To scoop nuts

During one of our class we learned different types of kicks. At the beginning Linda asked us: Have you ever been on a beach, standing in the water till your ankles, and suddenly you had that urge to scoop some water with your foot. To take as much of it as possible and bring it up and then to have some joy seeing the water splashing, drops floating and glowing in the air? 

A woman’s foot can be used as an effective

scoop, her leg as a strong handle. This is a principle of a special kick I want to teach you today called the testicle scoop kick, in short, the scoop kick. It comes from a martial art called American Kenpo. Many highly effective moves which can be used by women for self defense were actually originally invented by Kenpo fighters.

This kick can be used when the attacker is neither too close nor in a relatively far distance. This means you can use it when he is slowly approaching you or when you already pushed him from you, for instance after an eye gouge or an Adam’s apple strike and for a knee he is already too far away. The principle is different that the instep front kick in which you want to drive his testicles up and crush them against his pelvis. In this case you kick with the foot in a raised position between the attacker’s thighs (A) so your toes make a hard contact with the sensitive back of the testicles (B) and instead of bringing your leg back on the ground in the same trajectory, you pull it towards yourself scooping the testicles and sharply yanking them with your foot (C). Your foot should make a more circular than a linear movement. Imagine you have a box full of walnuts and you want to get some with a scoop. In this case, the scoop is your foot and the walnuts his testicles. 

Linda then explained us that there are several important aspects which make it such an a highly effective technique. Testicles are to some extend adapted to resist pressure directed in (for instance they are mobile within the scrotum and can slip away from the impact) but not for a sudden and violent yank outwards which causes an incredible sharp pain. Moreover, female toes can pierce between man’s thighs more easily than a full instep and his penis cannot provide any protection or cushion. Finally, the first impact happens at the back of his testicles which, as already discussed, is highly sensitized by the presence of the epididymis. Logically, this kick is more easily performed and the most effective when he is naked, and his scrotum hangs loose, but is still well applicable when he is clothed. As with the other self defense techniques, the precision and mnemonics needs to be properly practiced. Needless to say, but this can be really fun, I remember it was so hilarious to see the silicone testicles flying up and down after some precise ‘scooping’. To finish this post, regardless of his stature, strength, or determination he will drop to his knees after a well-executed scoop kick.

Inspirational story #2

A late night park can be a dangerous place,
sometimes for a rapist 

Once I read a remarkable book, written by a woman who worked her whole life as a medical doctor. It was written as some kind of memoires with a collection of interesting stories from her practice. In the book she recalled a curious case from the time she was finishing her studies and doing a mandatory training term in an emergency room of a large central hospital. I though I share the story as it is very inspiring.

One night they brought in a young guy in his early twenties, in obvious distress and enormous pain. Only a shot of strong painkillers kept him conscious. On the first sight there was no obvious trauma or blood which would indicate the reason for his state. It was only when paramedics reported trauma in the patient's genital region and removed the blanket, she noticed he was naked from the waist down and his scrotum was swollen to the size of a big orange with a dark blue hue. Paramedics did not know any other details or how it happened; they were just called in as somebody called an emergency line after spotting a half-naked unconscious man in bushes of a local park. The man refused to give any information during the transport.

Jane, the author of the book, immediately called in a urology surgeon. As I remember correctly Jane called her Dr. Mia, I do not know if it was her first or last name. She was a chief physician and one of her study tutors. They rushed the guy to the room with an ultrasound scanner. The injured testicles were so sensitive on touch a heavy load of anaesthetics had to be applied first. After a thorough examination with Doppler, Dr. Mia concluded a testicular rupture with multiple tears in tunica albuginea, extrusion of seminiferous tubules accompanied with massive hematoma in his left testis and a moderate contusion in his right testicle. She decided that the unilateral orchiectomy of his left testicle has to be performed immediately in order to avoid gangrene. Jane assisted in the surgery and according to her it was an uncommon experience. She had already assisted with quite some surgeries during her training before. These were usually appendectomies or bladder stones removals, but never an orchiectomy. The story then contains a description of the whole procedure and the accompanied complications as the damage was unusually severe.

Although the book wasn’t an actual educational literature, the medical details and the science behind was sometimes included. The book was intended for young female medics and meant to be rather inspirational with advices for life as a female medical practitioner.

Doppler image of a young man's left testicle
with severe rupture and hematoma,  
similar one seen by Dr. Mia

Nevertheless, they accomplished the surgery, the guy was taken to a recovery room, and she was assigned other tasks that night. Three days after, she met Dr. Mia who impatiently wanted to share some interesting news. The department had a visit from the police and it turned out the guy was a wanted serial rapist. The DNA tests confirmed he was the perpetrator in at least 3 other rape cases. Apparently, this time he encountered a wrong victim ending his raping spree! The Dr. Mia was really amazed that a woman could cause such an injury, adding she has seen a lot of testicular saw trauma usually from sport accidents or falls from a ladder, but this was, in her words ‘impressive’. They both agreed that the guy is tall, a well build muscular type and most likely this was the attacked girl’s best option. Dr. Mia also added humorously: ‘Maybe we should have extracted the right testis as well to finish the job!’.

About 2 months later Jane was finishing her apprenticeship and had a meeting with Dr. Mia to wrap up the whole training and to get a feedback. Their discussion obviously touched upon this case and Dr. Mia suggested they should write a case report for a medical journal. Due the use of medical evidence for filing charges, Dr. Mia was granted access to the rapist files, so she knew all the details about the outcomes of the investigation and made some notes. Interestingly, no girl ever reported the incident and they have never found her. The only account what happened is from the guy himself but there was no reason to disbelieve him. He confessed as there was a strong DNA evidence from other attacks, so he fully cooperated to reduce the sentence.

He admitted that he always used the same modus operandi, as he did in this case. Late nights he hung around the local park and waited for an opportunity. The park is large, poorly lit, full of trees and bushes and is often used by students as a shortcut between the city center, the university campus, and dormitories. He usually did not have to wait long to spot his would-be prey. That day around 12:30 am he picked a girl around 20 years old maybe a student, and based on the dress, probably returning from a party. Despite providing a relatively good description of her the investigators failed to identify her. She was of an average height, slim, with long blond hairs and dark brown eyes. She wore a white blouse, dark blue skirt and black stilettoes. She also had a small black purse with her. When she was passing his hiding, he ambushed her from the back, grabbed her in a bear hug, pull over to the bushes far from the pathway, pushed her to the ground and proceeded with the sex attack.

A girl's hand can cause a
traumatic injury

This is what happened next in his words: 'She wasn’t resisting at all and even helped me to undress her and to pull down my pants and boxers. When I got on top of her I did not realize she left her hand between us. Suddenly a sharp pain shot through my body. She swung her hand upwards, wrapped her fingers tightly around my ball and started to squeeze like hell. I wanted to back off, tried to pull her hand off but she had a good grip and did not release. The pain was killing me, I could not move, yet to fight her. At first, I called her a bitch then I pleaded her to stop and promised to let her go but she just increased the pressure and started to pierce her thumbnail through my ball. After a couple of seconds, I felt it gave. Even then she kept mangling it between her fingers for some time. When she finally let go, I was close to blacking out, I curled to a ball and almost vomited.  I noticed she already got on her feet.  The moment I tried to ease the pain by spreading my legs little bit, she suddenly stepped closer and kicked me there twice with the top of her stiletto (note this is what caused the injury to his right ball). I do not know what happened next, I passed out and I woke up when the paramedics came…'

Jane and Dr. Mia praised the girl’s bravery and the right actions she took, although they did not like her not contacting any authorities. They both agreed that all girls should be taught this to reduce the rape rates. Dr. Mia also added: 'But then, we would need more trained urologists to perform all the orchiectomies!' Jane then wrote that this story and Dr. Mia inspired her and her female friends to attend the self defense classes offered by the university. The story finishes off by Jane’s advice that skills how to fight back sexual predators should be a part of every woman’s wellbeing. She wrote: 'Listening how to rupture a rapist testicle maybe isn’t as satisfying as to learn a new yoga position but it might save your life one day'.

Probably we will never know who the girl was, but obviously she was prepared by a proper training in the last resort self defense techniques. From the description it is clear she effectively used a combination of good judgment, initial compliance and a finishing technique called the testicular rupture which I will describe later on this blog. 

Testicle props

Teaching girls and women techniques of the last resort self defense, and especially those targeting testicles, can be quite challenging. For some obvious reasons it is not always possible to have real male bodies involved. However, there are plenty of possibilities for very good analogues for different human parts which can be a very valuable didactic and training tool. Today I discus the options for testicle props.

One of the most accessible and quick option is to use two half ripe plums, small peaches, tomatoes or avocadoes placed in a sock or a stocking. It is not difficult to make such a prop, so each student can be given at least one. Being attached to any solid support e.g. a doorknob, girls can be, for instance demonstrated that their strength is enough to rupture a testicle quickly or how to make a proper lock with their fingers. However, this is not a full-time solution. One would have to replace the ‘testicle’ each time after squashing and this option is not very practical for training kicks and knees. Lets be honest it can be also quite messy.

So what are the other option? There are very good fake silicone testicles on the fun product market, which are, by their feel, texture and resistance quite similar to the real ones. They come with a long stretchable scrotum base which makes it easy to fasten them to a support and to regulate the looseness of the scrotum. Attached to a kicking dummy, or a protective box of a sparring partner make it an ideal choice for practicing leg strikes (particularly the scoop kick and kneeing) and grabbing them from different positions.

The most expensive props are real medical models. However, these are essential if teaching some of the very technical methods like the death pinch. The high quality ones are made from latex or silicone and have very realistic testes inside a scrotum with palpable cords and epididymis. I admit I used to play a lot with the one we had in our self defense class and I have become very familiar with the fine structure of the delicate organs I do not have. Using testicle props in self defense classes can be a fun way to deal with the serious subject of women’s self defense and at the same time providing the female attendees the best possible training they need.