It is estimated that 12.1 million women have been raped, and that one out of eight will be assaulted during their lifetime. A violent crime occurs every fifteen seconds a woman is battered. The probability of you becoming a victim of a crime or attack is greater than you think. Most women are focused on a perfect physique, dieting, and keeping in shape, not self-defense training, believing it will never happen to them. Now you may be thinking I am just going to tell you all about using karate to hammer a two-hundred-pound bruiser, not quite being street smart and learning simple 'awareness' techniques could most definitely prevent the attack in the first place. Learning self-defense skills is not a luxury; it is an essential life skill for today's world. Research hasshown that 'forceful resistance strategies' are effective in thwarting attacks, fighting back might be your only chance of escape at survival, not fighting back you become a victim. Your mind and emotions would be rippled with guilt and helplessness for the rest of your life, and anxiety could unconsciously be passed down from parent to child. Fear makes us a magnet to predators. The more fear you and your children have, the more at risk they become. When you empower yourself you empower your children.

Most likely women are alone when they are assaulted, and predators are a step ahead. They have a plan, and they likely have 'done this before'. They don't attack the first person they see, but the one who is not paying attention on their cell phone or someone who looks nervous and intimidated is usually the victim. Two of the most important safety tips is awareness and distance. Being aware of people, how they look and act, and being aware of your surroundings, never going in a secluded area all alone. Do not take short cuts through the woods or around a building near an alley way. Criminals exhibit preparatory behavior in preparing for an attack. They will try to pick a casual location to look for their prey. They will look at their intended victim far more and far longer periods of time. They will move when the prey moves. They will stop and look around for witnesses. They will often make several passes by their prey in a sort of 'dry run', seeing if the victim will react or to get a sense of how the attack might work. Pay attention! Who is looking at you? Has the same person or car passed by you twice? Does someone appear to be moving with you? If you want to be safe stay around people. If you are approached in a public place by someone in a vehicle stay fifteen feet away and do not get in a vehicle with them.

Stay where others can see you. His worst fear is fear of getting caught. If a criminal grabs you, you should drop to the ground if you need to in order to prevent him from carrying you away, and do the Bronco Ball Buster. It sounds strange but using the bottoms of the heels of your feet, flail your feet at his groin and thighs. Make a lot of noise. Let the tiger out of the bamboo cage. You have to go crazy and go nuts. If someone breaks into your house, run out the door to a neighbor's house. Crawl out the window. Drive your car up to a diner or convenience store. Go where there are lights and people. If you can't get out of your house, you could hide and call 911 or you could use something to protect yourself, anything

you can use to keep him at a distance away to gain time. You can make a lot of noise and break a window. His worst fear is the fear of getting caught. Always keep your doors locked, stay in your car, force him to get through a barrier before he can get to you. Use a Ku baton with lots of keys or pepper spray. The more difficult you make it, the more time it takes him, and that means he might get discovered. You want to attract attention. If a criminal ever says, 'don't scream or I'll kill you,' he is telling you exactly what will ruin his plan. If he has a knife and says, 'come with me, I won't hurt you,' slap his hand away, step to the side and run. Never go with anyone. It will be where your worst nightmare resides. If a criminal ever gets the better of you, loosen up a little, let him think he has the control over you, and do the nutcracker.

This might sound strange but grab his groin, twist, and pull. If you can get your feet on his hips, you can use your feet and keep on kicking to keep a distance between the two of you. His hands are his weapons. He will hit you, slap you, stab you, or shoot you, but he has to use his hands to do the damage. You want to use your weapons which is your hands and feet. You want to make a lot of noise and fight back striking his weakest targets, which are his eyes, throat, groin, and knees. Your legs are three times stronger than your arms, and you can kick using the bottoms of your feet. Your elbows, hammer fists, and palm heel strikes under the chin or nose, or eye gouging is very effective. Head butts and biting also work really well. I am a fan of eye attacks and women who use eye attacks have successfully defended themselves against sexual assaults. Personally, I have successfully defended myself gouging to the eyes, and one of my self defense eye attacks is the 'finger flick'. It is a hand technique snapping out the back of the fingers or fingernails like a whip to the eyes.

If a criminal ever grabs you and picks you up, do a palm heel strike under his nose or chin, then place your palms on the side of his face. Your thumbs are now directly over his eyes. Press both thumbs in his eyes and gouge. This gouge works very well because it is very sneaky. I have found that 'bad guys' don't like to get struck in the eyes. They instead back off and panic. They are used to being in control. Attacking the eyes will startle him. He will pull away or knock your arms away. Now he has to let go of you and has given you enough room to bring in your kicks and run away. Relying on the 'good guys' to protect you from the bad guys does not really work. By the time help arrives, the damage has likely been done. You must always be ready for the unexpected and be in shape all the time. When you least expect it you may be attacked, and with self-protection, we not only become safer, but we become more whole and claim our power. Self defense is not a luxury; it is an essential life skill.

Robert "Tokyo Joe" LaMattina is the founder of Tokyo Joe's Studios. He is a Grand Master in Kempo karate, and he has been studying the martial arts for over fifty years and has been offering women's self-defense rape prevention courses since 1980. To contact him, send an email to karate@tokyojoesstudios.comcastbiz.net