A girl can never have too many options when it comes to defensive tools. Firearms, knives, zappy zaps, kubatons (not sure that's how you spell that).
Options are endless and, really, anything can be used to defend yourself. If I am about to get my ass kicked and there is a spoon next to me... you bet your tootie frooties I'm gonna spoon you and hard.
Our level of defense isn't *just* what we carry. The biggest factor in whether or not we survive is always OUR MINDS. A defensive tool just adds to your arsenal.
Have you ever went to do something but hesitated and... lost the nerve? Missed the goal? Were too late? Changed your mind?
Like that time I heard the baby let one rip and said....Nah, it was just a fart. WRONG. I never should have stuck my finger in that diaper ((face palm)).
The same applies to self defense. Second guessing yourself will take you out of the game, every. single. time.
This one time.... in jiu-jitsu.... my coach when to grab me. I knew I needed to react. I started to but then... the thought crept into my mind...What if .... I never even finished the thought before ...BAM! I was on the ground, wrapped up like a pretzel and tapping before I could even process what'd happened.
So.. what DID happen?
Simple answer, I doubted myself. My brain had already formed a plan to counter the attack. Signals to my arms, legs, and core were flowing. My body was already reacting exactly how I'd trained it to.
Then, I snatched it all away with one incomplete thought...... what if?.
By thinking just those 2 little words, I had effectively told all 37 TRILLION cells in my body they were wrong... to stop doing what they *knew* they needed to do in order to save my ass.
What if that had been *truly* life or death?
When I raise my kids or train someone out on the range, it's the same principal. Believe in yourself and your abilities. There is nothing you can't do. You got this!
After ending up face down on the mat, folded in half, I said to myself.... Never again will I question myself or my training.
Carrying a defensive tool... or 3.. won't save you. YOU will save you. Your belief that you can... or can't.... is all that stands between survival or pretzel.