Emotions can run amok in a stressful situation.  Those can be useful if you have practiced using them.

Many people think only of anger as a useful emotion in a violent encounter.  The truth is that anger, fear, hope, and love are all useful and should be there.

Self-defense on the "ground" is probably the most uncomfortable thing to learn for most women.  There is no "personal space".  It's hard to move.  It's too much like a real sexual assault.  That, of course, is why it's so very important.

I previously wrote about my friend Lam and an encounter he had with a would be attacker half a foot taller than him and literally twice his weight.  The fight was avoided by a simple "flick" to the throat, and no more ever came of it.

Was it the finger flick that did it?  Well, that was the tool.  Lam used a physically strong tool to attack a physically weak target.  

He "won" that encounter not by being stronger (he wasn't), or by knowing more "techniques" (though he did).  He won because he remained calm in the face of danger.  By remaining calm, he saw his opportunity and was able to take it.  Of course, if he had panicked, it would have been different.

The idea of being attacked by a larger, stronger person worries both men and women.  Many - especially women - fear that fighting back will only make things worse. 

Forget for the moment that studies show that 80% of rapists will give up if they meet with resistance. 

What can anyone do against a physically overpowering foe?

Did you ever see a movie where the good guy is having a tough time, then someone hurts his buddy/wife/child and then he goes berserk and wins out after all?  I hate that.  There is a time to "go berserk" in a fight and there is a time to keep it under control.  If you are in a situation where your loved ones are in danger, you need to keep your head and make good choices.  People who just go crazy tend to do stupid things and get hurt.   That's my problem with movies like that.  If you turn it on at the wrong time, you make things worse.