Train Your Brain

Self-defense is not about fighting your way out of a bad situation. Most situations can be avoided by awareness. Be prepared! One-way to do this is to do what I call Train you Brain. You do this by putting yourself in bad situations and then getting yourself out. For example, you’re getting out of the car and walking to your front door when it’s dark outside. Someone jumps out of the neighbor’s bushes and approaches you. (They didn’t jump out of yours because you keep them trimmed so people can’t hide in them.) What do you do now? Get back in the car? Run to the house? Run to a neighbor’s house? Call 911? Call your mama? Scream? I don’t know the answer to this question. Only you do. Figure out what you might do. And it will depend on the situation. Is it raining? Are you wearing spiked heels? Are you carrying groceries? Is the outside light on at your house? All these things might make your answer different. You might throw the groceries or your purse in his face, start screaming and run for a neighbor. Or, if you have the keys to your house in your hand and ready to use, start screaming, run to the house and unlock the door. Or, if you are not completely out of the car yet, get back in and run him over! But… if you think about these things AHEAD of time, then you will be prepared if you ever have to actually use your trained brain. You do this sort of scenario with all aspects of your individual lifestyle. Put yourself in situations and then work yourself out of them and give yourself a couple of options. Once you do that, go back and take that same guy coming out of the neighbor’s bushes and give him a knife and see if your answers change.

Be Safe and Be Aware!

Staying Safe Walking from your Car

I hope that all of you got a lot out of the first two blog from my mother, my self defense guru. Here is another great post on the importance of staying safe and keeping aware while walking to and from your car in parking lots. I hope you enjoy.

How many of us go to Wal-Mart, park the car, get out, walk in and a few minutes later, have no recollection of any of it, especially where we parked? I was waiting for someone one time in a parking lot and I thought it would be interesting to people watch. I watched mostly women to see how they behaved while walking. Most of them had no clue! They walked with head down, no keys in hand, paying no attention to what is happening around them. So those are some of what-not-to-do things. Let’s talk about better alternatives. The first thing I do is park in the same aisle every time. This takes away the confusion when you leave the store. You do this a few times, and automatically you head in the direction of your car. On your way to the car, you should have your keys in your hand. Don’t intertwine the keys between your fingers though. If you do that and hit someone, your hand will hurt more than the bad guy will hurt. Just keep your car key ready to use. That key, by itself, is a good weapon. Pay attention to who is parked around you. If you see someone out of place (in other words, a guy is sitting in the car next to you and he seems to be fidgety, sweating, looking all around him) you might want to go back into the store and wait for him to leave.

More on parking lot security later. Have a safe day!

Protecting Against Identity Theft

Identity theft has become a real problem today.  It is so easy for people to get your information from your e-mail and even people going through your trash that you put out.  You can never be too careful and make sure you take all the precautions that you need.  This is your life and you have to be aware of all the people that will try to take advantage of you.  The most common scam is known as e-mail phishing.  The e-mail will ask for passwords, usernames, credit card numbers, etc.  Here are some simple things to do to avoid identity theft while using the computer.

 

ü     Never open a link that comes to you in e-mail.  You don’t know where that link will take you.

ü     Always sign out of your bank accounts, etc., when you’re finished especially if you are using a public computer.

ü     Never respond to e-mails asking for personal information.

ü     Do not open e-mail from unknown users.

ü     Turn your computer off when you’re finished using it.

 Using these few tips will help to make sure that you are protected; so make sure that you always pay attention, you are aware, and don’t let your guard down!

Staying Safe Without Him

One of my biggest concerns after I got divorced was making sure that my daughter and I would be safe.  I have to say that there is no better than my mother to help me with this issue that I had.  She has been studying Martial Arts for 23 years and teaching self defense for almost that many years.  She has always told me that self-defense is mostly little things you can do to protect yourself and your children.  So I had her write this next blog post for me. 

Let’s start with the basic stuff.  I like to think of self-defense like an onion (not the crying part!) but the layer part.  The more layers you have surrounding you, the better.  At home you should:

1. Lock doors and windows at night.

2.  Have a well-lit porch or entryway.

3.  Keep shrubs and flowers around house trimmed so they don’t cover windows or are large enough for a person to hide.

4.  Plant some shrubs with thorns to deter bad people from hiding there.

5.  Make sure if you are coming home after dark, turn a light on before you go or have a timed light that will come on before you get home.

6.  If you can afford it, get a security system.  Sometimes just having a security sign in the window is enough to deter.  I have an OnStar sign in my car window, but I don’t pay for the OnStar coverage anymore.  The bad guy doesn’t know that!  The bad guy will go find a car without a security sticker, just in case!

7.  Get to know you neighbors.  You may need to depend on them sometime.

I’ll talk more later about staying secure and safe at home, in the car, walking, in hotels, etc.  If you want specifics, just ask!  Have a safe day!

Thanks mom you’re the best.  If you have any questions for her please let me know.