POP: 5 WAYS TO PISS OFF THE PREDATOR.

FORGIVE ME, I’m a trainer, so by definition I have come to depend on catchy acronyms which get my point across, are slightly pithy, and, at times, makes remembering all the key principles of the Fighting Arts easier to remember.  For instance, in the last two posts I introduced you to a terrific Self Defense For Children training paradigm I call S.T.I.C.K. (Survival Techniques and Intervention Concepts for Kids and parents).  STICK covers the entire continuum of personal safety techniques for children working in concert with parents taking on the role of Safety Coach(es).  C.A.T. (Counter-Abduction Techniques) is a very specific training branch of STICK, concentrating, obviously, on techniques and tactics specifically designed with the psychology and tendencies of the sexual predator in mind with the goal of escaping and evading the predator, of maximizing your child’s chances of avoiding the predator altogether, but, failing that, surviving the encounter.

 

MAYHAP you noticed the word survive.  It is always our mission for the child to survive, hopefully without serious injury, but I am a realist and the Fighting Arts, which I teach, are a realistic set of principles and techniques.  Remember and never forget:  Self Defense is not an injury free activity.  So, you see, I want your child to survive.  More specifically, I want your child to survive by doing whatever it takes to stay in the Initial Crime Scene.  Always remember this:  the initial crime scene is where, no matter how damaged your child is, where the EMS and the police and maybe you will be able to find and treat your child.  If you have worked with the child and have developed a Family Defense Plan (featured in a subsequent post), you and your child both will know that wherever it is he or she is being attacked (called the Initial Crime Scene) is also the place where the child’s Safety Coach knows, too.

 

I will repeat a principle from a previous post on STICK.  Redundancy is tedious, but, if you are reading this for the first time and you are a concerned parent, this is crucial.  The entire core of the sexual predator’s abduction strategy is to take your child as quickly and as quietly as possible.  Truth is, Hammer Fans, any strategies and tactics that cause him to be delayed in the initial crime scene really disturb, upset and cause him to become desperate, probably to break off the attack.  Trust me, your child does what I advocate, it’s gonna really Piss Off the Pervert.

 

SO what I have created is a Top 5 POP List.  Five ways to really piss of the (sexual) predator, or pervert, whatever you prefer. 

 

  1. Move, Never Freeze.  The ideal victim holds his/breath and freezes when the predator transitions from “that nice guy who lost his puppy” to a ferocious predator.  Teach your child to breathe and move.  Never move straight back.  Always move diagonally.
  2. USE BARRIERS AND BARRICADES IN THE ENVIRONMENT (I discussed this in the last blog, so enough said).
  3. MAKE PLENTY OF NOISE.
  4. DROP AND SCRAMBLE:  Children are closer to the ground, but too often they stand and flail away fecklessly.  Drop quickly and crab walk away from the pervert, opting for one of several strategies.  Remember – it is not that I think Drop and Scramble will devastate the Bad Guy into turning himself in to the police; it is designed to delay the predator in the Initial Crime Scene long enough for him to start getting nervous about possible witnesses or the police driving by, etc.
    • Crab walk backwards until it is safe to rise and run.  The element of surprise (dropping quickly) will buy the child about 5 seconds, which will probably not be enough to get away; however, now we have delayed the predator, and, if the child can crabwalk quickly, rise and then start running in a zigzag fashion, he might break off the attack or make a mistake.
    • When the attacker reaches down to grab the child, he or she can kick out with his or her feet, trying to keep him back.  When the adult bends down to grab the child, he will now be vulnerable to an Eye Gouge.
    • One of my favorite countermeasures is for the child to hook both feet around one or both legs and then quickly roll on his or her back until he or she can hook both hands around the legs.  Trained the right way, kids are quite good at this.  I teach the kids at this point to Crab Up, to make him or herself as small as possible while grabbing the legs, keeping the head down and against the side of the leg.
  5. DROP, LOCK AND ROLL:  If the predator grabs the child and lifts him or her off the ground, the child, no matter his/her age or size can expertly, quickly and powerfully use this great technique designed by the wonderful John Hall of Kid Escape (yes, I am a Kid Escape Instructor).  My technique is an adaptation where the child makes him or herself difficult to hold, like a dog or a cat when it wants to be let down.  Wiggle, squirm, kick and struggle.  When the child is able, he or she can roll over and down the Bad Guy’s front or back, hook onto the legs, roll to the ground, and then hook the legs across the Bad Guy’s ankles.  Hang on for dear life no matter what the guy does.  All the child is doing is delaying the predator at the scene.

 

There are variations of the Drop, Lock and Roll, but the principle is the same.  My research shows that over 40% of successful abductions could have been prevented.  I really believe in my heart that even more could have been prevented if children at risk would develop the survival psyche that is implicit in the STICK training paradigm.

In the next post I will talk about the variation sof Drop, Lock and Roll and explain how they can be used to save your child’s life if ever he or she has to go up against a sexual predator in a life or death struggle.

 

Stay Safe Until Then—.

 

Hammer

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