http://wreg.com/2014/10/15/homeless-transgender-woman-beaten-robbed-behind-midtown-church/ I might be in the wrong area if so please move it. I like most mtf that have not made the transition think daily of how
bad I have it, I have a tendency to woller in self loathing and pity, I also am consumed with planning for transition and
day dreaming about it. I tend also to try and help others where I can. I am no expert on being trans, so I do try and not
comment on things I know nothing about, I might say or quote what I have read in medical articles from doctors on being trans
but I almost always say I have read this and try and clarify when I am stating an opinion. Well to the subject of helping
I had a friend send me this article, and she was in the army with me and we both have floated the idea of self defense classes
for trans people mtf specifically. Well this hit home for her, she is mtf and knew the woman attacked. We are often targeted because of
hate, and because of being perceived as an easy target. I have heard of mtf being attacked simply because a man made a sexual pass
and figured out later that he made a pass at a transgender woman. So I wanted to give tips on something I am familiar with,
self defense.
Once on hormones for a good period of time we lose a lot of physical strength and defending yourself in a life or death situation
becomes an almost imposibilty against a man, or group. I know we have Ipods and computers an work and social life, but we must take time to
become proficient with some sort of defense. Now guns are a touchy subject, and are not everyones cup of tea and if your not an experienced
practitioner can be a liability. Some of us hate them and that's fine, I am not opening that can of worms. But if your not law enforcement, or ex military
trigger puller and don't have the time or money to get trained properly then guns may not be for you. I have the benefit of being military and I have taught
hand gun classes, where I differ on doctrine is everyone has heard you need to be in fear of your life to shoot, I have gotten friction from others in
the field of handgun defense classes , never shoot out of fear. I will cover this aspect in hand to hand but you need to learn and control yourself, your adrenaline and your fear( this bleeds over into presenting female for a lot of us) Its hard thing to learn, when adrenaline in a true life or death situation kicks in
you will get tunnel vision, your recollection of the events will be fuzzy at best and it will be easy for an over zealous prosecutor to convict you of something, even if guns were not involved. I know these things because I have been in combat. I would suggest when you can to expose yourself to something that gets your adrenaline going progressively moving up from there. If your scared to death of rollercoasters ride them, maybe skydiving or anything to get that adrenaline pumping hard, Once there try and control and focus on your heart rate, count to ten keep your eyes open, learn to control that adrenaline, for me it was mma fighting and boxing that helped a ton, I know a lot of us cant do that, but were not after the conflict, we are after the side affects of conflict.
Adrenaline. Now once you know your body and its fear response and have gotten decent at bringing yourself into a logical state of mind, your as close
as you can be so that if a situation arises you can make logical decisions.
Now if you own a handgun and if you do you need to practice a lot, I shoot atleast 200 rounds a month. If a situation arises and you have to use your gun
you can control your fear reaction and keep from getting tunnel vision, then you can use as less amount of force as needed. Your aware of what your shooting at, whats behind and around what your shooting at, you can shoot to stop and not necessarily kill. That's it on guns, now to hand to hand.
Hand to hand and being aware of threats before they happen. I have some experience with behavioral analysis, and body language can be a red flag.
I don't think you should go around feeling like a victim all the time, just informed. It really becomes second nature after a while. In a way the deer can sense the hunter sometimes. We as humans have forgotten that NATURUAL skill. Be aware of your surroundings! Watch the way people look at you and try to see intent, if you have the chance always run away towards other people screeming. If someone is paying a lot of attention to you, what are they doing, admiring you? Are they trying to be sneaky in the way they approach you? Don't take back alleys, be around other people if you can help it. There are several videos on behavior of would be attackers and they can be incite full but not always the case, you can be awlays aware of your surroundings without being paranoid. When you go into a mall or public place take a mental note of exits, also do you keep seeing the same person all over the place, pay attention to body art
peoples faces, maybe you have been to the mall and you seen a guy and now your across town and you see the same guy, maybe coincidence maybe not. Point is be aware. Now to the cost effectiveness of knowing hand to hand over having a gun. You don't have to be bruce lee to become an effective fighter and a 130 pound female can take down or atleast defend against the biggest of men. All you need is a computer and a clear space. There are several videos on technique and strategy, practice until your blue in the face. everyday, 30 minutes is all you need. its good excersize and you will delelop muscle memory from constant repition. A good martial art that can be learned freestyle is wing chun, its very straight forward not fancy at all and a child can understand the principles.
Master Wong has several free videos on you tube. He has a good reputation and is very good at breaking down technique.
Remember telling you to expose yourself to as much adrenaline as possible, this is where this comes into effect, staying calm and taking in the picture that is your enemy. try not to focus on the enemy, but instead try seeing all of him or her at once. Have you ever zoned out day dreaming and your eyes are open but your vision becomes blurry. Same concept but you need unfocused focus,lol. If you can see your opponent and see there slight body movements you can pick them apart. Practice the shaking hands technique with a friend as much as possible. Strike for eyes throat nose an the groin. any soft point on there body is your target. If you can get a hold of a finger even better fold it straight back or 90 degree angle. Learn to strike and defend at the same time, like I said several videos by Master Wong on you tube. Keep it simple as possible, no fancy moves! Just practical straight forward is what you want. If you can stay calm and see your enemy with out focusing on any given part of their body you will have an edge over the average person. Also practice footwork as much as possible, I split mine into everyother day, moving closer, moving in reverse, to one side or the other. When moving in reverse make sure you have space and simulate curbs and obstacles with books and any odd safe item when moving backwards. I literally use all of this as my work out everyday. Remember stay calm, count to ten while your in the conflict, whatever you need to do to stay in a calm mindset. Buy a punching bag and mma gloves, practice combo punches over and over again, you want that repetition. A one two three combo can be very effective, when you perceive an opening you will automatically complete the combo from muscle memory. I also know this from being a boxer. you might not make contact with every strike but it can place your opponent off balance long enough to escape. Also don't swing wide, elbows in and loose fists are key, if you do it right and make contact you can brake bones. Snap you fist at the end of its travel and punch through your target. These are all tips we can integrate into our exercise routine and they trim muscle not bulking you up. That can help us while trying to lose that male muscle mass. And I know cis female practitioners that are petite but can nock out grown men. The more you do something the more proficient your body becomes at it. Please be safe ad aware that's all I wanted with this post, we work so hard to transition why lose it. Always consult a doctor before beginning a work out routine or exposing yourself to adrenaline. Check amazon there are a few books that are excellent learning aids wrote by the late Bruce Lee. Sorry for the long post but hopefully it will compel you to learn self defense and use all self defense responsibly.
