Personal Safety Devices

Having a weapon or gadget for self-defense does not lower the chance of an attack or improve your safety because an assailant may not know you are armed or plan to neutralize its effectiveness. Purchasing an item or weapon for personal safety can be an effective means of self-protection when used correctly and under favorable conditions. There are advantages and disadvantages to relying on artificial devices or improvised items for self-protection and personal safety.

Improvised Weapons

At other times, a variety of improvised weapons, such as tools, kitchen utensils, or other household items, can be effective during the chaos of an assault. Numerous success stories illustrate this point, and there are other instances where the item did not perform well during a criminal assault. Improvised weapons may be as simple as a rock or stick. Others include screwdrivers, hammers, bug spray, keys, a book, a coffee cup, or a pen. Almost any item can be used as an improvised weapon if delivered with force and, especially, to a vulnerable area on the assailant’s body.

Personal Safety Weapons

Protective items, such as chemical agents, electronic devices, and weapons, may successfully stop an attack. The most common are pepper spray, tasers, and firearms. Sometimes, these are referred to as quick-fix items that can become a “crutch,” creating dependency, reducing environmental awareness, downplaying intuitive warnings, and weakening the response to threats, both physically and mentally.

Weapons and quick-fix items are also stranger-danger oriented in their application, which requires foreknowledge of potential assault. Consequently, they can limit one’s potential for self-preservation during violent crimes committed by acquaintances. Most items take valuable seconds to bring to the “ready” position for deployment and can become a mental distraction inhibiting effective fighting. Thinking about where the item is or how to use it can be a distraction. If the item is not available, panic may ensue, making it a debilitating crutch. Relying too heavily upon a device for self-protection and personal safety becomes a disadvantage if you do not have the selected device in your hand, the device malfunctions, the threat is too close, or it is taken away.

After taking a self-defense course or studying a martial art, any personal safety weapon can be applied to your training because you know you are not relying solely on a mechanical device. If you do not have the selected device in your hand, you can still effectively protect yourself. If it didn’t work right or was taken away, there are other ways to protect yourself and stop an assailant. You know different ways to protect yourself to stop an assailant.

Personal Weapons

After taking a Model Mugging course, any weapon may enhance your training because you know you are not relying solely on a mechanical device or other weapon. When properly trained to use your weapons, you can protect yourself and stop an assailant. The spontaneity and quickness of using personal weapons such as hands, elbows, or knees to strike and kick can be very powerful.

Model Mugging self-defense training provides knowledge and experience that can be empowering and simultaneously lead to a greater capacity to de-escalate volatile situations using the gentle art of verbal self-defense.

Weapons and improvised items can also work to the advantage and disadvantage of the assailant. In the Model Mugging Advanced course, students learn the psychology of armed assailants and how to deal with various weapons commonly used by criminals.

 

Return to Choices in a Self defense Course for more suggestions.