self defense

[VeganBikeChick]

I've heard a whistle is always good to carry.

[grey]

A stick is good. Don't forget your keys are a good weapon, lace them between your knuckles.

The best self defense is being aware, and holding yourself up like you know you can kick everyone's @ss. Meet their eyes so they know YOU know what they look like. Walk tall & straight, you have places to be and are not to be messed with.

Do take some self defense classes. This is not a good situation. Always wear pants & shoes you can run in/kick in if needed, don't carry a purse.

If not a walking stick, add one of those little biter sticks to your keychain. Just a little extra damage, and there's a few little Aikido moves you can use with those to take someone down and hold them there.
Something to be said for a little chutzpa.

Edit: do you have a big dog that's well trained? I take my Shepherd mix with me sometimes, she's just an extra set of eyes. And she growls on command.

[smilingcat]

The most important thing to learn in martial arts class is self confidence. If a person wants to harm you, he is going to size you up first. If you show air of confidence or calmness then he will more likely leave you alone.

Don't think for one moment that you can "hand chop" your way through a confrontation. I think good self-defense class will teach you on how to defuse the situation first or to minimize your risk and only when you have no other recourse should you try with physical force. Take a camera phone with 3G connection so you can send photos immediately. Take necessary precaution before going in. Call in to say you are at the site and going in. Check in every 5, 10, 15 minutes. Call in when you come out to say you are safely back on the road.

Much of modern culture and especially ours says to take things "squarely on", "head-on". And this generally is not a best approach when dealing with potential adversary.

Best fight is not engaging in fight. Learn body language for sign of hostility and how to defuse it. Walk away and disengage is the best option.

You will find these idea in "Art of War" by Sun Tsu. written around 300BC. Short but very much to the point. Understanding will help you with dangerous situations. I think you can get it on kindle for free or for very cheap.

[Trek420]

A stick is good. Don't forget your keys are a good weapon, lace them between your knuckles.

I prefer a mag light is .... That way I still have my keys

.... and there's a few little Aikido moves you can use with those to take someone down and hold them there.
Something to be said for a little chutzpa.

Little Aikido moves?

I've said it before, I'll probably say it again taking a self defense class is a great idea. One, two days tops.

You will learn enough that may save your or someone else's life. It's fun, empowering. I've been doing Aikido since 1980 and while out of training right now I will always do it. I would never say "oh, you can just use this".

And I have "used it" in real situations.

Take a self defense class.
The good ones boil down to this:
Keep moving hitting striking kicking scratching moving ...
Make lots of noise
Repeat steps 1 & 2 until your assailant is no longer an issue whatever you take that to mean ie either you are safe or he is no longer a problem.

The best self defense is being aware, and holding yourself up like you know you can kick everyone's @ss. Meet their eyes so they know YOU know what they look like. Walk tall & straight, you have places to be and are not to be messed with.

But this: +1,000,000.00!

I truly believe that anything and everything that we do that makes you feel strong, confident, aware is the best self defense in the world, a true martial art. Whether you bike, hike, kayak, garden or knit whatever it is that makes you feel confident that is self defense.

To those of you/us who've faced assault it is never the victims fault. But at the same time the confidence you now have and build you will never know how it saves your life. There could be someone today who thinks "nah, not her, she is too tough"

So ride on!

Edit: do you have a big dog that's well trained? I take my Shepherd mix with me sometimes, she's just an extra set of eyes. And she growls on command.

Dog and or human company would be great.

Best fight is not engaging in fight. Learn body language for sign of hostility and how to defuse it. Walk away and disengage is the best option.

You will find these idea in "Art of War" by Sun Tsu. written around 300BC. Short but very much to the point. Understanding will help you with dangerous situations. I think you can get it on kindle for free or for very cheap.

+1,000,000 again. Avoid the situation, be aware, diffuse it, walk away. The fight that does not happen is the one you win.

[grey]

LOL, a 'little' Aikido move would be the most basic hand disengagement, and it may have saved me some trouble back in college. It was nonviolent, but it showed the two drunk kids that I knew something. And then a cop conveniently walked around the corner. All was well. Lucky.
Looking for a new school. I'm picky. It's been 10 years.

And I agree. Physical confrontation is a last, last resort. Confidence saves a lot of trouble.
Don't forget to have a quick look at your car upon returning. Glance under it while at a distance away (so you don't look obvious, and are in a better position if someone is under it) and the backseat before you get in. Just be aware, aware, aware. No fumbling for keys or phone or tools.

I want to add to the meet their eyes part I said earlier. It's a glance, but a direct one that just says 'I see you.' Nothing more, because then you verge on looking threatening. For animals and people, a stare is a threat of harm, and might trigger a response rather than avoid it.

[Becky]

Jess, check with your employer about self-defense classes. When the women here voiced concern about similar issues, our HR located some county and state police officers who taught self-defense and arranged for an in-house class specifically targeted to our needs. It was fantastic, and I'd take it every year if I could.

Good luck and be safe out there!

[OakLeaf]

One tangentially related thing -

I get the impression by what you said about weaponry that you have to travel by air. If that's the case, then you don't necessarily have much choice about rental cars.

But if you get to use your own car, you might think strongly about getting one with a "smart" key. I rarely park in places where I'm uncomfortable, so for me it's usually mostly an enormous convenience. But I'm very aware that not even having to look for my key - never having to take my eyes off my surroundings or open my purse - is a big safety advantage, too.

[Irulan]

Jess, check with your employer about self-defense classes. When the women here voiced concern about similar issues, our HR located some county and state police officers who taught self-defense and arranged for an in-house class specifically targeted to our needs. It was fantastic, and I'd take it every year if I could.

Good luck and be safe out there!

This is good. If it's part of your job and you don't feel safe, HR would be a great place to start. Especially if you mention the words lawsuit because you weren't' adequately protected by company policy. Or something like that.

[Trek420]

LOL, a 'little' Aikido move would be the most basic hand disengagement, and it may have saved me some trouble back in college. It was nonviolent, but it showed the two drunk kids that I knew something. And then a cop conveniently walked around the corner. All was well. Lucky.
Looking for a new school. I'm picky. It's been 10 years.

Good work! Many of us brought up with internal voices of "don't hit, don't fight, don't punch your brother ..." and some count on the assumption that you won't react or will be slow to.

You did, instantly. Heh heh heh. Saved you and another woman because it may give them 2nd thoughts about doing that again.

Aikido is great fun and you never know when the ukemi (rolls/falls) could save you on a bike. It's helped me a couple times on that.

Find a good teacher and school here:

http://www.ai-ki-do.org/

[tprevost]

I do property management and am often in similar situations as you describe. I would definately follow the advise of others here and take another self defense class. Curious as to why you can't carry pepper spray or it's equivalent? I had my whole office take a self defense class here locally given by an ex-swat guy, it was very good...no fluff, very straightforward. He also uses a rope on his keys... It is attached to your keys and is long enough to hook on your wrist and still have 6+ inches of swing, which makes a decent unconventional weapon. It was nice to have the training though!

[jessmarimba]

Thanks for the suggestions. My coworker here also doesn't like me going into some of these areas so work might go for a self-defense class.

Can't be armed, pepper spray, etc. for reasons Oakleaf guessed - 95% of the time I'm flying to these locations. Work wouldn't pay to check a bag for $50 round trip simply so I could have a gun, and knives and pepper spray aren't allowed on planes. Pretty sure the big maglites aren't either . Flying is also why I have to go alone and no dog. I wish you could rent police dogs for protection, or something!

I'm pretty careful about not carrying much with me - usually just have my keys clipped to my belt loop, my camera, and my phone.

I just get a little disturbed sometimes by these camps and then it's hard to stay calm. Once I stumbled across a chair surrounded by beer cans, chip bags, and a chainsaw - in the middle of 15 acres of woods. I felt like I was in the middle of a horror flick. Where is the chainsaw's owner??? In a different job, I was with a group that stumbled across a pot field run by a drug cartel. I really don't want to run into the folks in charge of something like that. And the odds of that happening again are pretty low but it's easy to psych yourself out when you know no one would hear you scream!!