00:08Hi everyone, I'm Kelly Bourdais, Health and Wellness Editor at Refinery29.
00:12Today I'm here with Gabrielle Rubin, founder of Female Awareness Self-Defense.
00:16What would you say is the most important thing to remember when you're thinking about self-defense?
00:21Well, first off, I'm a firm believer that attacks begin before it's physical.
00:24So the best objective is to be ahead of the game, try to avoid that situation altogether.
00:30Bad guys are not looking for a type, they're looking for a target.
00:34Your cell phone can be a big attraction for a bad guy.
00:37If you're on your cell phone, you can't hear a bad guy approaching.
00:41If you have the phone up to your face, you can't defend yourself nor can you see somebody approaching.
00:46Two, headphones. If I have my headphones in, I can't hear a bad guy coming up behind me.
00:50They love that element of surprise.
00:52And three, we walk everywhere here in New York City, which means we carry everything.
00:56So carry your handbag on your less dominant shoulder and keep a hand free so you can defend yourself.
01:02But what do you recommend women do when somebody actually puts their hands on you and things get physical?
01:07First thing you want to do is you want to strike your attacker.
01:09It might startle them, gives you a second to think about what you need to do next,
01:14and it might be the only thing you need to do.
01:16It might loosen them up so much, you might be able to get away at that point.
01:19If someone puts their hands around your neck, grabs you by the collar, puts their hands on your shoulder,
01:24any of those, a good technique I like to call answer the phone.
01:29Tighten your fist, bring your elbow in tight, bring it back, and strike right up underneath the chin.
01:35It doesn't take a lot to throw the jaw up, and if their tongue is there, it sucks for them.
01:39Alright, so what if someone were to grab me by the wrist or hand?
01:41A good strike from this distance is to do what I like to call a bitch leg.
01:46Straighten your arm, and strike right into my ear.
01:49Grab your hand, turn, and just go.
01:52So if someone does grab you from behind, most likely it's very typical to be grabbed like this.
01:56Right now, you can do a nice elbow right into the side.
02:00They're open if their arm is up and around you, so that's one.
02:03Two, kick your own ass.
02:05Like literally just bring your foot straight up, and that would hit them in the shin, the knee, the groin.
02:17So if someone grabs your hair, what I want you to do here is bring your arm straight up, like
02:23a sword, turn around, and slam it.
02:25That's it.
02:26Now you can just follow up or bye-bye.
02:29See ya.
02:31I hope all this information helps you feel a lot more empowered when you walk down the street.
02:35I'm Kelly Bourdais from Refinery29 Health & Wellness.
02:37See you next time.
02:41Right now.
02:42Bye-bye.
02:43Yeah.
02:43Bye-bye.
02:43You
