'Lighting Up' Your Self Defense
Turning on the lights for your safety
What do you think of when I say “turning on the lights?”
You may think about going into a dark room and literally “turning on the lights.”
You may think of it in a mental setting when you come up with a solution to a problem that has been on your mind for awhile. Suddenly, the lights turn on in your thinking and you know what to do.
What do we mean when we say “turning on the lights in self defense?”
I teach children three lights and women four lights for self-defense situations.
The three lights for kids are —
Green - Safe
Yellow - Caution
Red - Danger
The four lights for women in self-defense situations are —
White - Unaware
Yellow - Aware
Orange - Beware
Red - Strong Physical Response
Here’s how that works in a self-defense application —
White
In the world of situational awareness, white is the color for being “unaware.” It’s the awareness state we’re in during sleep. That’s fine as long as you made sure to lock the doors and windows. However, it’s unfortunately the awareness state many people are in during their waking time as well.
How often have you seen someone walking in a parking lot or on a sidewalk, or going in or out of a store, reading something on their smartphone?
Where’s their focus? On the phone. That’s not where your focus needs to be when you’re outside. Which leads us to the next color.
Yellow
Our focus needs to be dialed up to “aware.” That’s the color yellow. That’s where we need to be all day long. Being “aware” is not the same thing as being “afraid.” We trade fear for faith in our ability to defend ourself and others, so “awareness” is the better term.
This woman is walking outside with awareness and confidence. Her eyes are straight ahead, but she can easily turn from side to side to widen her field of vision as she walks. She also has a smile on her face. This is opposite of what a predator is looking for in his target.
Attackers do not want to deal with someone who looks confident and is fully aware of their surroundings. They are looking for someone who is distracted, unaware, not paying attention to their surroundings; who looks like they might be an easy target to attack.
Orange
If we see or hear something that doesn’t seem right or we sense that something is not as it should be, our focus needs to be dialed up to “beware.” That’s the color orange.
If you are aware of your surroundings (situational awareness), it’s easy to quickly move to beware. You can change direction and move rapidly toward a safe place. You can also face your attacker, take a step back to make distance and get into a strong stance, and put your hands out in front of you in a way that doesn’t appear to be confrontational but moves your hands and arms into a good blocking/striking position.
If you can get away, get away. However, if you can’t get away .. be ready to dial everything up to red.
Red
If someone physically attacks you, your focus needs to be on a strong “physical response.” Strike fast, hard and continuously until the attacker stops attacking. Strikes to the eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus and groin are primary targets for defense. Use your hands (open or closed), your elbows, your feet, and your knees. Use everything you have to stop the attacker in his tracks so you can escape to safety.
Remember!
When you wake up in the morning, mentally go from white to yellow – unaware to aware. Stay in yellow (aware) all day, especially when you are outside. Don’t let your guard down.
I highly recommend you get some basic training in martial arts. You may love it and stay in training for years, but at least get several months of good training that’s based on effective, real-life self defense. That training will be with you the rest of your life.
Please Subscribe and Invite Others
We hope you will subscribe to Women’s Self Defense and invite daughters, mothers, and other women in your life to subscribe as well. Subscribing means that each new newsletter will arrive in your inbox on the first Monday of each month. Articles will also be available under the Women’s Self Defense section of this Substack website.
I am here to help you, so please share your comments, concerns, and questions about self defense. Even though I’m emphasizing “Women’s” self defense, the principles and techniques I’ll share are just as applicable for boys and men.
I appreciate your reading this introduction to Women’s Self Defense and look forward to helping you develop the skills and confidence needed to defend yourself against a physical attack. I hope you never face an attack, but I want you to be ready. As I often tell my students:
You can be attacked anywhere, at anytime, by anyone. Be ready.
