Belt for self-defense

Belt for self-defense - From Flickr.com

Here's a quick note about using a belt for self-defense. And we're not referring to the karate black belt either.

As you may or may not know - many every day items are easy to utilize for self-defense purposes.

In order for these items to be of ant real effect, they need to be readily available and also to provide a certain degree of threat or damage if needed.

One such item is undoubtedly the regular belt worn around your waist. If you can easily remove it (without your pants falling down) and it has a rather large and heavy buckle, you've got a nice self-defense tool at your disposal!

A friend of mine once used his belt to fight off two guys at a bar who wanted to "teach him a lesson" and below is a recent story from southcoasttoday.com in Massachusetts.

The victim parked his car in the area of County and Thompson streets shortly before 11 p.m. and was walking to his apartment when he was approached by a man with a knife who demanded his money, according to police.
The victim took off his belt and swung it at the suspect, Detective Sgt. Victor Mendes said. He chased the robber around a parked car and swung his belt at him a second time.
Mendes said the man with the knife ran to a second suspect, who was on a bicycle about a half a block away, and the two fled on the bike.

So there you have it - a good incentive to always wear a belt (not only while driving :)

A very cautious girl

"I'm a very cautious girl," this assault victim says. If that's the case, then it scares me to even think what being less cautious implies.
I mean, having your head down, and listening to your voicemail outside a nightspot at closing time... Oh yes, very cautious indeed!

Story:
In Springfield, Missouri, police are investigating a spate of downtown attacks on a women, according to ky3.com .

The latest assault occurred on Saturday, April 26. According to reports, there have been at least five reports of attacks in or near downtown since the beginning of 2008. The victims have been women in all but one incident.

The woman who reported the latest attack said it happened on a sidewalk. She had just stepped outside the nightclub just around closing time.

In three similar incidents, the victims said they were outside downtown nightclubs right after closing times.

"I never would have thought it could happen in just a little couple seconds that that took to happen," the Saturday assault victim said in an interview.

"I'm a very cautious girl; all my friends are," she said. But that wasn't enough to keep her out of danger. "I did have my head down listening to my voicemail and next thing led to another and I turned around and there he was," she said.

The woman says she just left the nightclub as it was closing down. She came around a corner to listen to her voicemail. She was alone and that's when she says the attacker pinned her hands above her head with one of his hands, then used his other hand to assault her.

The woman says she screamed for help and a stranger from across the street ran over to help. When he did, the attacker ran off.

Other victims haven't been as fortunate according to reports. Three similar incidents reported to police have much in common. They were all after closing, all outside downtown bars, all reported rapes and all listed a popular nightspot as a place where victims had been earlier in the evening.

More 'kung-shoe'

New York -- A sexual assault occurred early Sunday in a downtown parking garage in Albany, according to dailygazette.com.

At around 3:10 a.m., a 22-year-old woman left a bar downtown and walked to the garage. On her way, she noticed a man following her on the street, according to a police spokesman.

This man then followed her as she walked up the exit ramp to the parking garage. The woman attempted to call police on her cell phone but the man grabbed her phone, threw it to the ground and then tried to get a hold of the woman.

The woman managed to break away and got into her car, the spokesman said, but the man also forced his way into the car, where he got on top of her. The woman continued to fight the attacker inside the vehicle before both reportedly fell out the passenger side and onto the ground.

The determined woman then began to hit the man in the face and eyes with the heel of her dress shoe. She was finally able to get away from the perpetrator.

The woman was later taken to a medical center, where she was treated and released.

Going 'ball-istic'

Here's a typical "game" of escalation: Too males, sports fans, insults leading to injuries and charges being pressed. A quite game of dart leading to serious trouble. Way too typical male stupidity...

Story:
Oklahoma -- Words were reportedly exchanged at a bar in Oklahoma City between a 53-year-old University of Texas fan, and a University of Oklahoma Sooners fan - the latter, a church deacon and government auditor.

The exchange of words ended in a brawl leading to a torn scrotal sack with partially exposed testicles, according to a police report.

The OU fan said "something in a joking fashion to the guy about his Texas T-shirt," according to his attorney. "The guy got offended. My client said he was sorry," the attorney said.

The apology apparently wasn't enough for the Texas fan and the man then approached his client. The attorney said his client then grabbed the man in self-defense.

"The guy came over his other shoulder, and basically said, 'I'm getting ready to kick your you-know-what.' He said he felt threatened and he did what he thought he needed to do and grabbed him and left the place."

Source

Huge Coldplay fan

Karaoke is a torture instrument the devil himself could be proud of. Consequently, I really can relate to the rage against the "singer" in this story, even though the actions are way over board.

Story:
Washington -- A woman attacked a karaoke singer belting out Coldplay on Thursday night, telling him he "sucked" before she pushed and punched him to get him to stop singing, bar staff said. The man was singing "Yellow" when it happened.

"It took three or four of us to hold her down," a bartender said.

When she was escorted outside, the 21-year-old woman "went crazy," the bartender said, throwing punches at him and others, including an off-duty police officer.

Patrol officers and detectives then arrived at the neighborhood bar and blocked off the street, which inflamed the woman's rage even more, a police report said. Before police could handcuff the woman, she headbutted the off-duty officer at least twice.

Source

A different beat

Yep, more music stuff :-)
This may seem like a strange thing - using slower "old and boring" music to get rid of unwanted individuals. However, it is nothing new - and it works!
Any good bouncer/doorman, bartender, DJ or band will tell you how the music may directly affect the mood.
In places I have worked, music has been used as a way to end fights, alert the bouncers, turn away unwanted individuals and reduce the level of "aggression". So yes - the Cliff thing is still good :-)

Story:
UK -- A traditional funfair has discovered a novel way of scaring off gangs of hoodies - by playing Cliff Richard records.

The travelling steam fair was plagued by gangs of yobs who used to intimidate customers, until they accidentally discovered the hoodie repelling properties of Sir Cliff.

Now the fair uses the records the keep gangs of teenagers at bay, and have also discovered that the music actually attracts a new breed of customers - even if they are mainly old ladies.

A representative said: "We cater mainly for families, but we had a lot of young teenage gangs of hoodies around looking intimidating and putting all the families off, and they never spent any money either. They just scared good customers away."

"We usually play a lot of original 50s rock and roll, but the other day I accidentally put on a Cliff Richard B side called Travelling Light. All the hoodies pulled horrible faces and walked off."

"The next time, we tried it again, and it worked, so we bought a few more. The slow ones like Living Doll and The Young Ones are the most effective. Summer Holiday worked as well, but we try to stick to ones from the 50s to keep the feel of the fair authentic."

"We don't play them all the time because it wouldn't be fair on the staff - it's only when we feel the hoodies are starting to outnumber the families. We play some of the older records, and that gets rid of them."

Source

Bad karaoke

As far as music goes, karaoke is probably the worst thing known to man. The only thing that comes close on the "shit-O-meter" is elevator and telephone on-hold music. Oh, boy!
Fair enough - I have heard karaoke singers that actually can sing. But the rest ... Mama mia!
Consequently, I can kind of understand the security dude her, even though killing the "artist" is taking your statement too far by any ones standard.
And just contemplate this line: "Deaths and violence are not uncommon in Philippine karaoke bars." Ouch! Must be lots of really bad singers over there. Or maybe some really aggressive music criticisers?

Story:
In a Philippine karaoke bar, a man has been shot dead by a security guard for singing out of tune.

The 29-year-old man was halfway through his song on Tuesday night in a bar in San Mateo town, east of Manila, when a 43-year-old security guard yelled that he was out of tune.

When the performer ignored his comments and continued singing, the guard pulled out his revolver and shot him in the chest. The victim died instantly according to police.

Source

Hazards at work, 16

It can't be said often enough: A knife is a dangerous, really dangerous weapon.
It's highly unpredictable, easy to carry, easy to use.
You also have this idea amongst some folks that you can "control the effect" - that is, you can easily use it as a deterrent to scare off, cut or stop a threat/attacker. This is far easier said than done folks!
Another thing is that since way too many are unaware of the danger involved, they fell it's "safe" or legitimate to carry such a weapon. And what do you do when you are being under attack? You use what you got at hand.
Facts: Once a knife is out, you have a potential lethal situation on your hands.

Story:
A bouncer is dead and a 35-year-old man is in critical condition after a bar fight in Blaine early Friday morning.

The bouncer, 24-year-old Greg Klaers, was killed while trying to break up that fight. His brother saw the whole thing happen.

A customer was also stabbed and critically wounded. Police arrested four men for assault.

Source

Anger release bar

Strange stuff!
Does 'punch at' imply some sort of near hit or maybe maximum force allowed?
What if someone comes in who is capable of delivering a serious belting...
I wonder if insurance will cover that?
Or do they have waivers, stating you're working at your own risk?

Story:
Stressed-out Chinese can now unleash pent-up anger at a bar that lets customers attack staff, smash glasses and generally make a ruckus, a Chinese newspaper reported Monday.

The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar in Nanjing, capital of the eastern province of Jiangsu, employs 20 muscled young men as "models" for customers to punch and scream at.

The owners said that since he opened the bar in April, most of the patrons have been women, especially those working in karaoke bars and massage parlors.

Source

Choices we make

Read this article by Jonna Spilbor - it is good! It shows that we have options and choices, and that bad ones sometimes leave us vitims to crime.

Story:
True or false: Had Imette St. Guillen chosen not to leave a bar alone at 4 a.m., she would still be alive.
My answer? True.
But before anyone shoots painfully poisonous darts into my backside for saying as much, I have a story to share.

Source