concerned with their safety.

Strategically sprinkling some self defense tools around the house is always a good idea. You never know when that can of Mace, a stun gun or other personal tool of mass destruction can save your life or the life of a loved one. Don’t wait until 3 AM in the morning when a naked sex offender is roaming your house.

Be prepared for the worst, now.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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% [?]

No matter what the subject matter, there will be skeptics, opponents and non-believers. Personally, I’d rather converse with like-minded people rather than try to convert opposing or narrow-minded viewpoints. You either believe in something or don’t, only you can change your own mind. Usually when you do change your mind it is most likely the result of a personal change in belief rather than a persuaded thought change by someone else. I’m not saying people can’t change by the help of others, but it seems most of the people that need to hear something are too stubborn to listen. Their loss, you can only try so hard.

Usually in my field, if someone is resistant to utilizing some form of self defense, I will briefly speak my case, then back off. In some cases I may speak my case longer or more persuasively, depending on who I am talking to. But for casual acquaintances, brief mention is fine. If I am able to plant a seed in their head for them to chew on later, all the better. But I can not be responsible for every human being that doesn’t heed my opinion and do something to protect themselves or loved ones. I have myself and my loved ones to worry about.

Besides the ultra anti-violence, turn the other cheek types, more often people are just complacent. Many times the main objections are a false sense of security because of the ever popular “It can’t happen to me” syndrome. I live in a nice neighborhood, I pay attention while out in public, I don’t walk down dark alleys… The truth is, sure, most people are safe, most of the time. But what about the time when you are not looking for trouble, but trouble is looking for you? Of worse yet, what if trouble found you by mistake?

The other day in Stockton, California two guys knock on a door at 4 PM in the afternoon’s broad daylight. Posing as salesman, the two attempt to strike up a conversation with the 57-year-old woman who answered the door. When she declines interest in the solicitation, the men proceed with their actual agenda and pull out a set of black, semiautomatic handguns.

The guys force their way into the house and hold the guns to the head of the woman and the 61-year-old man also at home. Once inside, the men demanded the “drugs and money” that were allegedly hidden in the house. The confused homeowners, unable to comply with the request told them that they didn’t have any.

One of the suspects took the homeowner into the kitchen and ransacked the freezers in the kitchen and garage, since apparently people storing drugs and money hide them in the freezer? While still in the living room, the other suspect admits to the woman held at gunpoint that maybe they picked the wrong house by mistake? Hrrm, perhaps…

Not wanting to leave empty handed, the suspects demanded other items of value and ended up leaving with a coin collection, telephone, camera, laptop computer and some other items. Not exactly the stash the home invaders were looking to score.

At the time of this botched home invasion, an 11-year-old boy was also home in another room. Hearing the commotion, he was able to sneak out to the safety of a neighbor’s house and call the police. Smart kid. Unfortunately, the police arrived after the suspects had fled the scene. Luckily no one was hurt, and the suspects accepted the blunder and just took off with some property.

This very easily could have ended up much worse if the attackers were angered and resorted to physical or fatal violence by their error in target, of if that was the original intent from the get go. You never know, but this set of homeowners was certainly not looking for this trouble. It wasn’t even a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were home at their house, mistakenly targeted by strangers looking for someone else.

Don’t wait for something bad to happen to you personally or to a loved one before you realize that the need for some sort of self defense tactics can be a real personal reality. No one goes around looking for trouble, but if trouble shows up and you need to do something about it, you had better be ready then, not later.

I won’t tell you I told you so if you wait too long. You will realize that all by yourself and change your own mind.

Be safe, Be prepared and have an plan of action.

Yours in Safety, Rob

Popularity: 5% [?]