The Mindset of Improvised Weapons

Improvised weapons are not objects as much as they are your mindset. Almost anything can be a weapon. I remember reading a case in my criminology class during law school where a pair of panty hose was determined to be a deadly weapon because they were used to strangle a woman. It is not the objects I want to discuss here, but rather the mindset of improvised weapons.

If anything can be a weapon, or at least just about anything, it is up to you to think of how it can be used to defend yourself if needed. Years ago, I read an article by Bradley Steiner where he discussed rolling up a newspaper or magazine to use as a thrusting weapon to an attacker's face or throat. We saw a book slammed into the throat of an attacker in the third Bourne movie with Matt Damon. I've had a steel bucket swung at my head. Many people teach to use keys as weapons.

Before I go further, I want to discuss keys. Don't make a fist with keys sticking out between your knuckles and try to use keys in this manner. IF you have keys, take a key and hold it between your thumb and first finger and use it to scratch the heck out of your attackers face and especially eyes. You don't have to be able to punch, which may hurt your hand, you just have to rip that key across your attacker's eyes savagely in order to stop his attack so you can get to safety.

Didn't Steven Seagal use a credit card to slash an aggressor's eyes in the movie "Glimmer Man?" While I did enjoy Seagal's earlier movies, you don't have to be him or even like him to learn the lesson that credit cards can be effective if raked across an attacker's eyes. Pens and pencils can be stabbing weapons. I remember meeting Jim Bullard, author of "Looking Forward to Being Attacked" one time, and one of the things he said in the talk he gave was if you are attacked you can jam your pen or pencil into the attacker's eye. He went on to say, "don't pull it out, just push it in further and get out of there."

To develop a mindset of improvised weapons, you must look around you periodically and determine how you could use various objects to defend yourself. What things are close by? How could you use them to hurt your attacker? If no one is looking, pick up the object and go through the motions of how you would use it. If you do these mental exercises, you will be that much better prepared to react and use an improvised weapon if you need it.

One step better would be to engage in scenario training where you are attacked and must find and use whatever is available to defend yourself. Training where you are exposed to stressors that create duress is an important factor in self-defense training. If the first time you are ever under duress is during an actual attack, you may not handle the adrenal dump and will find you cannot perform and think as normal. (this is a topic for another time)

If you have the mindset that anything can be used to defend yourself, and you regularly practice and think about how ordinary objects could be used during a violent encounter, you will better prepared to actually use something in a real situation.

So take time now. Look around. How could you use various objects to defend yourself? Use your imagination. Be creative. Think! Like the old Special Forces poster, "Your mind is your greatest weapon." Then take it one step further and do some actual improvised weapon training. Act out scenarios and use whatever's at hand as a weapon.

There is no such thing as a fair fight when you are attacked. Fair is a place you take your prize pig. Fair is for competitions where there are rules. Self-defense is not competition. Self-defense is not fighting. Self-defense is making sure you and your loved ones go home. If attacked, you do whatever you have to do to accomplish that goal. Avoid it first. Run if you can. Attack back savagely if you must go physical. Just remember, you can use what's available. My friend Marc MacYoung likes to say, "You're not an ape, use a tool." Make sure you have the mindset of improvised weapons so that you can use whatever it takes to keep you safe.