<p>College towns and campuses are often targets for rapists, muggers, and other dangerous criminals. A few weeks ago, a man tried to kidnap a female student at a local university as she walked to her dorm. Luckily, a campus security officer was nearby and heard her screams, but some situations don&#8217;t have such a fortunate ending. Would you know how to protect yourself in a similar situation? NOT-ME!, Inc. is a non-profit organization founded by Erik Kondo. It offers self-defense strategies for people at a disadvantage to their attacker. Anyone from college students to older adults can benefit from the self-defense techniques Eric teaches. Below, I&#8217;ve listed some of the strategies Erik writes about in his booklets. For more self-defense strategies, including Erik&#8217;s complete booklets, visit Not-Me.org .</p>
<h2>The 5 D&#8217;s of Self Defense</h2>
<p>Erik organizes the various self-defense tips and strategies into five categories. This framework helps students be more prepared.</p>
<p><strong>DECIDE </strong> &#8212; Planning, education, training, and acceptance of risk are important, yet often overlooked. Examples of actions taken during the decide phase include deciding to take a self-defense class, deciding to always lock your doors and deciding never to be taken to a second location.</p>
<p><strong>DETER </strong>&#8211; This phase involves deterring a potential aggressor by adopting appropriate body language, and setting boundaries. Yelling &#8220;back off!&#8221; can be enough to deter a someone from following through with plans to attack.</p>
<p><strong>DISRUPT </strong>&#8211; Disrupt is the phase you probably think about when you hear self-defense advice. However, as Erik points out, it is only part of the framework of self-defense. This phase is intended to create an opportunity to escape. Hitting, biting, kicking and stomping are examples of disrupting actions.</p>
<p><strong>DISENGAGE</strong> &#8211; After you disrupt an attack by any means necessary, use the opportunity to escape.</p>
<p><strong>DEBRIEF</strong> &#8211; The final stage involves minimizing the long-term consequences of an attack by seeking help as soon as possible. This may involve calling the police, going to a hospital, consulting a lawyer, and/or seeing a counselor.</p>
<h2>Physical Assertiveness:</h2>
<p>The goal of physical assertiveness is to prevent and stop an attack. It is intended to minimize the need for more dangerous or aggressive actions such as hitting or using a weapon.</p>
<h3>1. Physical Positioning</h3>
<ul >
<li>Maintain a five foot distance between you and a potential aggressor.</li>
<li>Raising open hands in front of the body, palms forward and arms bent at a 90 degree angle is an effective defense posture.</li>
</ul>
<h3>2. Communication</h3>
<ul class="unIndentedList">
<li> &#8220;<em>Stop</em>&#8221; &#8220;<em>back off</em>&#8221; and &#8220;<em>no</em>&#8221; are all effective commands to be used in addition to physical positioning</li>
</ul>
<h3>3. Physical follow-through</h3>
<ul>
<li> If physical positioning and communication aren&#8217;t enough to stop an attacker, physical actions may be necessary to reinforce verbal commands.</li>
<li>Physical follow-through is intended to stun an aggressor and create space to allow for escape.</li>
<li>Striking an aggressor&#8217;s forearm with the heel of your free hand, creating space by shoving/pushing the aggressor&#8217;s inner shoulder joint are examples of physical follow-through.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>References:</strong></p>
<p><em>Physical Assertiveness: Proactive strategies for deterring the onset of violence</em>. by Erik Kondo.</p>
<p><em>The NOT-ME! Strategy of Self-Defense</em> by Erik Kondo.</p>
<p><em>Making Sense of Self-Defense</em> by Erik Kondo</p>