How To Defend Yourself

Rebecca Brayton: The best defense is knowledge, and fortunately there are ways to avoid becoming another static. Hi I am Rebecca Brayton and welcome to watchmojo.com and today we'll be learning about self-defense. George Manoli: My name is George Manoli, I am a professional simulator and a personal safety trainer. And I am dressed this way, so I can attack either men, women, children in order to teach them how to defend themselves. Rebecca Brayton: No, no. George Manoli: Beautiful, very nice. Rebecca Brayton: What kinds of principles are stretched at a self-defense course? George Manoli: A self-course, a) must be hands on. It cannot be hocus pocus, punching in the air and blocking and throwing. If I want to learn to swim, I must jump in the water and swim. If I want to learn to defend myself, then the instructor must put me in situations where the adrenaline in me forces me to deal with the confusion and panic that happens during an attack. So it should incorporate what is known as Adrenal Stress Training, therefore pushing my button so I get stressed. It needs to incorporate stuff on the ground because the majority of sexual assaults do not happen standing up, except in movies of course. Also, it doesn't always happen in a gym. It doesn't always happen in a big empty room, might be a couch, might be tables, might be against the wall, you don't know. So a self defense course must be hands on, and it must incorporate what somebody does on a regular basis. Rebecca Brayton: Is it important for men as well to learn self-defense? George Manoli: Yes, absolutely. Self-defense or some kind of maybe martial art, something that is going to give them, maybe a sense of empowerment or a sense of personal knowledge, that’s where confidence comes from. Rebecca Brayton: Now I know most martial arts, the goal isn't to harm someone, but is that the goal in self-defense? George Manoli: When we are talking about self-defense, we are defending oneself from something. So the goal here is to hit -- Rebecca Brayton: No. George Manoli: Hit Rebecca Brayton: No. George Manoli: Hit Rebecca Brayton: No. George Manoli: And the get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. You have to understand it's not like martial arts. It's not where I escape, counter-escape, encounter a million times, therefore becomes a reflex action. This is not what we are trying to incorporate here; we are trying to incorporate your natural survival instincts. Rebecca Brayton: Now tools such as pepper spray or mace are illegal, are there any tools that we can carry with us, that can help us in an attack? George Manoli: You can carry for example a hair spray with a lighter, and it becomes a blow torch. So there’s a variety of things you can carry, but I think the negative aspect to this is that whatever it is that you are carrying becomes a crutch. If you don't have it, you feel like you can't do anything. We know that the majority of attacks happen in a private home. So you are not always carrying pepper spray and keys. Please understand that all these things can also be used against you. So fine, you have all these options, but I think your best option is what is between your ears. Rebecca Brayton: Thank you very much. George Manoli: My pleasure.