Wherever you are right now as you’re reading this, look up and try to spot three different improvised weapons you could grab if an attack was imminent.
Seriously: if you’re at home pretend that you’ve got 5 seconds to get your hands on something because someone’s breaking in. What exactly are you going to grab? And if you can’t get your hands on that object, what’s your number two choice? Your number three choice?
If you’re on the bus, what can you arm yourself with? What about at the office? At Starbucks?
(If you normally pack a weapon then for the sake of this exercise that weapon doesn’t count – pretend that you’ve lost it or that it’s broken. You’ve got to find a backup tool, and a backup to the backup).)
Unless you’re sitting in a padded room with no windows or chairs you should be able to find something!
The general rule is that it’s better to have something in your hand than have it empty.
Obviously one possible and important function of an improvised weapon is to hit someone. The fact you’ve got something in your hand typically increases your reach and and lessens the danger of breaking your fist if you punch someone. But there are also many other functions, because an improvised weapon can also intimidate, deflect, distract, block, entangle or put a barrier between you and your attacker.
Let’s give you some very specific examples of improvised weapons you might find and how you can use them…
In the video below I go down an alley for one block and find well over 1o different types of improvised weapons.
Check it out – it’s an informative video and we got some very strange looks while filming it!
If you’re interested in this topic then here are three more suggestions for you…
- Empty Handed Self Defense against a Stick – This is a terrible scenario, but survivable if you know what to do. Learn some proven techniques to give you a chance against a stick attack.
- Defanging the Snake in the Filipino Martial Arts – The idea of ‘defanging the snake’ is one of the most important concepts in weapon to weapon fighting. Get an introduction to it in this article here
- Self Defense Tutorials Email Newsletter – Yes, we have an email newsletter, but unlike almost all other newsletters this one is actually useful! In it you’ll get our very best self defense and martial arts training tips and techniques. Plus if you don’t like what you get then you can unsubscribe at any time with a simple click of a button.
