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It's been done and done again and was being done. As with most things the subject is always met with experience, training, lack thereof and opinion. Nothing new under the sun.
Can't hurt to bring it up again. Could not find any old CD threads on this. The "cane as defense" thread was turning general, so here's the new one.
No quarrel with the truth of your statement, but in some states it's illegal to carry a concealed weapon without a permit and the permits are very hard to get. So the individual will have to decide whether the protection afforded is worth the risk of being charged for carrying. In my case, if I were ever convicted of a crime I would have to give up my work with young people in the public schools, so I am acutely aware of those things.
In addition to always being armed I suggest checking the crime data for a given area, following crime trends, and never ever assume anything. The knock on the door must be checked before open. Seniors are more apt to suffer a severe injury from an attack. Thus any attack must immediately be considered a deadly attack.
When I read the local crime reports in the upscale towns in this area (burglary, mugging, auto theft, etc) I see that the crimes are often perpetrated by youth from nearby not so upscale towns. That said, that does not mean criminals don't come from good neighborhoods, on the contrary. I notice that most of my senior friends never seem cautious, they're more well to do, have lived here forever, and perceive this area as "safe." I guess they don't read the daily crime reports.
When I read the local crime reports in the upscale towns in this area (burglary, mugging, auto theft, etc) I see that the crimes are often perpetrated by youth from nearby not so upscale towns. That said, that does not mean criminals don't come from good neighborhoods, on the contrary. I notice that most of my senior friends never seem cautious, they're more well to do, have lived here forever, and perceive this area as "safe." I guess they don't read the daily crime reports.
I do occasionally for amusement. I love "dumb crook" stories and most of them are.
As for youths from other towns committing crimes in more upscale areas goes, remember what Willie Sutton answered when asked why he robbed banks - "That's where the money is."
As I mentioned in the other thread, the best weapon for self defense is your gut feeling. If you feel that you are in a bad situation, then you probably are. If this isn't good enough for you, then the next option is to train in martial arts. The most practical martial arts are sport-based imo, but they are usually too intense for most seniors and are thus not practical for them. There are other arts out there that do not involve as much sparring and/or heavy contact, and they are better than nothing. At least you might get the chance to learn some techniques and practice them under somewhat stressful situations. Also you will improve your physical conditioning and thus walk down the street with more confidence (this in of itself will reduce the chances of you being a victim). It's like anything else, the longer that you train the better that you will be.
Relying solely on weapons for self defense is a poor strategy. Unless you live in a war zone, most street confrontations are not a matter of life and death (maybe someone wants your wallet, maybe some drunk in a bar made a pass at you, etc.). If you maim or kill someone in these non-lethal situations, then you can expect the police to get involved, go to jail, and/or get sued. With a weapon there is no in-between option, unless you're just trying to scare them (then it's called menacing). Furthermore, a good fighter can just disarm you and then attack you if you hesitate. The act of possessing a weapon might make some of you feel like you're invincible, but the fact is that until you can demonstrate that you can use that weapon with deadly force in a high-pressure situation, then your bravado is theoretical at best.
It is always best to resolve a conflict with the minimum amount of violence (for a multitude of reasons). Deadly techniques and deadly weapons should only be a last resort, if you have completely lost control of the situation. Things like training in martial arts and having a good awareness of your surroundings gives you the flexibility to deal with various situations with more appropriate responses, or better yet you can avoid them all together.
Your post here is full of good points. However, I am not, and am not likely to be, the Karate Kid. Any physically out of shape big or intent thug could beat me hands down. Many to most (depending on your local lifestyle) seniors are pathetically out of shape. Look around the next time you go out. Out of every 10 seniors you see (esp those over age 65), how many do you imagine are going to become self defense experts and be agile enough to use those skills against one or several thugs? At the mall, all I see are elders hobbling along, many overweight, some with walkers, and the most vulnerable in wheelchairs. Several self-defense promoters here (guns and/or martial arts) are talking about themselves, not the average American elder.
Sorry, Bud, but your theoretical "solutions" might not and likely won't hold water for most people. School solutions rarely do, especially not in highly anxious situations when tunnel vision sets in. In the final analysis, awareness and your mouth are still your best defense.
Mouth?? As in biting?
If you mean screaming, I can't see the typical 80 year old Aunt Bessie screaming loud enough to any effect. Exceptions, of course)
I carry a lanyard around my neck anytime I'm out with my keys and an alarm I bought at radio shack. Pull the pin and it goes off.
If you're not street smart I would suggest one of those self-defense martial arts classes. I took one ions ago. Besides showing you where vulnerabilities are that you might not think of such as stomping as hard as you can on someone's instep, or gauging eyes, it stays with you so you may not be entirely dumbstruck if something does happen. They also teach you things to look out for like checking the back seat of your car before getting into it when you're alone.
Now if you were afraid of someone breaking into your house while there as a single female I'd mention the can of wasp spray next to the bed. You can hit the eyes at 20 feet and blind them. My dog sleeps under my bed which is a nice feeling.
Mouth?? As in biting?
If you mean screaming, I can't see the typical 80 year old Aunt Bessie screaming loud enough to any effect. Exceptions, of course)
No! As in talking the situation down. In the past I've done that on occasion when out with my wife and some idiot, usually younger, wants to play stupid. My wife attributes the ability to verbally disarm and calm a situation to my police experience which gives me a certain bearing and a pleasant but absolutely no-nonsense means of address. Having a very deep voice doesn't hurt. For the record, I'm not all that big.
marilyn and i had an experience almost 1 year ago to the day.
i had posted about it last year so ill just copy the post.
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so today marilyn and i went to ally pond park a local park in queens with woodsey hiking trails... we have been there many times both biking and jogging as well as a great place in the fall for photos.
well we werent really paying attention to the folks on the trail ...
there was a guy coming towards us who the closer he got to us the more in our path he was,... when we reached him he got right in front of us and starting saying something about the cameras. he was obviously high...
he started to get more hostile and marilyn and i ended up about 10 ft apart while i contented with this dude...
it looked like any moment it was going to turn ugly and marilyn started screaming for help,.. it startled him and he started to walk towards marilyn. that gave me the seconds needed to grab a log from the ground and start to approach him.. he came back in my direction mumbling about something in his pack he was going to get.
we started walking away while he was still yelling and threatening us but now that i had a club he didnt follow us.
after we settled down we reviewed what just happened and what we did wrong .
for one thing neither of us thought to react and dial 911.
the cameras were still around our necks and if he grapped them we could have choked one of us.
marilyn keeping her distance was a good thing and screaming worked out well as it bought seconds for me to grab a club.
the point is we are still formulating a plan in case this ever happens again. maybe i should have handed both cameras to marilyn so she could run with them and get help while i dealt with the bad guy.
all in all it was a pretty scarey experience......but the point is this is something you have to really plan for as eventually it may happen....there were so many errors we shouldnt have done,, even waiting to see if he produced a weapon from his pack was stupid.. i should have clocked him before letting him even get his hand in it . that was dumb.
And when all that good philosophical, conjectural preparation fails? Very few know how they'll really react until it happens.
Look, I studied two different forms of martial arts in their countries of origin. I'm a combat veteran who's been shot at and shot back. I'm a well-trained (two different academies), experienced former peace officer who's gone up against armed individuals. I have a permit and can carry when I choose to. Even with all that background I can't guarantee beyond the shadow of a doubt how I'll react if confronted with a viable threat. Ideally, training, experience and muscle memory will take over and I'll neutralize the threat without ever having to resort to any type of force. But there are no guarantees. There never will be.
Sorry, Bud, but your theoretical "solutions" might not and likely won't hold water for most people. School solutions rarely do, especially not in highly anxious situations when tunnel vision sets in. In the final analysis, awareness and your mouth are still your best defense.
What exactly was "theoretical" about my solutions? It looks to me like we wrote similar things. I proposed martial arts as an option for people who did not want to rely solely on their gut feelings. I also trained in martial arts, and I know their limitations. I've always maintained that until you can DEMONSTRATE that you can perform a technique in a high pressure situation (e.g. while free sparring someone who at a minimum is your size and ability), then do not ASSUME that you can perform that technique in a real fight. Telling someone that all that they have to do to be safe is to carry a gun is doing them a huge disservice in most cases. And yes, I know that "school solutions" don't always work in real life. I said that sport martial arts (boxing, wrestling, BJJ, etc.) are the most practical, because they allow you to train your techniques at 100% during competition, which in of itself can be stressful. Also, you end up knowing with a great degree of accuracy what works for you and what doesn't.
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