Defending yourself usually means defending your body against physical violence from another. That’s not a terribly controversial statement, though there can be some debate over exactly what “violence” encompasses. We know it can come from strangers, and from acquaintances, even loved ones. We often characterize it as something that involves the creation of an injury …
Welcome to Friday. It’s the last weekend of September, the first weekend of fall. Nights are now longer than days, and will continue lengthening until very nearly the end of the year. The bright freshness of a new school year is behind us and we’re just slogging through until the holidays. From the perspective of …
“I’ll punch them.” Speaking of rosy views of yourself, how many times have you heard someone put forth that as a complete plan for self-defense? It’s definitely popular among men, but I hear it from women too. Just punch them and then….I don’t know what the expected result is? That the bad guy is knocked …
Guys, gals, I have to make a confession. Sometimes I go out and I don’t bring my gun with me. Or my pepper spray. Or even a flashlight. Usually I have a small fixed blade knife clipped to my waistband, but that’s as much because they’re a little piece of my friends who make knives …
Confession: Sometimes I Don’t Carry. Here’s What I Do Instead. Read More »
It’s probably no surprise to you that I’m a voracious reader and avid collector of books. Along with the ubiquitous “to be read” pile that just about everyone has, I also keep a shelf of reference material that I turn to over and over again. Some are related to my day job; others are a …
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Friday evening after a lifetime of service as a jurist, litigator, and scholar. She was a trailblazer for women’s rights and gender equality for decades. Her work including direct involvement in litigation to ensure equal economic rights for men and women, including men’s access to spousal and widower …
As we get deeper into election season here in the United States, politics and other interactions are getting increasingly divisive, even more so than most Presidential election years. The dialogue is complicated by what we’re calling trolls: accounts used to seed disinformation and dissension. They create memes and other posts full of the kinds of …
A Boston-area mom had a scary moment last weekend, when her 8-year-old son became inexplicably tangled up in a seat belt and started choking. Somehow, he was nearly hanging from the ceiling of the vehicle, near where the belt was attached at the top. Nobody’s really sure how it happened, but it doesn’t really matter. …
Freak Accidents: Lessons from Siobhan Sherbovich Read More »
Protests, riots, and civil unrest are close to home for me again, with a weekend officer-involved shooting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Police responded on Sunday afternoon to that scariest of 911 calls: a domestic disturbance. Shortly after the first officer arrived, a man came out with a knife in hand – visible in body camera footage …
For all that I like to say that there are no “just” answers in self-defense, there is one thing you can do that will always put you ahead. And it’s not “situational awareness.” It’s taking care of your health and fitness. I’m sorry. It’s something that will require lifelong, constant effort, and you won’t always …
