Self Defense for Long-Hairs

[swords & roses]

I came across this video today, which covers a bit of what to do to defend yourself, should someone attack you or threaten to. At 3:42, they start going over some tips of what to do if an attacker comes up behind someone with long hair or a pony tail, & grabs it to gain control over them. While I hope none of us ever have to use these tips, they're too useful not to share. Much love to all!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOvjaXxEsC4&feature=youtu.be

[Quasiquixotic]

Interesting, thanks!

[MsPharaohMoan]

I am VERY interested in what this video has to say but have some degree of hearing loss and find it difficult to discern their speech from the background noise… Is it at all possible for someone to condense what they're saying into a few bullets for me? :cheese:

[MsPharaohMoan]

wooop, my first double post! lol

[Johannah]

Thank you for sharing!

[meteor]

Cool! :D Thanks so much for sharing the video!
The part where he shows that you first need to grab the hand that's grabbing the hair and take it from there is genius! :applause It makes a lot of sense, because that arm will be easy to grab and that really can help regain control. Also, the importance of quickly figuring out the proximity and position of the attacker without really seeing him/her.
And I also liked what he said about the importance of studying as many different martial arts as possible, because what works for one person may not work for another.

I've always wondered about those warriors with super-long hair (not all of them wore buns) and how they didn't shave their hair for the battles. I don't like it when people say that long hair and physical activity are incompatible, because it's not true. I remember I chopped my hair as a kid for sports :( - and that was completely unnecessary!

[RoseofCimarron]

Oooh, this is good! I don't go out much, but I will have to remember this move if something ever does happen. When I was in my women's studies class at my school last term, we had some women come in as guest speakers and they were showing us some self-defense moves. Most of their demonstration was great, except for the part where they basically told me and told the rest of the class that we should not have long hair (as it can be used against us) and that all of us with long hair should go and get it cut off immediately. One actually said something along the lines of: those of you stupid enough to keep your hair long are far more likely to be attacked, you need to look like a man so men won't attack you. I hated having to hear that, and I hated that they gave us no alternative, and I really hated that they told us to go donate our hair to, you guessed it, Locks of Love. :rolleyes:

Meteor, I'm so sorry that you had to cut your hair for sports! I used to do a lot of sports and every so often I got a little nudge from a coach, or someone else, to get a haircut. Then I got to college and got through a 12-week long badminton class with mid-thigh length hair, and now I know that you can do sports with long hair... just have 6 spin pins on you at all times! :lol:

[meteor]

When I was in my women's studies class at my school last term, we had some women come in as guest speakers and they were showing us some self-defense moves. Most of their demonstration was great, except for the part where they basically told me and told the rest of the class that we should not have long hair (as it can be used against us) and that all of us with long hair should go and get it cut off immediately. One actually said something along the lines of: those of you stupid enough to keep your hair long are far more likely to be attacked, you need to look like a man so men won't attack you. I hated having to hear that, and I hated that they gave us no alternative, and I really hated that they told us to go donate our hair to, you guessed it, Locks of Love. :rolleyes:

Thank you so very much for sharing this story, RoseofCimarron! :D
I can't believe this is what they taught! How is dramatically and permanently changing our bodies like that a *reasonable* recommendation to stay safe from assaults? Pretending to look like a man when we are outside? Seriously? And more generally speaking, how is it different from saying that women need to cover up completely in something like a chador or a full-body burqua and sit at home all day as the way of preventing an assault?

And... were they sponsored by Locks of Love, by any chance? :lol: I can almost imagine some LoL hairdressers on the self-defense team ready to pounce with their scissors as soon as some girls are conveniently scared into going bald to avoid any attacks! :lol:

[Éothyn]

Thank you so much for sharing this. Though hopefully none of us will ever need to put this knowledge to use :boxer: Forwarding to friends - after all, most everyone has some length of grabbable hair.

[swords & roses]

Yeah, thinking that all women should have short hair to be safe is pretty silly. Knowing what you can do if someone grabs you, either by the hair or by something else, is much more useful knowledge! We can't all live in bubbles our entire lives, you know? And hey, there are plenty of guys out there with long hair, too, my DH included. No one is telling them to chop it off for safety, but if they ever get attacked & their hair gets used against them, the guys can sure use the tips from this video, too. :) I always hope for the best, & think the best of most anyone. But it's just smart to be prepared for the worst. There are some crazy people out there, unfortunately. (I actually can't post this video on my Facebook page just yet. There's a big upheaval with riots & the like about 20 min from where I live, and this would only serve as more fuel for the fire of rash opinions & jumping to conclusions that's running rampant, & generally be misconstrued. Yay.)

MsPharoahMoan, I just finished notating the audio, but have to run out for a couple hours now. I'll be back with a post of those bullet points later on today! :)

[meteor]

Oh my goodness, I didn't realize you live right next to the location of the upheaval, swords & roses! Stay safe! :flower: And thank you very much for the notations to the video - they will really help those of us who struggle to hear/decipher it. :D

[Neoma]

I was roller blading about 15 years ago and someone ran me down and grabbed my ponytail. My feet went straight out from under me, I went totally horizontal (she was still holding my ponytail) and I fell flat on my back. I got a compression fracture on one of my vertebrae.

Since then, I haven't felt secure wearing my hair in a pony or braid. If I'm walking alone at night, I throw my braid over my shoulder so it's less of a "handle" for people walking behind me. Yes, I'm paranoid. :shrug:

[swords & roses]

Don't worry, Meteor; I'm not close enough to be in any semblance of danger. :flower:

Neoma, how terrifying! I'm so orry you went through that, & hope you're doing ok now. And I wouldn't call that paranoid at all.

[swords & roses]

Notes from the audio (I just started my note-taking from the beginning of the video):


If someone is threatening to pull a weapon on you (the woman had been threatened by someone acting like he had a handgun in an envelope), check the weapon to them. Putting pressure on the wrist allows you to control their wrist & hand. Stay on the outside of the checked wrist; this is their weak side. From here, you can strrike them.
At 1:56, his hand position, with curled fingers, is good for delivering a throat strike. It only takes about 8 pounds of pressure to collapse the throat. A throat strike with a closed fist will deliver a large amount of pressure. If you're being shown lethal intent, don't hold back from hurting them. Striking the throat with the web of the hand delivers much less pressure, so you'd have to strike a lot harder to achieve the same effect.
When you check their hand, don't move across their body to the opposite side. Stay on the same side. This makes it easier for you to block their other hand. It also forces them to cross their body to strike at you, which weakens their strikes. (S&R's side note: the checked hand, which reached for a weapon will likely be their dominant side. If you check that, they have to use their non-dominant side to strike at you, which will likely be weaker for that reason as well.)
If you can bring their checked wrist behind them, you have lots of options. You can trap their hand, pull them backwards by the neck to get them off center, kick their knee, & drop them down.
Don't fight their momentum. Roll with it. And always control the weapon.
On the topic of hair:
Rule #1: Where the head/hair goes, the body follows.
If they grab your hair & you're not willing to separate with a big chunk of it, you're already in trouble. Getting out of it will hurt a lot.
First, trap & own their grabbing hand. You can work separation, or at least secure that hand. Then you can strike them: kness, side, groin, etc. You can put them in a wrist lock to separate from them, though tyou will lose a lot of hair. Do whatever you can to kick or strike them.
Be aware that stomping their toes may not work, as they could be wearing steel toed boots.
Another benefit of grabbing the hand that's got ahold of your hair is that doing so makes you aware of their proximity to you. Get low for a stronger, better base, & get one eye on them. This gives you a good idea of what you can do. Even if you can't see them, touching the grabbing hand gives you some idea of where they are in space.
Hit hard & fast. Target joints like thoulders & wrists, and the throat.
You can hit harder with a little space between you & the attacker than you can up close. Close is good for elbow & knee strikes, though.
Study as many forms of martial arts as possible, because what works best is different for everybody.
Men may be physically stronger than women, but women have a lot of advantages. They are faster, more flexible, have a higher pain tolerance, shorter with weight around the hips & below which provides a solid center of gravity. Men are typically top heavy. It's easy for a woman to get in undernath a man's center of gravity & use her strength & flexibility. Even with a much taller man, tipping the chin back takes their striking power away.


Hope that transcription helps!

[RoseofCimarron]

Thank you so very much for sharing this story, RoseofCimarron! :D
I can't believe this is what they taught! How is dramatically and permanently changing our bodies like that a *reasonable* recommendation to stay safe from assaults? Pretending to look like a man when we are outside? Seriously? And more generally speaking, how is it different from saying that women need to cover up completely in something like a chador or a full-body burqua and sit at home all day as the way of preventing an assault?

And... were they sponsored by Locks of Love, by any chance? :lol: I can almost imagine some LoL hairdressers on the self-defense team ready to pounce with their scissors as soon as some girls are conveniently scared into going bald to avoid any attacks! :lol:

No they weren't sponsored by LOL, they were just the typical "It's a good thing to do, so you need to do it" people. They teach free self-defense classes, but you can't wear any sort of pins (to keep hair up), ponytails, buns, braids, or have it loose, so all the women going there have pixies or less than shoulder-length hair.

Yeah, they were pretty extreme. During one of their demonstrations the first woman "attacked" the second, and the second showed us how to yell, turn around while hitting the attacker in the face with her elbow, box the attacker's ears, knee the attacker in the groin, punch the attacker in the throat, then face/nose, then stomach, kick the attacker in the knee, and then stomp on the attacker's stomach/and or sternum when the attacker is down. Is it just me, or does that sound like that sequence could possibly be lethal? A punch to the stomach could cause internal bleeding and death. I'm all for doing what you have to do to get out of a bad situation or an attack, but not kill or seriously injure the attacker.

[meteor]

Thank you so much, swords & roses, for your awesome transcript! :flowers: It's definitely super-helpful!
I missed a lot of that stuff in the audio version because English is not my first language.

RoseofCimarron, that sequence does sound pretty extreme... and the stomping on stomach/sternum part seems just plain unnecessary? After all, at that stage one could just run away or get their weapon. I don't know though... I know that in the States the law allows you to defend yourself pretty aggressively, you can even shoot (and not just in the knee) just because of being threatened.
But in many countries around the world, if you accidentally kill somebody who wanted to rob or sexually assault you, you could definitely go to prison for many years.
But of course, I'm all for doing everything you have to do to get out of a bad situation or an attack.

[Kaelee]

Notes from the audio (I just started my note-taking from the beginning of the video):


If someone is threatening to pull a weapon on you (the woman had been threatened by someone acting like he had a handgun in an envelope), check the weapon to them. Putting pressure on the wrist allows you to control their wrist & hand. Stay on the outside of the checked wrist; this is their weak side. From here, you can strrike them.
At 1:56, his hand position, with curled fingers, is good for delivering a throat strike. It only takes about 8 pounds of pressure to collapse the throat. A throat strike with a closed fist will deliver a large amount of pressure. If you're being shown lethal intent, don't hold back from hurting them. Striking the throat with the web of the hand delivers much less pressure, so you'd have to strike a lot harder to achieve the same effect.
When you check their hand, don't move across their body to the opposite side. Stay on the same side. This makes it easier for you to block their other hand. It also forces them to cross their body to strike at you, which weakens their strikes. (S&R's side note: the checked hand, which reached for a weapon will likely be their dominant side. If you check that, they have to use their non-dominant side to strike at you, which will likely be weaker for that reason as well.)
If you can bring their checked wrist behind them, you have lots of options. You can trap their hand, pull them backwards by the neck to get them off center, kick their knee, & drop them down.
Don't fight their momentum. Roll with it. And always control the weapon.
On the topic of hair:
Rule #1: Where the head/hair goes, the body follows.
If they grab your hair & you're not willing to separate with a big chunk of it, you're already in trouble. Getting out of it will hurt a lot.
First, trap & own their grabbing hand. You can work separation, or at least secure that hand. Then you can strike them: kness, side, groin, etc. You can put them in a wrist lock to separate from them, though tyou will lose a lot of hair. Do whatever you can to kick or strike them.
Be aware that stomping their toes may not work, as they could be wearing steel toed boots.
Another benefit of grabbing the hand that's got ahold of your hair is that doing so makes you aware of their proximity to you. Get low for a stronger, better base, & get one eye on them. This gives you a good idea of what you can do. Even if you can't see them, touching the grabbing hand gives you some idea of where they are in space.
Hit hard & fast. Target joints like thoulders & wrists, and the throat.
You can hit harder with a little space between you & the attacker than you can up close. Close is good for elbow & knee strikes, though.
Study as many forms of martial arts as possible, because what works best is different for everybody.
Men may be physically stronger than women, but women have a lot of advantages. They are faster, more flexible, have a higher pain tolerance, shorter with weight around the hips & below which provides a solid center of gravity. Men are typically top heavy. It's easy for a woman to get in undernath a man's center of gravity & use her strength & flexibility. Even with a much taller man, tipping the chin back takes their striking power away.


Hope that transcription helps!

This may just be me, but my instinct would be NOT to grab the hand that is holding the hair, because the act of grabbing the hand puts you in a vulnerable position. I can think of all sorts of things the Master/other students in my TKD class would have done had they caught me with my elbow in the air in an attempt to defend myself. Starting with grabbing the offending elbow with the hand not in my hair and pulling it towards the ground. :eyebrows:

Instead I would drop into a low stance, and hit them hard with an elbow towards whatever body part I can hit. Probably ribcage/solar plexus. If I could bend my head down to look and see where their feet are, I would. Dropping to a low stance prevents them from tipping me over. Then beat the crap out of them.


No they weren't sponsored by LOL, they were just the typical "It's a good thing to do, so you need to do it" people. They teach free self-defense classes, but you can't wear any sort of pins (to keep hair up), ponytails, buns, braids, or have it loose, so all the women going there have pixies or less than shoulder-length hair.

Yeah, they were pretty extreme. During one of their demonstrations the first woman "attacked" the second, and the second showed us how to yell, turn around while hitting the attacker in the face with her elbow, box the attacker's ears, knee the attacker in the groin, punch the attacker in the throat, then face/nose, then stomach, kick the attacker in the knee, and then stomp on the attacker's stomach/and or sternum when the attacker is down. Is it just me, or does that sound like that sequence could possibly be lethal? A punch to the stomach could cause internal bleeding and death. I'm all for doing what you have to do to get out of a bad situation or an attack, but not kill or seriously injure the attacker.

That sounds like complete, and total, overkill. They are not just out to defend themselves, they want REVENGE!!!!! I'm all for doing what you need to do to protect yourself, up to and including serious injury or death, but stomping on someone when they're down is just overkill, unless they are trying to get back up.

I was taught "use the minimum amount of force necessary to get away from an attacker". Also "get them on the ground and run" (and then I was personally told "YOU better kill them, because you can't run." :laugh: It's true, I'm a terrible runner.)

[lapushka]

Always go for the groin, that's what my grandad told my mom, that's what my mom always told me. And go out with an umbrella at all times, because it's a good "tool" to hit that groin area. *smack*

Good video, good tips! Thanks for posting!

[Neoma]

Don't worry, Meteor; I'm not close enough to be in any semblance of danger. :flower:

Neoma, how terrifying! I'm so orry you went through that, & hope you're doing ok now. And I wouldn't call that paranoid at all.

Thank you, swords & roses. Yes, I am fine, thank you. :flowers:

[Nedertane]

Oooh, this is good! I don't go out much, but I will have to remember this move if something ever does happen. When I was in my women's studies class at my school last term, we had some women come in as guest speakers and they were showing us some self-defense moves. Most of their demonstration was great, except for the part where they basically told me and told the rest of the class that we should not have long hair (as it can be used against us) and that all of us with long hair should go and get it cut off immediately. One actually said something along the lines of: those of you stupid enough to keep your hair long are far more likely to be attacked, you need to look like a man so men won't attack you. I hated having to hear that, and I hated that they gave us no alternative, and I really hated that they told us to go donate our hair to, you guessed it, Locks of Love. :rolleyes:

Wow, nice that that group gave you guys a nice slice of false information along with calling you stupid. Very classy.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/rape.asp


ETA: Oh, and Kaelee, the wrist is actually a very good point to attack and unarm someone. The wrist is a more "sensitive" joint (I think it might be a pressure point? I can't recall 100% offhand), so attacking it will give a sort of "shock" to the attacker, and it makes them more likely to drop the weapon.

[swearnsue]

I'm totally psyched. I want to practice on the next man that walks by my house!!! Just kidding, sort of.

[Kaelee]

ETA: Oh, and Kaelee, the wrist is actually a very good point to attack and unarm someone. The wrist is a more "sensitive" joint (I think it might be a pressure point? I can't recall 100% offhand), so attacking it will give a sort of "shock" to the attacker, and it makes them more likely to drop the weapon.

I realize that, but effectively attacking the wrist while it's behind the back of your head- and putting yourself in a vulnerable position at the same time, isn't necessarily the best idea. Especially since, once you have a hold on the attacker's wrist, they can let go of your hair, in turn grab YOUR wrist, and give YOU the wrist shock. Or pull your arm down and put you on the ground. Or pull your elbow down and put you on the ground.

[Nedertane]

I realize that, but effectively attacking the wrist while it's behind the back of your head- and putting yourself in a vulnerable position at the same time, isn't necessarily the best idea. Especially since, once you have a hold on the attacker's wrist, they can let go of your hair, in turn grab YOUR wrist, and give YOU the wrist shock. Or pull your arm down and put you on the ground. Or pull your elbow down and put you on the ground.

Ooohhh, okay, I see what you mean. I can see not getting a good grip when their hand is behind your head, but I'm not sure about the rest. I mean, unless they were a trained fighter, I doubt that they'd think that quickly to pull off all that you mentioned. I'm not an expert, though, so maybe I'm underestimating.

[Kaelee]

Ooohhh, okay, I see what you mean. I can see not getting a good grip when their hand is behind your head, but I'm not sure about the rest. I mean, unless they were a trained fighter, I doubt that they'd think that quickly to pull off all that you mentioned. I'm not an expert, though, so maybe I'm underestimating.

I would never assume that an attacker is not a trained fighter, they very well could be.

ETA: This is assuming that you are unable to turn around while they have a hold on you. I didn't watch the video, just read the description, so I may be off in what I am picturing. I would still go with the "get low and hit where you can" though. Or turn, grab the wrist and hit them where it hurts at the same time or one right after the other. "Turn, grab, strike" in rapid succession. If you can turn around. If not, drop the center of gravity low and hit hard where you can. Elbows are good for this.

[meteor]

Always go for the groin, that's what my grandad told my mom, that's what my mom always told me.

Right! :D If some dude grabs me by my hair, I'm grabbing him by his .... :lol:
I think it's both fair and effective kind of strategy! ;)

[swords & roses]

^ Even if it's a woman that's the attacker, a solid heel strike or knee strike to the groin will hurt like hell on anyone.

[Kaelee]

^ Even if it's a woman that's the attacker, a solid heel strike or knee strike to the groin will hurt like hell on anyone.

Yep!

*extra characters*

[Skruttiz]

Many thanks for that video. Learned a lot.

Can I make you ladies a suggestion?
If you have a husband, boyfriend, a male good friend or whatever, "practice" on him.
You don´t have to be rough, just play around and let him grab, hold your arms, legs etc so you learn how it feels when someone gets a hold on you. (Hope you understand what I mean)

My husband is taller and much stronger than me and we do "fool around" like this sometimes and that has made me really understand how hard it can be to defend yourself.
First time was a schock for me since I knew he wasn´t holding me as hard as he could, if he wanted to. I thought I could do more then I could.
But it have really helped me to know week spots and what´s no meaning to try to attack when they are stronger then yourself and what my own week spots are.

[Anabell]

Thank you so much for sharing this. Though hopefully none of us will ever need to put this knowledge to use :boxer: Forwarding to friends - after all, most everyone has some length of grabbable hair.

Yep. You don't need much for grabbing. Anything a little longer than bob to floor length is long enough. If they grab from the roots as they showed in the video you don't need much more that a couple of inches length.

I took a self defense course once. We cover the hair grab part too- if they grab you hair from the length and not from the roots you simply turn around and then there a lot more options for defense yourself because now you are face to face to the attacker. So the length isn't a real problem.

[Velvetbyrd]

My mom who was a model turned truck driver told me to carry a small blade. Small enough to hide in your hand.

That saved her when a man attacked her. I don't know how good of an idea that is but she has hair to her bum and he let go real quick and she was able to get back to her truck and get to safety.

She was a long haule trucker then.

[Sarden]

My mom who was a model turned truck driver told me to carry a small blade. Small enough to hide in your hand.

That saved her when a man attacked her. I don't know how good of an idea that is but she has hair to her bum and he let go real quick and she was able to get back to her truck and get to safety.

She was a long haule trucker then.

Goodness - although I'm glad your mum was ok, Carrying a blade is risky business. For a start it's illegal here (in the uk).

I work in a centre for people with violent challenging behaviour and hair grabs are quite a regular thing. We are taught a few different ways to deal with them but all start in the same way - get a good strong stance with feet apart then grab the hand that's holding the hair and pull it in tight to your head. We call this "fix and make no worse" and it stops someone from ripping your hair out and also puts you back in control somewhat.

[Velvetbyrd]

My mom was a abused by her brothers. She had a bad start to life. She learned to keep her self safe because there was no one else to help her.

I was taught that the best way to be safe was to not put yourself in danger. But when danger comes looking for you to be prepared. That's was taught to me by my grandmama on my dad's side. She raised me. I don't Agee with my mom on carrying a weapon at the ready but can understand why she does.

Grandmama taught to run and get away is the safest thing to do but if you don't have that option know how to protect your self.

I'm dyslexic so it can be hard to express myself in text.:waving: this post has taken me about 20minutes to type. Sorry if I'm not always clear:)

[MsPharaohMoan]

Notes from the audio (I just started my note-taking from the beginning of the video):


If someone is threatening to pull a weapon on you (the woman had been threatened by someone acting like he had a handgun in an envelope), check the weapon to them. Putting pressure on the wrist allows you to control their wrist & hand. Stay on the outside of the checked wrist; this is their weak side. From here, you can strrike them.
At 1:56, his hand position, with curled fingers, is good for delivering a throat strike. It only takes about 8 pounds of pressure to collapse the throat. A throat strike with a closed fist will deliver a large amount of pressure. If you're being shown lethal intent, don't hold back from hurting them. Striking the throat with the web of the hand delivers much less pressure, so you'd have to strike a lot harder to achieve the same effect.
When you check their hand, don't move across their body to the opposite side. Stay on the same side. This makes it easier for you to block their other hand. It also forces them to cross their body to strike at you, which weakens their strikes. (S&R's side note: the checked hand, which reached for a weapon will likely be their dominant side. If you check that, they have to use their non-dominant side to strike at you, which will likely be weaker for that reason as well.)
If you can bring their checked wrist behind them, you have lots of options. You can trap their hand, pull them backwards by the neck to get them off center, kick their knee, & drop them down.
Don't fight their momentum. Roll with it. And always control the weapon.
On the topic of hair:
Rule #1: Where the head/hair goes, the body follows.
If they grab your hair & you're not willing to separate with a big chunk of it, you're already in trouble. Getting out of it will hurt a lot.
First, trap & own their grabbing hand. You can work separation, or at least secure that hand. Then you can strike them: kness, side, groin, etc. You can put them in a wrist lock to separate from them, though tyou will lose a lot of hair. Do whatever you can to kick or strike them.
Be aware that stomping their toes may not work, as they could be wearing steel toed boots.
Another benefit of grabbing the hand that's got ahold of your hair is that doing so makes you aware of their proximity to you. Get low for a stronger, better base, & get one eye on them. This gives you a good idea of what you can do. Even if you can't see them, touching the grabbing hand gives you some idea of where they are in space.
Hit hard & fast. Target joints like thoulders & wrists, and the throat.
You can hit harder with a little space between you & the attacker than you can up close. Close is good for elbow & knee strikes, though.
Study as many forms of martial arts as possible, because what works best is different for everybody.
Men may be physically stronger than women, but women have a lot of advantages. They are faster, more flexible, have a higher pain tolerance, shorter with weight around the hips & below which provides a solid center of gravity. Men are typically top heavy. It's easy for a woman to get in undernath a man's center of gravity & use her strength & flexibility. Even with a much taller man, tipping the chin back takes their striking power away.


Hope that transcription helps!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write that all out! :inlove: very useful info here

[schnibbles]

I almost want to practically beg people to read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker (http://www.amazon.com/Other-Survival-Signals-Protect-Violence/dp/0440508835/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408381058&sr=1-1&keywords=the+gift+of+fear)
It's such an excellent book...a life changer. (or life saver, depending on how you look at it)

Trust me, when your life is at risk, you fight. Anyone can read and research and speculate, but if you're ever put in the situation, your instincts kick in and you fight hard.
Always stay in motion, as long as you're not paralyzed with fear, you have a pretty good chance. Your attacker's number one advantage is actually not their size, it's the element of the surprise attack. When you surprise them right back... that's how you can save your own life. It doesn't matter what you're doing (grab his arm, don't grab his arm...) as long as you're using the force of motion it's actually difficult for most people to restrain someone who's constantly moving

I hesitated about posting in this thread for awhile, because I posted about about something that happened to me one time here and I got the impression people thought I was lying or making something up for attention. So I won't get into it, but ... everyone should read "The Gift of Fear"
That was my Public Service Announcement for today lol :soapbox:

[SkyChild]

This is a useful video, thanks. I'm going to put it on my facebook page for all my long-haired friends

[SkyChild]

I work in a centre for people with violent challenging behaviour and hair grabs are quite a regular thing. We are taught a few different ways to deal with them but all start in the same way - get a good strong stance with feet apart then grab the hand that's holding the hair and pull it in tight to your head. We call this "fix and make no worse" and it stops someone from ripping your hair out and also puts you back in control somewhat. Sarden this sounds very similar to my workplace. If you don't mind - what do you wear in the way of hairtoys to work? I'm struggling as I think sticks and forks might turn out to be a very handy weapon for some of our residents!

[Sarden]

Sarden this sounds very similar to my workplace. If you don't mind - what do you wear in the way of hairtoys to work? I'm struggling as I think sticks and forks might turn out to be a very handy weapon for some of our residents!

Hi SkyChild! I don't get as much face to face time with service users as I'd like as I'm quite office based, but whenever I do it's always a fairly tight braided bun with the ends tucked in. I use bobby pins pushed right in rather than any type of clip or slide so there's the bare minimum to grab hold of. The worst hair grab I ever had though was when somebody got hold of my fringe. She twisted her fingers right in and held on for dear life, pulling me around - and she was STRONG! Since then I always clip my fringe back too. I lost a good chunk of it that day! *shudder*

How about you? Sounds like you have a lot more hair than I do, how do you keep yours out of the way?

[lapushka]

I almost want to practically beg people to read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker (http://www.amazon.com/Other-Survival-Signals-Protect-Violence/dp/0440508835/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408381058&sr=1-1&keywords=the+gift+of+fear)
It's such an excellent book...a life changer. (or life saver, depending on how you look at it)

Excellent book, great recommendation! I read it "a few times"; my copy has almost deteriorated fully. :lol:

[Nedertane]

Goodness - although I'm glad your mum was ok, Carrying a blade is risky business. For a start it's illegal here (in the uk).

I work in a centre for people with violent challenging behaviour and hair grabs are quite a regular thing. We are taught a few different ways to deal with them but all start in the same way - get a good strong stance with feet apart then grab the hand that's holding the hair and pull it in tight to your head. We call this "fix and make no worse" and it stops someone from ripping your hair out and also puts you back in control somewhat.


Seconding this. We learned this/something very similar where I volunteer (a group home for teenage girls), when the girls would sometimes try to get violent.