An inspirational story

This inspirational story from Susan’s book clearly demonstrates how combination of trickery and a properly executed incapacitating technique is a key to success in defending yourself during a sex attack. It is one of the best evidences that any woman can turn the tables on a filthy rapist when necessary.

Faking compliance in giving a
blow job provides a great opportunity
 to apply some of the most effective
techniques of the last resort self defense.

One the woman in my study used her head, in more ways than one, during assault. She reported that she was abducted at gunpoint and taken to a secluded area. The rapist threatened to kill her and brandished his weapon to render his victim helpless. Like many rapists he was unable to get an erection. He dragged her from the car, shoved her down on the desert floor and commanded her to ‘blow’ him. This rapist, like most other attackers who carry weapons put his gun down as he felt in control; his victim quietly ‘went along’ until she could safely react. She complied with the rapist orders long enough to gain his trust and divert his attention, then she took a bite. She bit his penis close to the base, then grabbed a testicle and twisted and squeezed. She did not let go until she was sure the attacker was incapable of retaliation. If she had stopped before this point, she might have not been able to leave him clutching his groin immobilized in the very spot where he might have left her dead. She took the car keys and drove the car safely away.

The legacy of Susan E. Smith

In my last post I heavily criticized the way most self defense instructors and book authors taboo testicles as a self defense target. But it was not always like that. Especially the 80ties broke some kind of social inhibition surrounding this organs. Depiction of male genitalia and their vulnerability became a common theme in popular culture. Traditional martial arts ceased being considered an effective way to win a fight especially when a woman’s dignity and her life is at stake. This also meant that testicles lost their long-lasting privilege of a sacred spot. The self defense systems became geared more towards effectiveness than to sportiness.

During this time one of the truly revolutionary self defense book written by Susan E. Smith ‘Fear or Freedom’ came out in 1986. As a feminist she emphasized that women should not rely on men when it comes to their safety but to take matters into their own hands, sometimes quite literally. She interviewed survivors of sexual attacks and their experience materialized in her own system. Absolutely superb is the chapter about the techniques of the last resort self defense, in which she stresses that initial compliance followed by sudden execution of one of the three drastic incapacitating techniques can be a ticket to freedom. She provides an unprecedented information on testicles as a target. With absolutely no reservation she explains in detail and through some realistic illustrations how  woman under a sexual assault should perform a move she called ‘the testicle twist’ on exposed testicles of an assailant, giving a highly empowering lesson to any female reader: ‘What power  women can have knowing that there is one technical but simple, no-fail defense for rape’. Truly an excellent book, the type we really miss nowadays.  

You can borrow this book via archive.com or buy it on Amazon.I will dive in some of the information in her book in my later posts.

Debunking common myths

One of the major controversies in teaching self defense is whether testicles should be considered a recommended target. Some self defense experts claim women should not be told to attack the assailant's testicles and they list several reasons for that. However, these are old misconceptions, sometimes subconsciously perpetuated due to the reasons mentioned in my previous post. Here I would like to debunk these dangerous myths.

It would just make him angry and more violent. Possibly, if you do not execute it correctly or too lightly. In order to be effective, the techniques have to be practice extensively and when needed, executed without hesitation and with full force. The aim should always be to do the maximal damage and injury possible. This ensures he is either incapacitated by an overwhelming pain, in shock or even unconscious, hence no more a threat to you.

It takes a long time till he registers the pain.  Indeed, it might take some time till the pain signal reaches his brain, however this is usually within a time frame of a few seconds.  Just go to YouTube and watch any MMA match featuring a groin shot. The moment testicles are hit, even the strongest guy goes down almost instantly. Two seconds delay does not matter, this won’t be enough for him to do any harm to you.  

He expects it and protects his testicles. This is partially true, men usually realize their vulnerability sometime during their early age and since then anxiously guard them. This is a logical behavioral phenomenon,  however, it can be easily overcome. I advise to firstly drop his guard by using a distraction method or so-called play along approach for the most brutal last resort techniques.  Importantly, women should be trained not to telegraph their moves. A sudden eye jab or just a slap in the face is usually enough to forget about his vulnerability for a moment. And before he realizes his mistake it’s too late and a good load of pain rushes through his body. One should also keep in mind, it is not that easy for him to protect his testicles due to their awkward position and when his hands are occupied. 

It is generally difficult to attack testicles. Testicles are positioned approximately in the center of the man’s body and depending on his and your position are reachable by your legs, knees, elbows, hands and even your head. It is not easier to attack eyes, ears, Adam's apple or knees. Any woman can be trained to execute the testicle strikes effectively but it requires a teacher's dedication which is unfortunately often  missing. Everything has its pros and cons. In this case the pros clearly overweight the cons.  

It is not that painful.  Well, this young guy probably thinks otherwise.

Groin or testicles?

Whether clothed or not, the actual
target is testicles not the groin

Most instructors of  self defense courses and authors of books about self defense for women refer to the ‘groin’ as one of the primary targets. Accordingly, taught techniques are called kick to the groin,  knee to the groin or groin grab. Maybe the instructors are too shy or their intention is not to embarrass or not to scare the girls out of the classes so they use a more neutral term. However, this is misleading and affecting the girls’  training. Sugar-coating of some of the most important (although maybe cringy for someone) aspects rather than to be specific, exact, and freely open in giving the proper information, even if it is uneasy, is a common negative issue in current self defense programs. Squeamishness and over-carefulness definitely do not help girls to prime for a violent attack.

In my guide I’ll be honest and I won’t hide that the real target women should aim for is actually the testicles. Definition in the dictionary says groin is the ‘the area between the abdomen and the upper thigh on either side of the body’. Clearly too general and vague description. For instance, the penis is also a part of this area, however, quite insensitive to most type of strikes. There are some techniques targeting penis as well but are designed for specific scenarios. Hitting a man’s upper thighs, pubic bone or perineum might cause some discomfort but is not incapacitating.  Instead of instructing ‘knee him in the groin’ one should correctly say: shoot your knee sharply up in a 45 degree angle, deep between his legs so his testicles are hit from below and crushed between your patella and his pelvis. Visualise the target to be around his belly so your knee goes all the way through, and the forceful impact should even lift your attacker from the ground. Repeat in a successive fast sequence and stop once your attacker is non-responsive.

A knee to the testicles can be a devastating move when executed correctly. 

Eggs of men

In many non-English languages testicles are colloquially called ‘eggs’, for instance in Spanish huevos, in German Eier, in Czech vejce. This is indeed a very nice metaphoric reference. A man’s testicle has a shape of an egg. Testicles are also similarly fragile as a pair of eggs put together in a bag. An egg box is used to protect eggs when carried around. Analogously, a protective box is used to safeguard testicles from direct hits and to prevent injury during sport and martial arts. Eggs can be cracked easily by a female hand in few seconds, its done almost every day. Women should keep this in mind when their ability to defend themselves is questioned. One of the techniques I’ll present to you is called the ‘egg cracker’  I always felt it is a very appropriate name.

Male anatomy - testicles - size and shape differences

When learning and training the essential techniques of the last resort self defense, women should keep in mind that testicles come in different shapes and sizes. This collection of pictures of 10 male genitalia shows some major types among men. An average testis has an oval shape resembling a plum 4x3x2 cm in size.  It is common for men to have slightly different size testicles. Usually, the right testicle is larger than the left, and the left often hangs lower.  A scrotal sack can be loose and the testicles hanging low or be packed tightly close to the body, which as mention before also depends on the temperature, sexual arousal or fear. Penis size varies a lot as well and might influence the effectiveness of some of the techniques especially kicks and knee strikes. Choosing the right incapacitating method should, depending on the situation, consider these differences.  For instance, the death pinch is more easily performed on a tight scrotum, but the testicular rupture on a loose scrotum.

Male anatomy - testicles

The techniques of last resort self defense require a good knowledge of human anatomy and today I will focus on testicles. Testicles are probably the most important target when it comes to the last resort self defense. It is so ironic that those two tender and highly sensitive organs are the source of the man’s masculinity and at the same time are his greatest weakness. 

Testicles are internal organs (homologous to ovaries) which appeared outside of the body hanging unprotected between legs. The theory which says that their external location is to keep them at low temperature (33° C) required for sperm production is now often discredited. Recently I read a wild evolutionary theory that the testicles hanging outside is some kind of evolutionary trait to prevent rape.  Regardless, women should always take the full advantage of their vulnerability.

Anatomy of testicles

The testes are positioned in a skin pouch called scrotum. Within the testes are very fine coiled tubes called seminiferous tubules where the sperm development starts. They are covered by a tough membranous shell called the tunica albuginea.  The developing sperm travel to the epididymis where newly created sperm cells mature. The sperm move into the vas deferens, and are eventually expelled through the urethra during ejaculation. The cremaster muscle covers the testes and controls their position: when exposed to cold or being aroused the testicles are lifted close to the body. This can also happen when a man is in fight, being thought as an involuntary mechanism to prevent injury. This phenomenon is very important (unfortunately often overlooked) when executing some of the techniques of the last resort self defense.

Why testicle strikes hurt so much?

Testes as all inner organs are highly innervated and contain numerous sensory neurons. When testicles are struck the nerves shoot a blast of signals to vagus nerve one of the most prominent and highly sensitive nerves running along the body. This generalise the pain (e.g. causing a sharp stomach ache) and mediates a plethora of other effects like dizziness, shortness of breath, inability to stand upright and high-pitched voice.

Why this is important to know? You fill get the idea when I will dig into the description of different defensive strategies.

Male anatomy - overview

Three are three major target area (in bold) on male body utilizable for the last resort self defense: eyes, Adam’s apple and testicles.  Using those, with only little force one can cause extreme pain and incapacitation. This shows that although male bodies have in general larger body mass and muscles, they still possess extremely vulnerable organs. Linda  used to say: always focus on his high balls, low balls and an apple. Depicted are also secondary targets philtrum, temple, ears, penis, knees, rectum, kidneys and spine. I will describe the anatomy of each target in details later.

What is the last resort self defense?

Hi,

My name is Wendy and I have been interested in self defense since I thwarted a rape attempt on a date when I was 18. Lately I decided I should step up and educate young women in fighting against male predators. I believe many  horrible crimes could be prevented if girls have the proper training from an early age. This blog will provide all the essential information abut the last resort self defense techniques which are merely covered by normal self defense classes or books. So this blog wont be about judo throws or yelling fire, but about techniques which any girl or women can use as a last resort during an already advanced serious sexual attack.

 I was lucky that I met this great teacher called Linda who introduced my to her own system of self defense she has been teaching girls for years in her private classes. At the beginning I was highly skeptical but soon I changed my opinion. The classes left me empowered and ready for the dangers of life. She explained us that women have a natural inhibition for physical confrontation. And part of the effective training is the right mental conditioning.  She used to say: fighting for our lives is not a pretty thing, be determined and ruthless, don't be squeamish, do whatever it takes to free yourself even if it means to cause a serious injury to your attacker. And every, even the most petite girl can do it. No great muscles or heavy weight is necessary to out-compete a bad guy.  Just a proper squeeze of the right target and even a bodybuilder is writhing on the floor in great pain.

Many techniques I will describe here are brutal and should be used only when necessary to prevent rape not if you are just upset or as form of revenge on a cheating boyfriend. The system uses natural vulnerable points on a male body. Knowing anatomy is one of the most important parts of the training  and I will start to cover it in details in my next blog.