<div class="block">This &#39;beWell&#39; segment is all about protecting yourself from physical harm. These self defense techniques can help you escape from dangerous situations. </div>

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Be Well: Self Defense Techniques

All this week, we're focusing on your personal safety and right now we really want to be able to escape. So should somebody grab you or try to get you to do something you don't want to do? How do you get out of it? So first I guess talk me through. If somebody comes up to try to grab you, OK, someone comes up and tries to grab you around the waist, you're gonna take a step back with one leg and then the same leg that's forward, that arm's gonna be forward, we're gonna take the other hands and grab on to it. That's gonna be our frame. Now, why wouldn't I just push you with my hand? Right? Because you might not have that much leverage from that point. If you just push from here, a person is bigger, stronger, that's not really a lot of leverage. Ok? Yes, we're trying to create kind of like a box. So it has those angles and it's strong there. Exactly. So as I do the grab Christine's gonna step back and push off and I'll break that ho hold there. That's more working on leverage than trying to hit the person back. Ok. So let me give it a try. All right. So you come up and you grab me, I'm gonna take my right foot because that's my strongest foot. I'm gonna make this. Ok? Yeah. Ok. That's it. All right. That did feel actually kind of stronger than if I just normally pushed you. Ok. So if you grabbed on the outside and I didn't have that same ability to move my arms that way, then what would happen? Right? So the person got in a little bit closer to you. Now, we're gonna do a little tip here is go up on your toes. You create some distance, hands, go on the hips, you take a step back and you create some distance, you make your frame, you step back and you pop back, get that distance, keep those hands up. Now, why would, why would I go up on my toes? So you're in a little bit too close at this angle. It's very hard for Christine to use her elbows and use her power. So going up on those toes just makes that distance. And now she could drop down and bring her hands up and create that distance and get that leverage. Ok. So it's really the same move. But in order to be able to do it, you have to get those hands free. So you've got to come up, push off the hip and then get back into that, that same thing. And then the third scenario seems pretty scary. But if someone were to choke you, yes, someone comes up to you, they're taking their thumbs, they're going against the windpipe. They're grabbing, aren't you? And trying to push you back? The first thing you wanna do is tuck down chin and protect your windpipe. Take a big step back, create your base duck, use your legs, break the grip of the thumbs and then use your open hand to strike towards the ear to make them off balance. You don't want to use a closed fist where you could hurt your knuckles, you could hurt your wrist. So that open hand is a lot better. If you need to from there, you could grab on and use your knees and then move back. Ok? So I'm gonna let you try that one too. OK? So you're gonna come around my head. I wanna drop my chin. I wanna take my right leg back and then I wanna go around to get out of it. Ok? And then I can hit you and then move back. Ok. All right. So hopefully we don't need it. But if we do at least we know what to do now.