Interview with Susanne

It is always nice to have a chat with your friend
even if it is about a self defense course

Last summer, when the coronavirus restrictions got lifted for a while, I met Susanne in a shopping center.  We have not seen each other since her graduation so I invited her for a cup of coffee.  There was so much to chat about. She got married to her long-time boyfriend and they are planning their first child. She also got a job in a private orthopedic clinic. Her dream has always been to open her own practice so at the same time she is working hard to get her first attestation. As I already wrote, Susanne was very attentive to Bob and Peter. She somehow balanced the Linda’s harsh attitude towards them. I told her about my blog and asked her if I could make an interview with her to get an opinion from another female participant. I explained her that some aspects of our self defense course stirred controversy among readers of my blog. Hence, I thought it would be interesting to hear her experience and what is her standpoint on some of these issues. We were planning to meet again but unfortunately the following late autumn lockdown changed our plans for quite some time. This spring’s opening made it possible again. I just managed to translate and type down my handwritten notes, so here is the interview. It is indeed very insightful!

Susanne, why did you take the course?

I come from a small town where we basically know each other. Personal safety has never been an issue for me until I came here to study at the university. Suddenly, I appeared in a whole new environment, often welcoming, sometimes quite hostile and dangerous. The city is large with many quarters rather not to go. The university student life included wild parties, meeting new friends and of course receiving a lot of attention from all sorts of guys.

I love swimming, so I regularly visited the university health club with a large pool. One day, late evening, it was about the closing time I was dressing up in the locker room after shower. I thought I was alone there. Suddenly, out of nowhere a young man accosted me. He must have sneaked in the women’s section unnoticed through a back door. He was strong, much taller than me and mean looking. He was naked with just a towel wrapped around his waist. I was petrified and I had no clue how to react. He pushed me against a wall, started to kiss me and forced his hand between my legs. Suddenly, I could hear some voices; two janitors were coming in. He cursed, let me go and ran out through the emergency exit door. I was in such a shock that I was trembling, and I could hear my heart beating. For several nights I had difficulties to sleep. All the time the bad throughs what could have happened if he was not disturbed were going through my head. I realized I must take some action to be able to handle such situations, so I enrolled the course.

Did you worry about the ‘special’ nature of the course?

I knew that the course is far from ordinary beforehand. We heard some compelling stories from the past attendees! We discussed the safety issues in our class group during a break. I know that some of the girls were reluctant to take such a course and called it a creepy nonsense and a total waste of time. “Touching and kicking some guy’s naked balls?!, no way!” was the response of one of my classmates.  But I was not hesitating even the slightest moment. Wendy, I think you would also agree that at the end it went so well, and we even had some fun and we really learned something.  

What did you like the most?

It was clear from the beginning that Linda put a lot of thoughts to the structure and the content of the course which was so diverse and interesting. During the course I realized that female self defense does not have to be taught as a death serious dark subject but could be fun and a good physical work out as well. It all started with very informative lectures, then we always had some warmup exercises and games at the beginning.  Linda was also telling us many inspirational success stories. And of course, as the other girls I really enjoyed having Bob and Peter around. Such brave and dedicated lads. They are handsome and fit as well, aren’t they?  

Was there something you did not like?

Susanne is a very dedicated and attentive 
 young orthopedist. She used hers medical skills
during the course 

Well to be honest, at the beginning it was not that easy to get through that conversion of my mindset. As a young medic I have always learned how to heal and how to ease the pain. Here I learned how to inflict the most serious injuries and to cause an incredible pain. It was extremely uncomfortable for me to see Bob and Peter suffering after being hit in the testicles or the Adam’s apple. I had a long discussion with Linda about those feelings. She helped me to get through this uneasy condition and to understand the purpose and the necessity of all of this. To overcome my bad sentiments, she made me the chief paramedic of the course. She even taught me how to check the testicles for any signs of internal trauma and how provide the so called testicular first aid. I think the two guys really appreciated to have somebody like that on site, always ready to help. Hmm, I would think sometimes they misused  that a little!

Have you been surprised by something?

The Linda’s unconventional approach in teaching female self defense and some content of the course was indeed full of surprises. I had four semesters of human anatomy, but I could still learn some completely new things about the body mechanics and some interesting details about the male body and its vital points. Luckily, we had Bob and Peter around, so Linda could teach these subjects in a very practical and fun way. Surprisingly, we also learned a lot about male psychology and how to utilize this knowledge for self defense. Who would ever think all of this is a part of female self defense course, right?

Many commenters on my blog criticized how we and Linda treated Bob and Peter. What do you think about that?

To some extent I understand the rage of your readers and I must admit that indeed sometimes Linda was not very nice to them. But too nice attitude defies the effectiveness of a training. She used her approach to break our squeamishness and to build our confidence and empowerment. I came to a conclusion how important is to train with a man and with the highest realism possible. Yes, you have to kick the testicles to see you did it correctly and it really has an effect. Yes, you have to practice grabbing a real set of balls to be ready to do it quickly and correctly in a critical situation.  As you cannot learn medicine just by reading books and watching TV series, you cannot effectively learn self defense by sparring with a padded, hardly moving attacker. If you use an injection, it causes pain, but it also delivers the medication. We all tried to compensate their sacrifice with our attentiveness and affection. Despite that, there were moments I thought they are not coming back for the next class, but to our relieve they came back again and again. I admire their great dedication to help us with our cause.

Some readers also do not like the brutality of some techniques and are afraid of misuse. Would you agree?

Well, the ability to defend sometimes comes with brutality. The rape is a horrible crime which calls for an appropriate response. If a female victim would help to rupture the attacker’s testes or to gouge his eyes out, then she should do it, it is fully acceptable. It should therefore be also expected and normal to teach these techniques. I am convinced that any of the girl attendees would not ever think to use these techniques as a mean to punish their boyfriends or during a verbal argument. I learned which drug could kill a patient when overdosed, does it mean I am going to use this knowledge to kill people?

What about the re-enactment of your attack? Was it helpful?

At first, I was reluctant to do it. I thought it would just rub the salt into the wound. But at the end of the day I agreed, and it was a good decision.  Linda insisted it should resemble that scene as much as possible.  We chose Peter to play the attacker as he had the same height and body type. He just wore a groin protector and a towel. After my description he played out the attack on me in the precisely same way, he even put his hand between my thighs. Linda then showed me what would be the best approach to eliminate him. To submit initially and to show an interest by unwrapping the towel. Then to move the towel up and to wrap it quickly around his head so he cannot see. His instinct would be to remove the towel so he will move his hands towards his covered face. Then I can use the towel as a handle to pull him sideway, which would cause him to keep his balance by spreading his legs. Then his completely unprotected bare testicles would be the perfect target for several precise knee strikes. When he collapses, I can use his 'blindness' and confusion to stomp well between his splayed legs with the ball of my foot to finish the job.  He will think twice to try it again on a woman.

To make the re-enactment of the attack
as real as possible, Peter wore only
a groin protector and a towel

Then I tried out the whole sequence several times. Peter was lucky we agreed on wearing a groin protector because I always somehow went berserk during the kneeing sequence. Even with the highest quality hard cup at some point Peter felt it and had to rest for a while. I came to him, hugged him, and asked him, “Peter, lets try it again, but this time without the guard.” I was just joking of course, but he took it seriously and he gestured to me to be quiet. Apparently, he was afraid that Linda would hear that, and she comes to us that it is indeed a great idea, and we should try that! He was so cute that moment! Nevertheless, this re-enactment helped me to get over this horrible  experience and it empowered me so much. I do not have any nightmares or recurring bad memoires anymore. I know if it ever happens again, I know the attacker is going to regret it for the rest of his life!

What would be your final words to the readers of my blog?

I understand that some things are difficult to read and digest, especially for men, but I would tell them not to come to some false quick conclusions. They should think out of the box. My cousin attended an expensive week-long course. The only thing she learned was to yell fire and that groin kicks do not work. I am not saying that I am now an invincible warrior, but I have learned, tried out, and seen the outcome of some devastating techniques of self defense for real and I know I can use them when needed. Women should take their safety into their hands and attend a high-quality course as we did. This is the way to go to put an end to all the rapes and sex attacks.

Thank you so much Susanne for this interview!