neat weapons for womens self defense

Most often the defender's home, second most often the attacker's home.

That's the problem. The "taken away" part of the statement just isn't true. It can happen, but it's very rare. I'm increasingly convinced that this sort of myth gets passed on because at some level a lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of women being able to defend themselves, particularly in any way which would actually let them control their environment and hurt men.

Hollywood has a lot to answer for. In movies the girl is almost always helpless. If she runs, she trips over her high heels. If she has a gun it's taken away. If she fights with her hands she slaps ineffectively. The point, of course, is that she needs to be rescued by the boy who will get breeding rights by heroically saving her.

The advice women get is usually good as far as it goes - prevention, awareness, de-escalation. But when you get down to the pointy end there are going to be times where talking, running and knowing the situation is dangerous aren't going to be enough. That means resistance against someone who is probably bigger, stronger and has done this sort of crime before.

A lot of people including many self defense teachers realize this. But where they would support a man's choice to employ a weapon they stress that a woman might not be able to use it effectively. Or if they do (grudgingly) allow as how a tool might be good they will push for less than lethal and much less than effective ones.

There's a lot of culture at work here.

What do you do with that awareness? If a woman knows that the situation is dangerous and flight or verbal de-escalation isn't going to do the job she's back to resistance with a precious handful of extra seconds.

Improvised weapons can be great. But if the law, conscience and preparation allow for more effective ones why do so many self defense teachers steer women away from them?

 

Sorry I should have been more exact in my phrasology. I'm not suggesting that the big bad attacker grabs the woman's knife/gun/etc. Rather I'm suggesting that the way that these weapons are often carried (ie. in a purse/handbag) may place them in a location separate from where the escalation takes place. This was more a comment on the need to train deployment.

Trust me, I've done enough weapons work to understand how hard it is to take something away once it's out there. But at the same time I also know how hard it is to deploy under pressure/adenaline. That's why I enjoy talking a lot about environmental weapons. Understanding that a pen/pencil can be as easy to deploy as a knife.

Trust me, I'm not one of those folks. Weapons are a great equalizer, provided they can be brought into play.

Awareness at least allows a person to know when the fight is starting (usually before any blows are thrown) and gets them prepared and thinking tactically. This includes being ready to deploy a weapon. Though I completely agree that all the awareness in the world is usless if you don't know what to do. You always need backup. The problem is getting the right mix.

Again, my big issue with any weapon is that of deployment. As long as it's accessible, then go for it. But, as I attempted to explain above, that means that it always needs to be in easy arm reach. And that it can be engaged quickly.

Also, following from ideas of the filipino martial arts, it's important to note that if you understand weapon types, then that theory can be brought to bare on objects that share qualitys. If you understand how to stab for example, you can operate a knife or a pen as the situation provides.

I think we're on the same page overall, let me know....

- Matt

 

I'm a little over-sensitized on the subject. Trust me on this

 

I don't think we should avoid providing information in these forums because a bad person might misuse it. Same as operating systems, putting everything in a glass house improves security, as the bad people are outnumbered.

One weapon, the Kubotan, is very unlikely to be turned against the user, as it's harder to disarm and is much more powerful in defensive strikes (striking the approaching or receding limb used to strike you) than in offensive strikes (where the grip would reduce the range and suddenness of an attack). The weelbe, mentioned above, and a couple of others look lesslike one, but the grooves for your fingers are important as they help prevent disarms and damage to the hand and help transfer power during a strike.

 

Your concerns are very legitimate. So far it doesn't look like anything terribly sensitive has leaked out.

 

As far as weapons go, particularly here in the UK, you are not allowed to carry anything that is intended to be used as a weapon.

However, there are a few innocuous everyday items that you can carry. I used to work in a laboratory in a factory where one of the products we made was hairspray (no, we didn't test anything on animals, nor use anything that had been so tested). Hairspray is essentially a lot of resin dissolved in ethanol. The ethanol evaporates in air, leaving just a lot of very sticky gunk. We used to heat this resin up to test it for moisture content, and what was lleft was a lump of plastic that was virtually unbreakable.

So - ladies should carry a small test-size can of hairspray with them. Keep it in a pocket or somewhere you can get to it easily and quickly, and prectice deploying it. A spray of this stuff in the eyes - even just the face - will be enough to make anyone think twice. If it does go into an attackers eyes, the ethanol will burn, and the resin will glue them shut, and he'll be facing a quick trip to the ER to get the damn stuff out.

Bonus: can be used to maintain your barnet in a presentable condition. The police will not be able to say that you are carrying a weapon, only that you used it as an improvised weapon - well done you.

The other thing you can use is a mini-maglite. A nice, sturdy aluminium bodied torch (flashlight, if you prefer) that can be used as a kubotan, and fits nicely into your handbag or pocket.

Bonus: can be used to bring light into the darkness - particularly when you drop your car keys at night. Useful for men as well as women in both functions. Again, the police could only say that you used something as an improvised weapon.

 

Yeah, but there's a perfectly good (bad?) alternative that's easy to get ahold of.