Tips and Tricks from Bangalore workshop- With ‘Dr. Safety’ Franklin Joseph

 

This is a Guest post by Gowrav Shenoy ( @gshny) who was one of the Hosts for our #Bangalore Self Defense workshop. It was conducted by ‘Dr. Safety’ Franklin Joseph, women safety empowerment specialist and Krav Maga trainer.

I recently saw the post that the NGO called Justice for Women was hosting a self defense workshop for Women across the country. As a friend to the organizer i decided to help out in any ways i could. I was asked to host the workshop on behalf of Justice for Women in Bangalore today along with Nabeel. The workshop was conducted by Franklin Joseph, who is a women safety empowerment specialist and Krav Maga trainer. Below are a few insights about the workshop.

Most of the attacks on Women are not targeted attacks. They are predators who look out for whom they can attack. For them the height, dress or looks do not matter, it is all about the body language. If you are alert then there is a 78% chance that you wont be attacked. As Frank pointed to us, anythings from cow dung to speeding car can be a threat.

Next question that may come to mind is, what if luck is not in your favor and you end up in the 22%. Frank tells us that when you are attacked, you still have 2 choices, you can either be the survivor or become the victim. The first move determines if we will survive to live another day. When approached keep eye contact with the other person and try to keep talking. The minute you panic, you let fear take over you and you end up being the victim. So how do you become a survivor?

Frank tells its not about height, strength or body that is important to protect yourself but its right use of mind and technique. He explained some very basic technique that uses the various laws of physics, so that by using minimum movements, maximum damage can be made to the attacker. He explained about pressure points in human body and which ones to use when under attacks. But all these that he explained were just as a defense so that you can plan your escape. He told that fighting does not do any good and that must be used as a last option. The technique that he taught everyone today were such that, the more force the attacker puts on you, the higher the risk of him breaking his own bones.

He explained how to escape if someone tries to grab your hands or tries to choke you or even holds a knife to your neck. The whole session can be summed up in the following words: Be Alert, Keep your hands freely so that you can defend, keep talking, if they try to grab you then make your move and scan the area for an escape. There was another session going on in parallel and they were kind enough to give us some really cool demos.

He told us that 92% of crime on women is done by someone whom they know. And around 45% of it is domestic violence. He concluded that women must stand up to her rights and show that she can fight back and wont be sitting quiet. Frank is really looking forward to organizing such workshops more often. I think we should have our friends/colleagues/relatives to attend these events when they are organized again.