You may get a broken nose.

That’s what happened to this wanna-be assailant when he tackled a woman on a jogging trail.  She fought back, and he fled. Read all about it here:  http://www.10news.com/news/22074629/detail.html

A common question in my classes is what to do if you’re attacked in a relatively isolated area. Many people believe that these potential assailants are a special breed of super-being who have the strength and tenacity of Wolverine with the diabolical malevolence of Freddie Kruger.

Fortunately, most assailants occupy mere mortal human bodies.  They have vulnerable points.  They are often focused on their attacks and (particularly if their target is female) not expecting you to fight back. In most cases, fighting back will succeed in driving him off. As they did here.

In this story, a 71-year old woman was accosted by a would-be burglar. So she grabbed his ear and kicked him in the groin. Read this story here.

The unusual twist to this story is that this woman is Dawn Fraser, an Australian swimmer who won eight gold Olympic medals between 1956 and 1964. According to this story, she has a reputation of being feisty. The example given in the article was that she once smacked a teammate with a pillow during a team meeting discussion.

Hello!!! There’s a big difference between a pillow fight and an assault. Glad to see, though, that she’s world-class at both. As I tell my self-defense classes, the second most critical element in successful self-defense is your spirit. (The first is trusting your gut.)

Dawn Fraser, self-defense instructors of the world salute you!