Tribal police teach women’s self-defense class

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By Niki Cleary, Tulalip News 

‘I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe,’ she kept thinking.  It was supposed to have been the perfect day, a trip to the outlet mall with her older sister. She didn’t even know what happened. She was waiting in the parking lot for their mom when a car pulled up, the man inside smiling and chatty. She knew better than to talk to strangers, so she started backing away when someone behind her pushed her forward into the car. Now she was in the trunk of the car, tied into a giant fuzzy blanket. She kept trying to remember what the guy looked like. What did the car look like? How was she going to get out of here? Then she started gulping air again because she couldn’t breathe.

The above scenario is made up, but it’s a scene that Alicia Horne can imagine all too well.

“They’re young ladies and they’re at the age of human trafficking for sure,” she said of her two daughters, ages 10 and 13. Alicia was one of 12 women who attend the first Women’s Self-Defense class taught by Tulalip Tribal Police.

Alicia explained that she originally signed up for the class to support her co-workers at Tribal Court.

“I came to support my staff. Where I work, we are dealing with people who are cussing at us and trying to intimidate us. I came because the environment I work in is a hostile environment. “

She brought her girls hoping to give them tools to be safer as well.

“I want to make sure they’re self-aware and can protect themselves.”

Instructor, Officer Joshua Warren, has taught martial arts for 18 years and volunteered to teach numerous Women’s Self-Defense classes. He explained that the class isn’t a complete martial arts system, it’s an introductory class geared primarily towards rape prevention.

 

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“The typical police response is six to eight minutes away, depending on where you live,” he pointed out. “That can be a long time.”

Particularly, when, according to the Women’s Self-Defense Institute, the average interaction time between a criminal and a victim is 90 seconds.

“Situational awareness and your voice are your most effective tools,” Officer Warren stated. He also explained that being a good witness is a valuable skill that allows police and courts to do their jobs when a crime occurs. Noting the height, weight, skin tone, hair color and clothes that a person is wearing all helps police find and arrest the right person.

“Because if he’s going to do this to you,” said Officer Warren, “He’ll do it to her, and to her,” he pointed to the other women in the room.

Throughout the evening, the ladies learned how to recognize an imminent attack, and use a handful of techniques to defend against strikes, grabs, and chokes, as well as how to protect yourself if you are on the ground and how to use improvised weapons to defend yourself.

Tulalip Elder Pauline Williams was delighted.

“I wanted to be more empowered,” she explained. “I’m older. I want skills to help me be more alert and aware. I think older people in general are a target and vulnerable. Now, I feel like I’m stronger than I thought I was. I consider myself really feminine, but by putting more of my body into action, it gives me more force.

“It’s essential,” Pauline said of the class. “I’m glad to see the young girls here.”

 

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By the end of the evening, many of the attendees were asking for more classes.

“I would recommend it,” Alicia said of the class. “I think it should be for all ages. I see some good techniques that these kids can use whether they’re left home, left in the car or going to the store by themselves. The crime epidemic has no boundaries for any age or house. When someone is in the mindset of getting what they need, things happen and it’s good to prepare yourself.

“What stuck out to me is certain techniques. When they’re on top of you, that seems like a helpless situation and having a move to get them off you, to me, that move was more powerful than you think it would be. The talking part was pretty informational, it’s a lot to absorb and think about,” Alicia explained, recalling the beginning of the class, when Officer Warren referred to Tribal code 305200 and Washington laws RCW9.16.020, both of which outline a citizen’s right to self-defense.

“I think there should be more classes,” continued Alicia. “When you take your first class, you’re stepping outside of your comfort zone. Then, by the second or third class you have it cemented in your mind what you’re going to do. After your two or three classes, then you should take a refresher maybe once a year. Kind of like CPR classes.”

As the class came to an end, Officer Warren warned that everything he taught was useless, unless the women continued to practice the techniques and strategies that they learned.

For more information or to show interest in additional classes, contact Office Mike Johnsen at the Tulalip Police Department Mjohnsen@tulaliptribalpolice.org.

Seattle experiencing attacks on women

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News Writer

Seattle Police are currently investigating four separate attacks on four women since Friday Feb 8th. The men have been described in their 20’s with thin to medium builds. Three of the women were able to escape with minor injuries but one was sexually assaulted. So far they have no leads as to whether the attacks are related.  The Seattle times have constructed a map to view the locations of the attacks.

View the whole story here:

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/02/third-woman-reports-attack-in-north-seattle-all-since-sunday/

 

 

Brush up on your self-defense skills. Be safe and if you don’t have to, try not to go anywhere dark and/or unfamiliar alone.

10 BEST SELF-DEFENSE AWARENESS TIPS:

 Source: http://www.attackproof.com/10-best-self-defense-tips.html

 These 10 tips have been circulated for quite some time now. Guided Chaos Grandmaster John Perkins and Prof. Bradley Steiner have added to the original tips. This is a small list of things to be aware of but it should serve as a start for some folks who have not studied the topic.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

Brad Steiner: While this is a good point, it may not be the best tip for someone unskilled in karate. It does take a bit of dexterity and training before the elbow, per se, may be employed reliably as a weapon — especially by a woman in normal attire, against a large, strong male. I would recommend driving open and extended fingers-to-eyes, or using a chinjab followed by raising the elbow of the striking arm and then eye-gouging. BITING, if grabbed hold of, and kicking like crazy, is also good. Just opening the hand and whipping a surprise handaxe to the throat is also good. Head butting is effective. I would prefer these methods because, for the complete novice, they are more likely to be delivered with sufficient force and effectiveness to facilitate escape.

2. Learned this from a tourist guide. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you….  Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

Brad Steiner: Excellent general advice! Additionally, keeping a “throw away wallet” that is stuffed with junk or play money, etc. but that seems authentic, can be utilized with this ploy. While avoidance and escape is the best tactic, when possible, there may be contexts in which an appropriately prepared individual can feign compliance, reach for a handgun (or even a knife) under the guise of reaching for a wallet, and then . . . well, you can figure it out.

[Editor’s Note: There may be some risk however if you’re dealing with an angry psycho. It is possible that by throwing the wallet, he may just blow you away…and then casually retrieve the wallet. That being said, if he is that species of beast, he may have shot you no matter how compliant you were. All the more reason to never go with the attacker to crime scene #2 and to attack the attacker.]

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights, stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won’t see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

Brad Steiner: With modern vehicles it is possible to extricate oneself from inside the trunk of a car if you keep a cool head. HOWEVER: the smart tactic is never to permit oneself to be locked inside a vehicle trunk in the first place. Pretending to comply, then suddenly knocking any weapon aside and attacking the abductor’s eyes/throat and then running, is — I think — a better tactic that offers a greater chance of survival, on balance. Obviously the abductor does not wish to kill the person whom he orders into the vehicle’s trunk, right away. I have always been a powerful advocate of NEVER permitting oneself to be taken from a primary crime scene, if humanly possible to offer resistance. Like escape-and-evasion in military contexts, THE SOONER AND FASTER ESCAPE IS UNDERTAKEN, THE BETTER! The escape from a vehicle trunk is good counsel; nonetheless, should one find oneself thus trapped, for whatever reason).

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, making a list, etc.) DON’T DO THIS! A predator may be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, Repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead, gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

(Steiner’s comment: Good advice. Also: Always lock your vehicle and secure it when getting gas and entering the office to pay for the gas. Criminals have been known to enter vehicles and lie in wait, in the back, for the woman to come back to her vehicle and drive away. THEN, they overtake their victim who is helpless. Also: KEEP YOUR GAS TANK FULL. Never stop at stations where there are odd individuals standing, or at stations in questionable neighborhoods. Do not fill your gas tank at night. Keep your vehicle well supplied — go to brightly lit gas stations in good areas, and in broad daylight. Note: I am not 100% sure of the “drive into something” advice with a gun to your head. One does not wish to cause the weapon to go off due to the criminal’s being shocked, or simply reflexively firing as the vehicle purches. On the other hand, I can see how this tactic could save a life.)

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:

      a.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor , and in the back seat. 

      b.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

      c.) Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side… If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

(Steiner’s comment: THIS IS PERFECT ADVICE! WE HAVE BEEN TELLING THIS TO STUDENTS FOR DECADES! FOLLOW IT!)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. (This is especially true at NIGHT!)

(Steiner’s comment: This might be construed in the opposite, as well. Elevators can be risky. Personally, we have heard of more attacks inside elevators than we have heard of attacks in stairways. However, there is to the point made. We urge serious caution at all times, and being prepared to fight back ferociously and using the element of surprise — always with a WEAPON, if this can be done lawfully.)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ.  RUN, preferably in a zig-zag pattern!

(Steiner’s comment: GREAT ADVICE! Again, we have urged this for decades as a good tactic, and we see no reason to change the counsel. In fact, it is NOT likely that an armed criminal will in fact fire at you at all. He obviously did not wish to fire when he had you at gun point; and he can see that raising an alarm by firing when you run away will only attract attention to himself with little chance of hitting you.)

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP it may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked ‘for help’ into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

(Steiner’s comment: RIGHT! Again, we have been urging this for many, many years, and it is good advice!)

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her ‘Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door….’ The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, ‘We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.’ He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby’s cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby’s cries outside their doors when they’re home alone at night.

(Steiner’s comment: VERY, VERY VALUABLE AND IMPORTANT ADVICE!!!!)

10. Water scam! If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside faucets full blast so that you will go out to investigate and then attack. This was mentioned on America’s Most Wanted when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.

(Steiner’s comment: Again — very, very valuable advice!)