Q:  After showing my wife your (Rape Escape) articles on the web, she asked me this question (roughly):  "If they don't teach women to hit, attack the eyes, and other martial art techniques then what do they teach them to do?"

When she asked me that question, I really wasn't sure how to answer.  I know there may not be a simple answer for that, but she was a little skeptical when she read that part of your program.  I'm guessing that you do teach some kind of striking, since the man is in a suit.  Perhaps you teach some very gross motor movement striking aiming at large target areas?  Also, (along those lines) do you teach jointlocks or have you left them out because of how complex some can be?  Finally, why do you think it unwise to teach women to attack the eyes?  Do think it is too small of a target, will give the guy the idea to attack her eyes, or most women won't be able to do it because empathy type of reasons ("oooh gross" or "I just couldn't do that to some one")?

A:

Oh yeah, we hit!  We advocate gross body motions and use kicks, elbows, hammerfists and palm heels.  And, yes, we do teach joint locks, which end up being very intuitive and effective for women.  Heck, there’s even a choke employed against a man wearing a shirt!

 The secret of the success of Rape Escape is in the simple progression of techniques that start BACKWARDS, you start in the worst position possible and then work back to less dangerous positions.  But the techniques build on the simple, effective base that you start with.

 The emphasis in the first level (the first tape) is to get your head out of the way of his hits, prevent him from choking you, prevent penetration and be able to kick him.  There is only one “hit” (the palm heel to the chin) in the first level. 

 What might be misinterpreted here is that we don’t want to hit him when he is in a position to hit us back!  The natural reaction of almost every male is to hit back when hit.  Watch two guys fight.  A shove is answered with a shove.  A punch is answered with a punch.  If they are on the ground, a headlock is answered with a headlock as they roll around locked in a battle of strength.   

 Here’s the fine line I have to walk…I don’t want to emphasize or advocate hitting as a main strategy, because invariably it invites hitting as a response and most women cannot expect to defend themselves for long against a hail of hits from a man.  But, make no mistake about it, there are very appropriate times for striking…most often to get him to move so we can escape. 

But we have to employ our strikes so we generate the most effect with the least amount of risk.

The second and third level of Rape Escape features the elbows, hammerfists and, again, heavy kicks. 

The clue to the targets is in the coverage of the body armor on the instructors.  The targets are:  head & face, throat, solar plexus, stomach, groin and knees. Therefore, the coverage of the armor is only on those areas, encouraging students to attack those targets and to deemphasize strikes to the limbs.  I’ve been in a class where the instructor had the “full” suit on and he lumbered around like the Michelin Man.  People were wailing on every inch of this padded behemoth.  When the class was over, everyone mentioned what a great class it was, but I only saw unrealistic reactions from the padded attacker and ineffectual flailing that left most students exhausted. (It seemed this class was all about waking the Warrior Princess within you and you were encouraged to flail until you could not flail any more.  Technique learned just minutes before invariably went out the window.)  

Before you question why the stomach is listed as a target since it can be “hardened”, it’s a matter of controlling his center line.  Often you cannot land a good face shot until you get the proper distance and often you’ll find yourself targeting his stomach as you move up or down his center line.  So the stomach is taught as a "target" even though it might not cause any damage to some males.

Here’s a paradox:  I tell women that relying on the strategy of “just kick him where it counts” is a myth that can get them seriously injured.  But, the groin turns out to be open and available as a target a huge percentage of the time.  And, what’s great about attacking the groin, is that he jackknifes away from the kick to the groin and leans his head into kicking range…sweet.  However, don’t think that you can rely “just” on groin kicks.

 I don’t specifically target the eyes for a couple of reasons that you’ve touched on.  First, the squeamish factor.  Second, EVERYONE ducks and turns their face away when you attack their eyes (same reaction you get when you pepper spray someone) and you end up conking your fingers or hands on his hard head.  I want a technique that can mechanically move the guy off of me or can affect a mechanical knock out.   You’ll notice I’m not a big fan of pressure points even though I have received a substantial amount of training in them during my Okinawan karate career and in my law enforcement DT training.

 Having said that, I have a girlfriend that successfully drove off her rapist (he was holding her down and pushing his fingers into her) by attacking his eyes with her thumbs.  She told me that she felt her thumbs go “impossibly” deep into his eye sockets and he screamed, reached up to his face which allowed her to get up and run. 

So, don’t discount the eye gouge as an effective way to get him to move.

It turned out in the development of the Rape Escape method, that joint locks can be used very effectively by women.  The joint locks are taught in the third level in dealing with weapons.  Here the strategy is to immobilize the weapon and to use your ENTIRE bodyweight against one of his joints.  The concept is to “stop the killing” by focusing 100% attention on immobilizing the weapon hand or arm.  The natural progression of immobilizing the weapon arm and beginning to escape leads into the joint locks which are used to damage the joint and to move him away enough for you to escape.

So, yes, we employ hitting, kicking, and joint locks.  But we do it in a way that allows us to keep with our “Fight Like a Girl” philosophy.