Divide and conquer! ✊

When it comes to female last resort self defense there is no one universal technique. On this blog I already described two techniques which can be applied to an attacker’s bare testicles. You can read about those here and here. In the coming posts I will describe some more. However, before doing that I thought I should cover one very important but often overlooked aspect related to these techniques. 

Tight and large scrota are more difficult to

grasp using a lock mechanism.

The crucial starting point of all hand-performed strikes on testicles is to establish a firm and well secured grip on the target before going further with the technique. This is not always easy.  It all depends on the size and strength of the female hand and the size and type of the attacker’s scrotum. During our self defense course Linda emphasized the importance of making a correct decision in using the right move which should be also thoroughly practiced so it can be applied quickly and effectively when needed. She used a high-quality silicone  analogue of testicles I mentioned before: she held it in front of us and we had a second to grab it and then she pulled it back. If our grasp was insufficiently secure and strong, the testicles slipped out of our hands. Sometimes she also used two walnuts in a sock and when we succeeded, we could keep the prize. That was a good motivation😉. Of course, we also tested our grip-applying skills on our boys. But I won’t write about it today not to upset some of the sensitive readers. 

Description of 'divide and conquer'

by Susan Smith 

So what are the ways to get a good grip? One is by using a lock mechanism by ringing the forefinger and thumb around the root of the whole scrotum or by locking and isolating just one testicle. The latter can be recommended if the woman’s hand is small, and the testicles hang low. Otherwise, a woman can used the so called divide and conquer technique.

The name ‘divide and conquer’ (or ‘divide et impera’ in Latin) is an old principle of ruling known from Antiquity. The idea is to divide an enemy or a state to smaller entities which when separated, and often put against each other, are much more easily defeated or ruled. For instance, Julius Caesar used this principle when successfully invaded Gaul (sorry Asterix and Obelix). Nowadays, the concept is also used in computer science for solving complex problems. And of course, it can be applied to female self defense as well. 

How does it work? For this this type of grip, take a hold of the  whole scrotum and divide it by forcefully digging fingers between the testicles. One testicle then becomes secured by four fingers and the other one by the thumb. You can now conquer each testicle separately! The best depiction of this maneuver is in the  book Fear or Freedom from Susan Smith which contains a very good illustration. Once applied, the testicles can be then squeezed and jerked or hit sharply with the other hand. Depending on the situation the hand attack can come either from the rear or from the front. 

Stress balls are excellent for training

 grips and improving strength.

One of the best ways to train this technique is by using a stress ball which is by the way also good for improving strength of your hand. I always keep one in my office desk. I noticed, when practicing (sometimes during busy hours) all my male colleagues rather leave me alone. An excellent way to relieve stress, to reduce your workload and to gain some respect! I can only highly recommend to all women😂!

Self defense skills of African girls

During my time at the university I befriended Faizah. She was an Ethiopian girl who came to Europe to study medicine. We used to chat about different things, especially about the life in Africa and once we also touched upon the topic of women’s safety. I told her about the self defense course I have been just taking and asked her whether she would also like to attend. She just smiled and told me: You know I have not taken any self defense courses but do not think women of our country are defenseless. Even in our society a woman has a right to defend herself. Our mothers take care to convey some essential skills to their daughters which are needed when a man is about to disrespect them and tarnish their honor. My mother explained me very early that men are as strong as they are vulnerable in some parts of their body. Once I had to use what she taught me on my classmate behaving indecently. I hope the painful lesson he learned will last for long….

Beautiful Nomadic girls from the
Horn of Africa know how to deal with
both the animal and human predators. 

When I was preparing one of my assignments, I stumbled across an interesting book from Ayaan Hirsi Ali called Infidel. Ayaan fled Somalia in the early 90’s to avoid forced marriage and she got asylum in Netherlands. She became soon one of the most prominent activist and female rights supporters. 

 In the book she recalls the time she spent with her mother and grandmother. They belonged to a Nomadic tribe living a traditional life in the Somalian desert lands. The mothers passed the knowledge and skills to survive in these harsh conditions to next generations. The Nomadic life often meant the girls were left alone in the bush to take care about the herds. And there were predators praying on the goats such as lions and hyenas but also men predators praying on the young girls. When the worst was inevitable, they were told by their mothers what to do. Here is what Ayaan wrote in her book:  

 …my grandmother taught her daughters to run around the man, squat down, reach between his legs under his sarong, and yank his testicles hard. They were not to let go. He might hit or kick, but they were to tug in their heads and take the blows on their back and hope to hang on long enough to cause the attacker to faint. This move is called Qworegoys and the women of my grandmother’s family taught it to their daughters just as they taught them to make thorn-bush fences to protect the huts from hyenas… 

Sarong is a traditional dress of Somali men,
comfortable for a hot climate but also makes the
bad guys highly vulnerable to qworegoys move

   

 After thinking about it, I realized how ingenious this move is. The sarong is a skirt-like men’s clothing and is worn without any underwear. The hot African weather makes the testicles hang loose, which also makes them a great ‘handle’ to grasp and hang on. His possibilities for any counter action against a girl squatting behind him is limited. His sarong partially pulled up in the back makes any movement with his legs almost impossible. He might be able to deliver some blows on her back but that is it. If the girl pulls down using her weight and twists for at least a couple of seconds, he is for sure going to black out. He would be then found unconscious on the ground by his pals wondering what happened. Without present-day medical intervention, a ruptured testicle or both could be a fatal injury. Even if not, he is for sure not going to ride a camel soon. I really like to read about these ethnological and historical accounts of women’s self defense. If you have any tips about some please write them in the comments.  I would be very grateful. 

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.