Rape Escape Options:
Choosing a Self-Defense Class

Rape Escape Options are enhanced by learning basic self defense or a martial art. This guide will help you choose wisely. (Also see Fighting Options - Overview.)

A woman in Scotland was walking home when a car pulled up and a man got out and stabbed her in the face and head with a screwdriver. She used her martial arts training to fight and wrestled the screwdriver away from him. He grabbed her purse and fled.

Major Lifestyle Change

Martial arts are revered as glamorous, exotic, almost magical combat skills, yet there are few true devotees. Only a tiny percentage of people have reached the coveted black belt level. Martial arts training usually requires a major change of lifestyle with multiple arduous sessions each week for many months or years, and it's expensive.

Most people don't have the time or inclination to study a martial art, and many beginners don't stick with it long enough to gain much benefit. Nevertheless, the students who do stay the course gain the lifelong benefit of greater self-defense if ever needed to save your life or that of a loved one.

Will It Work?

However, even martial artists argue among themselves about the effectiveness of various aspects of martial arts in real life. Does a style or maneuver actually "work on the street" in real life situations?  Will it work for escaping rape?

K.I.S.S.

Many experts forget that the simplest maneuvers are the most effective, as expressed in the acronym, "K.I.S.S.: Keep It Simple, Sweetheart."

10% Skill + 90% Will

Complex self-defense techniques require obsessive practice to have any chance at all in the heat of a sudden, unpredictable street-fight. Many street-fights quickly end up rolling around on the ground, mainly wrestling with some punching, kneeing, and biting. It's possible for a black belt martial artist to lose a street brawl to an untrained but frenzied, street-smart thug. Judo, Jujitsu and Krav Maga are more effective in such grappling.

Unlike traditional martial arts schools, the U.S. military quickly trains elite Special Forces in hand-to-hand combat. They're thoroughly taught to blind, deafen, maim, and kill – using the no-nonsense K.I.S.S. rationale and embracing the motto: "Success in hand-to-hand combat is 10 percent skill and 90 percent will." See Willpower.

Which Style Should You Choose?

There are 181 martial arts. Many styles claim to be the best, of course, and often have variations of the same techniques. Many students shop around for years, trying a variety of the bewildering choices. The traditional styles tend to feature Asian terminology and rituals. All styles involve various elements of the following categories:

• Boxing focuses only on punching, blocking, and evading punches, thus is unquestionably the king of those skills, and only those skills. Other martial artists often seek out genuine boxing training to add to their arsenal. Aerobics classes with a boxing theme will increase your stamina, and teach you basic punching skills but little about actual fighting.

• Kickboxing, as the name implies, combines boxing and kicking. Authentic Thai Boxing (Muai Thai), combining boxing with a few simple but brutal kicks, is often considered to be the most effective overall striking style. Aerobics classes with a Kickboxing theme will increase your stamina, and teach you basic punching and kicking, but again, little about actual fighting.

• Grappling (wrestling). Judo and Jujitsu are often considered the best grappling styles for self-defense. Brazilian Jujitsu dominates the UFC (see below).

• Hybrids. Many martial artists, departing from rigid traditions, have created eclectic – and excellent – blends of the above fighting methods, such as Krav Maga (using anything to Stun & Run). Modern hybrids are usually more realistic for basic rape escape and don't have as much ceremonial baggage. In the 1990's, the United Fighting Championship (UFC) spawned Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) contests that are hybrid blends of the above styles and have minimal ceremony.

The Ideal Choice

Some styles always lose in the first round of contests because they're too complicated. In all, the ideal choice for rape escape is a simple, versatile, flexible hybrid style that combines grappling, punching, and kicking. Finding such a school may take awhile, but training in almost any style is at least somewhat beneficial. Some schools offer self-defense courses for women separately from their regular classes. Completing a short-term program is better than dropping out of a long-term program.

The best classes teach "boundary setting," optimal attitude control, effective communication, behavioral strategies, and fighting against padded attackers for more realistic training.

Or simply learn the best at home, for free, and when your schedule allows. Here's an all-in-one guide to lifelong skills for kids, teens, as well as adults at Child Safety Tips - Kidnapping Escape - with plenty of brief and effective yet simple video lessons. (It starts partway down the page, at the end of the Stranger Danger Escape Lessons section, then continues awhile.)

Personal Safety Devices

Enhance your rape escape options and likely scare off a predator by carrying a Personal Security Alarm (screamer or noisemaker) & Pepper Spray in plain sight. Those pages show how to use them most effectively.

Pages related to Self Defense

• Fighting-Options-Overview
• Self Defense Techniques

Crime-Safety-Security > Rape Escape Options Overview > Defense Class

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