Self-defense information from Defend University & Women's Self-Defense
Institute for March 2001

Welcome to our new members from New Zealand, Germany and Canada!

Inside for this month:

New Social Security Numbers for Abuse Victims 
THE HEADBUTT DEBATE
COUNTER-CARJACK SCHOOL
TALES FROM A PROFESSIONAL VICTIM
Check out that address...
Tinted Windows Lower Your Profile
SCREAM AND I WILL KILL YOU
Campus security stats to be kept online 
Is the U.S. A Nation of Criminals?
AUSTRALIAN GUN CONTROL UPDATE
Self-Defense Lessons from Seattle

*********************

New Social Security Numbers for Abuse Victims 

In 1998, the administration made it easier for abused, battered women
trying to establish a new identity to get a new Social Security number.
Applicants must show documents verifying both their old and new names, if
they have changed their name, and evidence of harassment or abuse, such as
police reports or medical reports. The administration will also help
collect this proof. If children are involved, applicants must show proof
that they have custody of the children they want new Social Security
numbers for. 

You must apply for a new number in person at any Social Security office.
Bring documents verifying your age, identity and citizenship, such as a
birth certificate and driver’s license. More information on applying for a
new Social Security number is available at the Social Security
Administration website.

**************************************

THE HEADBUTT DEBATE

I know ladies, only guys would debate about smashing their heads together.
However, I recently suffered through a debate of four high-ranking martial
artists about how to most effectively use the headbutt against an
opponent.  Unfortunately, they all were advising people to strike with
your forehead, right at the hairline.  This, they said, was the thickest
part of the skull and would do the most damage. 

I respectfully have to disagree with them and I have to warn you that you
could KO yourself if you perform the headbutt this way.  Chances are your
instructor or defensive tactics personnel are probably teaching this
technique incorrectly.  It DOES have a valid place in your arsenal, as
long as you know how to use it.  Go here for information on the right way
to headbutt. (http://www.defendu.com/headbutting.htm)

***************************************

COUNTER-CARJACK SCHOOL

Carjacking is becoming more of a risk worldwide.  Obviously, it has been a
growing problem here in the States, but I have contacts who have told me
that Germany and Italy have seen a huge rise in the crime.  South Africa
has such a gigantic problem that the local police have formed a special
anti-carjack unit which has been provided special race-equipped BMWs.

In the U.S., the SIG Arms Academy and the Gryphon Group have established a
joint venture to train private citizens in carjacking countermeasures. The
Gryphon Group is the company that has purchased the famous Scotti School
of Defensive Driving that has been mentioned here in the past.

Some of the lessons from this school include:

1.  Recognize danger signs such as excessive eye contact or cars moving
with you;

2.  Leave enough distance from other vehicles so you can keep moving and
deny carjackers the opportunity to approach you;
 
3.  If you are bumped from behind, check the number of occupants in the
offending vehicle.  If there is two or more heads, keep moving to a safe
area to exchange info.

4.  ALWAYS use a shopping cart in the parking lot (which are good hunting
grounds for the bad guys).  It keeps your hands free and can be used as a
barrier if you are approached.

For more information, you can go to the Gryphon Group’s Web site at
www.gryphonsecurity.com.

**************************************

TALES FROM A PROFESSIONAL VICTIM

Author Bill Langlois is a retired veteran of the San Francisco Police
Dept. where he was a mugging decoy, a professional victim.  Here are some
of the lessons he learned as told in the article, Predator Alert, Do Not
be a Victim, It Is Up to You.

1.  Walk with your head up and constantly moving from side-to-side.  Be
aware of people who get too close to you, who actually get in your face.
They may bump into you, move up to you in a crowd, say things to you, run
their hands over your pockets.

2.  If a total stranger invades your privacy without warning and for no
apparent reason, beware, because the next step can be much more drastic.
They may ask for the time or an opportunity to use the phone or bathroom
in your home or apartment, but what they’re really doing is testing your
ability to fight off that intrusion.

3.  If you turn to confront them [someone approaching you or interviewing
you] or tell them off, they know you may fight them and chances are they
will back away.

4.  The cruel truth is: big fish eat little fish.  Difficult economic
times, narcotics use and the lengthening age expectancy of our elders
(pensioners) creates a group of young lions circling the water hole
waiting for the older and weaker of the herd.

5. There are three kinds of lions: (1) the Opportunist, a cowardly type
that will only swoop in and strike if the odds are overwhelmingly in his
favor and who frequently pairs up with another lion; (2) the Stalker,
which enjoys the hunt, but can be dissuaded from attacking by a sufficient
show of force [from the prey]; and (3) the True Predator, a murderous,
keen hunter that does not care about his victims.

6.  If you are attacked, keep your wits about you, stay calm and avoid
exciting the predators further by a show of fear.  Get a good description
for the cops, your goal here is to survive the experience. (Note here:
This is A LOT easier said then done.  Get some instruction.  Start
training, do role playing.  This will make it easier to deal with when it
happends to you).

The cops out there that are members of Defend U. will tell you there is a
bit of an art to providing a description.  You can get some ideas from the
Women’s Self-Defense Institute at http://www.defendu.com/wsdi/identify.htm.

**************************************************

Check out that address...

Do you have your home address and phone on your checks?  A predator can
watch you in the store and, looking over your shoulder, can find you
later.  Or the creepy guy that works at the store can get your check and
your info for later.

Bank employees tell me, confidentially, that they all use fictitious
addresses on their checks and say their phone is unlisted.  The merchants
don't really care because they have a bank guarantee card anyway.

Reorder your checks and use either a mailbox address or make one up.  The
bank will mail them anywhere you designate.

*******************

Tinted Windows Lower Your Profile

Tint the windows of your car with the darkest shade allowable.  There is
less chance of someone randomly choosing you as a target if they can't see
you.

**************************

Don’t Scream or I’ll Kill You

Expect that your attacker will threaten you with death.  It is pretty
standard procedure to shock you or scare you into compliance.  Of course,
truly evil predators also want to watch your reaction as they use the
words.

On the evening of May 13, 1981, Gary Graham murdered Bobby Grant Lambert
in a Safeway parking lot in Houston during an armed robbery.  Before he
was caught for  the Lambert murder, Graham was arrested on May 20, 1981,
for a crime spree that included 20 armed robberies, three kidnappings, one
rape and three attempted murders. There are 28 known victims of this crime
spree, many of whom he threatened.

According to trial testimony, Graham told robbery victim Rick Sanford that
he had killed six people already and Sanford would be number seven if he
did something stupid. 

Graham reportedly told 57-year-old Lisa Blackburn, whom he raped for five
hours: I have already killed three people and I'm going to kill you. You
don't mean nothing to me, bitch. 

To one of the shooting victims, David Spiers, Graham said, After I kill
you, I am going back [to your broken down car] to kill your fiance and her
parents so they can go with you to honky hell. Before I kill your fiance
I'm going to rape her. 

After making victim Richard Carter, Jr. kneel down and putting a shotgun
in his mouth, Graham said, I'll kill you, too. Blowing away another white
mother f----- don't mean nothing to me. 

For four consecutive days after the trial, Mr. Carter received phone calls
that he believes were from Graham. The caller said: I'm going to kill you
when I get out. I'll hunt you down and kill you before I die. 

Court deputy Larry Pollinger claims that right after being sentenced to
death, Graham said, Next time, I'm not leaving any witnesses.

*****************************************

Campus security stats to be kept online 

BOSTON - High school students weighing their college options will soon be
able to see campus crime statistics by tapping into an online database
being compiled by the U.S. Department of Education. The databank will
include colleges and universities around the country and Canada, detailing
numbers of offenses from hate crimes to homicides on- and off-campus.
Education officials will begin to compile their first round of statistics
in August and plan to present the 2000 numbers to Congress in December.
You can find more information at www.ed.gov 

********************************************
Is the U.S. A Nation of Criminals?

Apparently so, according to Lou Adler of Power Hiring.  His firm has found:

33 percent of job applicants falsity employment applications;
20 percent of people in the U.S. have a criminal record
3.2 million crimes a year happen in the workplace

*********************************************

AUSTRALIAN GUN CONTROL UPDATE

After Australians were forced surrender 640,381 personal firearms at a
cost of $500 million to the government it appears that the bad guys are
taking advantage of the situation.   Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2
percent; Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent; Australia-wide,
armed robberies are up 44 percent.  In the state of Victoria, homicides
with firearms are up 300 percent. Figures over the previous 25 years
showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms (but increased
drastically in the past 12 months).   There has been a dramatic increase
in break-ins and assaults of the elderly, the very people who probably
need firearms for personal protection the most.

Our Australian contact says the politicians are apparently at a loss to
explain why the decrease in firearms in the hands of honest, law-abiding
owners has not resulted in a corresponding decrease in crime.

********************************

Self-Defense Lessons from Seattle

Seattle has been rocked recently by demonstrations and an earthquake.  The
video which came out following both of these events provides some telling
self-defense lessons for us.  

First, for the people involved in the earthquake.  People are creatures of
habit and will react to familiar situations.  But when confronted by
unfamiliar situations, they are shocked and often are slow to react.  The
dramatic video shown on most networks during and after the quake shows
people dazed and seemingly undecided about what to do.  In one video, a
press conference is just beginning when the quake begins.  People in the
room don’t know what to do.  A voice off camera is heard in a loud,
commanding voice, Earthquake! Everyone out of the room, now, let’s go,
let’s go. 

Only now do the shocked participants get up and begin moving out of the
room…  

The lesson here is the importance of preparation and mindset.

You will react to situations in the way you have trained for them.  If you
have never been in a particular situation before, chances are you will be
slow to react as you attempt to process the new information and search for
an appropriate response.  We are assuming that not many of us have regular
experience of being attacked, so it is entirely understandable to be
unfamiliar with this situation.  However, that is precisely why the Rape
Escape classes we run use scenario-based training to put students into
common self-defense situations.  As a student you find yourself being
attacked over and over again.  Of course, you also have learned a solution
to the problem so you have a plan that you can execute against the
attacker.  You follow your plan (the technique) and practice solving the
problem again and again.  Now you are prepared and know what to do (the
Level 1 Rape Escape class has nine of the most common sexual assault
scenarios).

Video from the demonstrations also provides us a lesson.  In one instance,
a driver is surrounded by a mob.  Seen from a news helicopter overhead,
the car slows and finally stops when completely engulfed by the mass of
rioters.  When the mob begins to pound on the windows, the driver suddenly
comes to their (I couldn’t tell if it was a male or female driver) senses
and begins to back up rapidly which shakes the mob loose from the car.
Unfortunately, a barricade of burning tires and other debris halts the
car’s retreat.  Without hesitation, the driver puts the vehicle in drive
and careens forward, plowing through the advancing mob.  Seen from above,
the rioters appear like dolls, rolling over the car and spilling out to
the side.  The driver snakes around a corner and escapes.

The reaction of the trapped driver was completely correct, yet I doubt any
of us get the chance to practice driving through a mob on a regular basis.
However, we all DO practice driving on a regular basis, so the gross motor
skills needed are regularly used.  But the key here is the mindset.  This
person was prepared to escape the situation by driving through the
attackers, a move that many people are not prepared to do (witness the
number of drivers trapped in the L.A. riots who seemed paralyzed by the
mob and were subsequently dragged from their vehicles like Reginald
Denny).  The driver had the mental preparation to do what was necessary to
escape. 

I contend that this is not a common reaction, you have to plan for the
possibility of such a situation and you have to commit to yourself that
you have this choice available to you.  You CAN drive through the mob and
escape.  Most experts agree that preparing a survival mindset entails two
things, making the decision that you WILL survive whatever is thrown at
you and then to mentally practice escaping and surviving various
self-defense situations.  Using mental imaging, you imagine a situation,
then you see yourself solving the situation using as realistic imaging as
you can muster.  The more realistic you can make it in your mind the
better.


You only have one life, fight for it!

Brad Parker
Defend University
Women’s Self-Defense Institute
www.defendu.com
defenduniversity@yahoo.com