Long time no see

I'm beginning think I should change my name to "Catch Up Mama."  And I feel like I may have said that before.

I'm going to credit Limatunes for bringing me out of the woodwork. I was perusing her blog yesterday, and when I was finished reading her latest posts, I realized that she has me linked in her sidebar, and then I realized it's been a long time since I posted. How embarrassing.

So here's a quick rundown:

• Puppies - grow like weeds. I swear we leave for an hour and when we come back they are bigger. They are both over 50lbs now, and aren't quite 6 months old yet. Will try to post some new pictures soon.
• Appleseed - FINALLY. Officially scored Rifleman and took an "Orange Hat" (joined the instructor in training program). This was a long road and a lot of hard work, but
•  Soldier Girl - she's been back home since mid-may, and is making college plans.
• Training & Teaching - hubs and I have joined forces with a new tactical range, and we've been helping them make improvements and doing some teaching and training out there. More on that in a separate post.
• Life - has just been busy. It may be time to assess and scale back to only the most important things again. I hate it when I have to do this, because I hate telling that I can't help them.

So back to Limatunes......I read her blog post yesterday titled "Fight Like A Girl And Other Lessons From A Stabbing"  - if you haven't read it, GO DO IT NOW. Because that's the bulk of what I want to talk about today. I'll wait......

All done? It's a sobering read, isn't it? I train every single day, and still it made me think of areas that I need to work on. I want to address some of the same points that Limatunes does.

Mindset
As John Adams said about the American Revolution, a battle is most often won or lost in the heart and mind. If, in your heart and mind, you think you could never harm another person even if it meant your own life, then I submit to you that you *will* lose the fight. If instead, you believe in your heart and your mind that you will do anything to protect yourself or your loved ones, then you are already in a winning position.

That mindset did not protect her from being attacked. It only helped her make the decision to fight once the attack happened.
Even with that fighting mindset she was taken by surprise. Rushing from work to school she was emailing her boyfriend when she walked into the parking garage. She threw her bags in her car and was about to get in herself when she felt something at her neck.

This falls under Awareness, and as Lima discusses the Color Codes Of Awareness.
Should you try to live in Condition Yellow all the time? Yes, as much as possible.
Is it possible, 100% of the time? No. We get distracted by many different things (me included), and we all have to sleep at some point, right?
Should this young woman have put her phone away before entering the parking garage? Yes.
Did she deserve to get attacked because she hadn't? Hell, no!
Do I blame her for not seeing the attack coming? Absolutely not. Criminals rely on the element of surprise. They are always one step ahead, because they know what they are going to do, and they didn't give us a written gameplan.



The Attack

Angela's attacker put a knife to her throat and said, "We're going for a ride."
Angela made a bold decision. With a knife to her throat she chose to fight. She wasn't some sort of martial arts master. She took a self defense class and she chose to use what she had learned. She set a boundary that she wasn't going to cross and she fought. It was that simple.

I believe this was a pivotal decision. She chose to fight. With a knife to her throat.
Statistically, Crime Scene B is always far worse than Crime Scene A. What does that mean? If you comply with your attackers wishes to go to another location, things will end up far worse than if you stay and fight at Crime Scene A.

The Defensive Weapon
I hear too many people say "Oh, I don't need to train to fight, I carry _____ on me all the time." (Gun, knife, pepper spray, etc) 
First and foremost - YOU ARE THE DEFENSIVE WEAPON. All the other stuff you might carry are TOOLS to aid in a fight.
Angela had pepper spray, and she even tried to deploy it. But it was in her bag (where pepper spray often lives) and she couldn't get to it. Even if it had been in her pocket, she may not have been able to deploy it.
If you carry defensive tools, you owe it to yourself to TRAIN with it. If you don't train with it, there's a good chance you'll forget it's even there if you get attacked.

The Call
The only thing I will say about the call to 911 is this: This is a prime example of why you cannot depend on police to protect you from harm. Their job is to clean up the mess and locate and punish the criminals, not to protect you. Please don't take that as an insult to law enforcement. They simply cannot predict crime any better than anyone else, and when the call goes in to 911, the information has to be disseminated and units deployed. You are already there, so you should be the one protecting you.

The Injury
This really got me thinking. I carry very basic first aid supplies in my bag, unless I'm going to the range, and then I carry a larger kit. Poor planning, on my part. I wouldn't have the supplies to treat a stab wound until help could come. This will be remedied in short order.

Fitness

Angela fought for roughly three minutes (an eternity in a fight). She was stabbed and while bleeding internally she ran down four flights of a parking garage to help.

Many Americans would not have the physical stamina to make it through half of that.

People, you owe it to yourself. Take care of your body. Help it to be strong and fit. You are worth it, your loved ones are worth it. Is it hard work? Yep. Is it hard to find the time? Sometimes. But like Lima said: It may very well be the difference between life and death.

Conclusion
I'll just reiterate all of what Lima said. There is no better way to say it.

Be aware. Be aware of your surroundings and those around you. Be aware of pre-fight indicators.

If you carry a defensive tool train with it. Have it accessible, ready to use and in good working order.

If your defensive tool is not available or not functioning be prepared to fight without it.

Be prepared to give an exact location to responders but don't rely solely on that to save you. Run, move, treat, seek alternative sources of help at the scene.

Have the skills and tools to treat injuries to yourself and others.

Be fit enough to fight. 

Fight!

Fight and survive!