3 Top Self-Defense Tips to Help Keep You Safe

Many of us at some point in our lives have sweated through an aerobics class, “downward dogged” during an hour session of yoga or pumped weights in the gym. If you are looking for another option to increase your fitness but more importantly, improve your sense of confidence, you may want to push your limits with self-defense training.

Tiffany Armstrong is the owner of the number one personal safety course for women taught by a woman.  She shared her insight about self-defense by saying “The reality is that every single one of us women have experienced some sort of situation where we have felt unsafe.”  Tiffany pointed out some common scenarios such as a man not taking no as an answer, feeling uncomfortable at the park with your grandchild or the anxiety of dropping your children off at college. 

“Self-defense does not depend on strength and speed. I know we as women tend to feel more vulnerable because we're not as quick as we used to be, and we simply don't have the same size biceps as the bad guys.  I've taken that into account,” says Tiffany. Her classes teach an online, empowerment-based class that relies in part on “street-smarts” which is perfect for women at any age. Her training focuses on techniques that focus on leverage and knowing how to be one step ahead of an assailant. 

Tiffany offers tips and a 3 step process if you are feeling threatened in any way: 

1. Always set a verbal boundary first: Many of us have felt intimidated because a man has walked too close to us or has “stared” us down. We actually don't know that an attacker is an attacker until he puts his hands on us.  Set a verbal boundary first!  If he then keeps coming toward you, then you know he has bad intentions, and you can respond rather than react.

2. Once you set a verbal boundary and he's still coming toward you: You have every right to then use a distance tool. Pepper spray is an effective way to force an attacker’s eyes closed for up to 15 minutes giving you time to make your getaway.  Note: mace and pepper spray are not the same thing.  Pepper spray causes an immediate inflammatory response which is what forces the eyes closed involuntarily. Mace, on the other hand, can be less effective on a person with a high pain tolerance or is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  

3. If, by chance, your distance tool doesn't work as planned: It's pertinent to know what to do with your hands and legs to take him down. Tiffany explains “Believe it or not, it's not as hard as it may seem.  Self-defense does not need to be fancy. It's just a matter of knowing exactly where to strike and how, or how to use leverage to your advantage...even on a larger man.”

Check out Tiffany's free online training to get an idea what she has to offer. If you want to join her defense training, she is also offering a 30% discount to her Online Self-defense training when you apply the promo code HELLO50. She wants women to know if you are confronted with a dangerous situation, rather than panic, you can feel more in control of the situation if you have the proper training.