If I was followed at night by a strange man,

[Are_grits_groceries]

I would try to hurt him if there was no way to safely escape. I would hurt him badly if I could if necessary, and I wouldn't be one bit sorry.

The Israelis teach a form of self-defense called Krav Maga. The essence is fight to flee. It is a nasty and effective form of self-defense. It is basically street fighting with certain techniques emphasized and areas to attack pointed out.
It should be more widely taught IMHO. Many people don't have the time or discipline to learn a martial art.

<snip>
The basic concepts of Krav Maga are:
1) Not to get hurt
2) To take out – or to “neutralize” your attacker by inflicting as much damage as necessary, as quickly as possible
3) To go from defending to attacking quickly
4) To be aware of your environment and situation at all times
5) To use when necessary any available objects in your defense and attack
6) To remove yourself from risk of further danger at the earliest opportunity.
<snip>
http://kravmagatechniques.com/

It also teaches to be aware of your surroundings at all times. If you are attacked and immobilize your attacker, leave. It isn't meant to finish off someone .

I would also add that you should never get in a car or whatever if someone tries to force you. The chances you won't make it through that trauma are quite high. Even if they have a gun, I believe is would be better to try in some way to strike the gun and run. Better than what may come next.

By any means necessary.

[baldguy]

1. The problem with the abominations known as "Stand Your Ground" laws

They make gun nuts think it's their duty to search for people to kill.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

20. Not even a good screed, let alone factual

[Honeycombe8]

2. If I were being followed (and I have thought that in the past)...I would get to my

destination asap. I wouldn't run, but I'd sure as heck walk quickly and determinately, and get to somewhere where I could lock a door behind me.

Only if I ended up cornered at a dead end would I engage in a conversation with a stranger who is following me. I would know instinctively that that person is not following me to give me $ or something GOOD, so nothing good can come of a confrontation with him. And it would almost certainly be a "him."

If I couldn't get to a locked door or my destination, I'd get to somewhere where there are other people.

That's what I'd do, anyway. I would certainly end up injured or dead if I confronted a weirdo who was following me. Almost any other course of action would at least give me a better chance to end up not injured and alive.

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. I agree.

The 'attack to flee' to me means if it becomes apparent that there isn't any way out and the person following you becomes a threat, attack and catch them off guard. If there is going to be a confrontation, get the drop on them.

[Honeycombe8]

13. I agree. But being female, I'd be at a huge disadvantage. So if I didn't have a gun on me,

I'd choose to flee, if at all possible. Only when cornered would I stand and fight. And THEN I'd drop to the ground and kick with my legs, if I couldn't kick him in the groin while standing (I saw that on a defense show....women's legs are stronger and longer than their arms, so that's what they should use to fight a man).

[Are_grits_groceries]

15. That fits.

The fleeing part would occur when he was incapacitated. Falling to the ground and fighting in that manner isn't precluded.

[TheMastersNemesis]

3. How Does That Fit With Hunting Licenses To Legally Hunt Liberals

With all these conceal and carry and stand your ground laws you wonder what to expect when Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly, Coulter, Limpbaugh and others are calling out for the elimination of liberals, progressives, homosexual, pro choicers, and Democrats.
They make no bones about what their code means. And they call what they do free speech.

[Honeycombe8]

5. If I follow your argument, you're saying that people who are murdering people...

are going to rely on the legality of carrying firearms to do it? That doesn't make sense. Anyone who is wiling to murder someone, which is illegal of course, doesn't care about legalities when it comes to firearms.

I think, basically, that people are tired of being robbed, carjacked, and murdered by criminals who carry illegal weapons. The police can't protect us a lot of the times. It's a jungle out there. I learned that the hard way, when someone was trying to break into my home. You have to be ready to protect yourself. No one else is there to do it for you. I can assure you that the criminals have come prepared to protect themselves in their criminal ventures.

[TheMastersNemesis]

11. Sadly You Are Correct

Sadly you are correct in many ways. The reason that the police cannot protect is that so many people are antigovernment these days they don't want to pay any taxes and they are so anti public employee they do not even support the police and fire departments. There have been a lot of layoffs in police and fire departments. That leaves most communities with a very thin blue line now.

We had a fire in Colorado that cost lives and homes. Being a political activist the folks in that area are very libertarian and very conservative. They don't want to pay taxes. The firefighters who came in are federally funded for the most part. And I will be the Ryan budget cuts that program like everything else.

Does not make sense what some of these people believe. They want their houses saved but they do not support programs that pay these forest firefighters.

[Honeycombe8]

12. I'd have to agree with you on that. We had wildfires here in TX....

that destroyed millions of dollars in property, homes, and some lives. Gov Perry and his legislature had CUT funding for fire response by millions, so there you go. I bet that many of the people who lost their homes or their lives had voted for him.

People don't want to fund Social Security, then they complain how long it takes them to get a form or whatever from that dept.

And so on and so on.

[Ilsa]

16. I think your points are very accurate.

In my case, I couldn't get to my gun in time. I had a loaded shotgun, but it didn't do me any good. If I had known self-defense techniques, I might have bee able to stop the assault on myself.

Knowing how to get out of a jam, including escaping being herded on a quiet public street, will always be a first step before firing a weapon, IMO.

[EFerrari]

18. Violent crime is down, not up, and so is property crime.

And as Steve Pinker says, this is the most peaceful period in human history.

The idea that we have to be armed to the teeth just to conduct daily life is straight out of the NRA playbook.

[KansDem]

4. Agreed

I'm 6 feet, 225 pounds, but if I'm ever threatened, I'm using all the "nasty" techniques: thumb in the eye, foot into the groin...whatever it takes. Then I run like Hell.

Marquess of Queensberry...who?

[Honeycombe8]

6. My brother is 6'1" and well over 200 pounds. When he travels in his truck, he carries

at least one gun, sometimes more. When he evacuated La. for Hurricane Rita, he took his guns with him. He was probably wise to do that. The area was rife with people running from the hurricanes, and any one of them could've held him up to rob him (he took cash with him, too). Although I'd think a criminal would go after someone smaller than my brother. He cuts an imposing figure, and besides that, you can tell he's a tough bugger and not one to mess with.

As for someone going after you, unless you're cornered, I subscribe to the "get away" and "get to a lighted area with other people" response. Criminals can be desperate, crazy people, and I wouldn't want to get into a face to face confrontation with one.

[hobbit709]

7. the friend who taught me how to defend myself used to teach hand to hand in the Marines.

first thing he taught me was
Back down as far as you can to avoid a fight. But if there's only one way out, make sure that YOU'RE the one that's able to walk away.

Part of the problem is that very few people have any situational awareness.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. That's basically Krav Maga.

And if a confrontation is unavoidable, attack them and try to get the drop on them. Usually that move would be a surprise to an agressor.

[EFerrari]

19. The self defense course I took operated on the same principles as the OP.

I don't know if the instructor was former military.

[HereSince1628]

9. I prefer the fantasy where a karate master swats bullets out of the air,

does back-flips 10 feet in the air and while spinning back to land flattens 14 gangsters trying to surround him.

THATS the one I'D(!!) be ready to do if I was 'followed' by someone, although I'd modify that to do some dangerously clever defensive move with my cane.

[Zax2me]

14. Lighten up, Francis

EOM

[Are_grits_groceries]

17. What are you talking about?

A lone female being attacked, especially at night, isn't rare. And it isn't funny.