One of the features of being on our own is that we might not have traditional families surrounding us. It might be a result of something so simple as moving away from home, to a new city or state. It might be the result of something as painful and difficult as divorce, death, estrangement, or …
Tomorrow, I leave for the Rangemaster Tactical Conference, also known as Tac-Con. It’s an annual event with a huge variety of classes all related to personal safety and self-defense. For many of us, it’s an opportunity to get a taste of what’s being offered by a number of top instructors in the field, as well …
How to learn what you need to learn: Tac-Con 2022 edition Read More »
Travel is a common topic here at OHO. It’s perhaps the most common disruption to our daily routines and normal lives, whether they’re short trips to familiar places or longer journeys to see new vistas. Many pixels have been disrupted in how to keep yourself safe and enjoy yourself when you’re away from home, not …
Personal alarms are perennially popular and have been making a comeback as a personal safety device. The idea is that by using a device to make very loud noises, the attacker will be scared off. Perhaps they will want to get away from the disorienting and painful sounds, or they will want to avoid the …
One of the reasons hands-on self-defense training can be challenging and intimidating is because at some point, you will need to use those skills against another human being. The relevant skills rarely exist in isolation because the entire point is that they will work to physically deter or stop an attacker. To do that, you’re …
Occasionally, someone asks me about women’s-only self-defense classes. They’re a popular offering and often fill quickly, so clearly there is a market for them. The question for me, though, is whether they’re a good idea that serves the student population well, in a way that will make them actually safer when they leave. After all, …
Stereotypes about you are one thing, but what about the stereotypes that you believe in about other people? For the same reasons the generalized ideas about the type of person you appear to be can be harmful to you in a variety of ways, the same kinds of ideas applied outward can harm the folks …
International Women’s Day was yesterday, and this year’s theme was #BreakTheBias – a call to action to work against gender discrimination and stereotyping. Many of the suggestions revolve around how we can call out discriminatory behavior resulting from bias and stereotyping, and how we can change people’s minds about women. Continuing from Monday’s theme, however, …
“Good girls don’t…” We’re all familiar with the stereotypes, and the social conditioning that creates and reinforces the behaviors that make up those stereotypes. They’re not limited to gender roles, though, and today I’m thinking about how similar types of stereotypes and conditioning can affect other groups, sometimes subjecting individuals to even more outside forces …
For those of us who have had to or are making it on our own, we’re used to having to dig in and get things done by ourselves. We might not like it, but there’s often no other choice. There’s nobody to rely on, so for better or worse, we figure out how to handle …
