Most of us don’t think about self-defense until it’s too late, perhaps assuming we will be able to muddle through a defense of ourselves if the need ever arose—or perhaps believing self-defense is impossible without years of intricate drills and many hours of physical training. The truth, however, is that anyone, regardless of age, size, or background, can learn to improve their safety, avoid or de-escalate threatening situations, or even escape a conflict altogether.
Author(s): Tammy Yard-McCracken
Series: The Great Courses
Publisher: The Teaching Company
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 182
Professor Biography......Page 3
Table of Contents......Page 6
Disclaimer......Page 8
Scope......Page 9
The Best Self-Defense Skill: Avoidance......Page 12
Learning through Play......Page 14
The One-Step Game......Page 18
Structure: Strong versus Weak Lines......Page 20
Taking the Play to the Ground......Page 21
Technique-Based Training......Page 23
Marking Drills......Page 25
Refining Your Targeting Skills......Page 27
Blindfold Drills......Page 28
Strikes......Page 30
Kicks......Page 32
After-Incident Ritual......Page 33
Lesson 5 – Generating Power by Playing Smart......Page 35
The Survival Stress Response......Page 36
Ways to Generate Power......Page 37
Affordances......Page 39
Goals......Page 43
Bear Hugs......Page 47
Dracula’s Cape......Page 49
The Process of Violent Encounters......Page 52
Elements That Inform the Process of a Violent Action......Page 54
Be a Hard Target......Page 58
Asocial Predators......Page 60
Process Predators......Page 65
Early Warning Systems......Page 67
The Range of Social Violence......Page 71
Places Where Violence Happens......Page 74
Surveying Your Environment......Page 76
Escaping an Aggressive Dog......Page 80
Escaping the Trunk of a Car......Page 81
Talking about Conflict and Violence......Page 83
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs......Page 84
Understanding Social Conflict and Violence......Page 86
Asocial Violence......Page 88
Accessing Your Ability to Use Violence......Page 89
Lesson 13 – De-escalating Your Monkey Brain......Page 92
Your Lizard Brain......Page 94
Your Monkey Brain......Page 95
Your Human Brain......Page 97
How to De-escalate Your Monkey Brain......Page 98
Human Brain–Level Conflict......Page 99
Threat Assessment......Page 102
Intelligence Gathering......Page 104
Patterns of Interaction......Page 110
Hard Boundary Setting......Page 112
Bridging Boundary Setting......Page 114
Soft Boundary Setting......Page 116
Stances......Page 118
Parries......Page 121
Preemptive Defense......Page 124
Self-Defense in a Legal Sense......Page 126
Articulation Skills......Page 127
Glitch-Hunting Exercise......Page 130
Lesson 18 – Physical Cheats in Self-Defense......Page 133
Cheats: Locations on the Body......Page 134
Cheats: Impact......Page 135
Joints and Joint Locks......Page 139
Ball-and-Socket Joints......Page 141
Gliding Joints......Page 142
Playing on the Ground......Page 144
Falling to the Ground......Page 148
Getting to Your Feet......Page 150
Weapons and Everyday Carry......Page 151
Blunt Force Objects......Page 153
Objects Used to Stab......Page 154
Gun Threats......Page 155
Becoming a Human Shield......Page 157
Intervening for Your VIP......Page 159
Protecting Your Children......Page 160
Ambushes from Behind......Page 163
Environmental Training Experiences......Page 164
Key Training Exercises and Concepts......Page 168
Bibliography......Page 172
Images......Page 182
