The term “self-defense” is anything but warm and fuzzy though vital to know something about, even if it’s only a little something. Amazingly enough, just knowing a little something can literally save your life or that of a loved one. This topic is extremely important for women because we tend to be the safety advocates for our families, friends and workplaces.

Self-Defense sounds like it has to do with defending ourselves from someone who is physically attacking us, doesn’t it? The fact is, there are types of attacks we endure every day without notice. These wear us down until we physically appear to be good targets for physical attack, but physical attack is not where it starts.

I think January being National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month is brilliant! It is a time for reflection and revisions and what could be a better time to learn to respect ourselves? The non-physical types of attack are verbal, mental and emotional. So, January, with it’s renewal and new beginnings, is a perfect time to say, “Yes,” to ourselves; “Yes,” to our self-esteem; “Yes,” to our self-awareness and “Yes,” to our self-respect; improving both our mental and emotional well-being; while simultaneously repelling would-be attackers of all types, even physical!

Did you know that approximately 95% of crime can be easily prevented? And as a survivor of rape and domestic violence myself, I know that prevention is much easier than recovery.

So where do I begin for a safer 2009?

You begin on the inside – How do you feel about yourself? Do you feel confident that you are just as good as anyone else or do you feel that other people are better than you? Then you look at people in your life – Who seems to weaken you when you spend time with them? Who strengthens you? Who is present when you feel best about yourself? Now look at how you treat yourself – Do you say “No,” to others when appropriate and realize you’re saying “Yes,” to yourself? Or do you beat yourself up if you don’t help everyone who asks?

That is where you begin for a Safer 2009. Stay tuned, as I go into more detail of where to go from here and you will notice improvements in all aspects of your life when you put these tips into action!

So…self-defense can warm and fuzzy once you learn what it really means and how to use it to your advantage; not just against someone else. The idea is to become so strong mentally and emotionally that no one can tear you down into exhibiting weak body language, the most common “visual” attackers use to select victims.

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

Dating nightmares not only include disease, unwanted pregnancy, rape and domestic abuse but assaults on your self-esteem and emotional and mental well-being. Most of the deep scars we have from past relationships are not physical. So knowing the how to pick the right people to date is vital! We all have stories about the date that went bad or the guy who never called back even though we really hit it off. We wonder what we did wrong, what we could have done differently, why he didn’t like us. Was it something we said or did? Was it what we wore or that we were too forward or not forward enough? What if he was just the wrong person? What if what we did wrong was pick him to go out with in the first place? Or what if we didn’t pick him at all but rather went because he picked us? Is that dangerous? Absolutely, and I’ll tell you how to avoid it!

Three Safe Dating Tips For Women:

Healthy Self-Esteem – you are already complete so looking for someone to “complete you” is just a romantic (yet pathetic) line in a movie. Trust Your Gut Feelings - these will always lead you the right way and it doesn’t matter if they make sense at the time or not. Personal Boundaries - establish and enforce these or you will continue down the road of dating nightmares!

Doing one, two or all three of these will change your dating life (and non-dating life) tremendously! I know because I’ve been there and my poor decisions took me down the road of rape and domestic violence. Pay attention to someone who’s been there so you never have to be! Women, defend and protect your mental and emotional well-being and prevent dating nightmares by dating the right men instead of just “men” and share these safe dating tips with women you care about.

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

The term “self-defense” is anything but warm and fuzzy though vital to know something about, even if it’s only a little something. Amazingly enough, just knowing a little something can literally save your life or that of a loved one. This topic is extremely important for women because we tend to be the safety advocates for our families, friends and workplaces.

Self-Defense sounds like it has to do with defending ourselves from someone who is physically attacking us, doesn’t it? The fact is, there are types of attacks we endure every day without notice. These wear us down until we physically appear to be good targets for physical attack, but physical attack is not where it starts.

I think January being National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month is brilliant! It is a time for reflection and revisions and what could be a better time to learn to respect ourselves? The non-physical types of attack are verbal, mental and emotional. So, January, with it’s renewal and new beginnings, is a perfect time to say, “Yes,” to ourselves; “Yes,” to our self-esteem; “Yes,” to our self-awareness and “Yes,” to our self-respect; improving both our mental and emotional well-being; while simultaneously repelling would-be attackers of all types, even physical!

Did you know that approximately 95% of crime can be easily prevented? And as a survivor of rape and domestic violence myself, I know that prevention is much easier than recovery.

So where do I begin for a safer 2009?

You begin on the inside – How do you feel about yourself? Do you feel confident that you are just as good as anyone else or do you feel that other people are better than you? Then you look at people in your life – Who seems to weaken you when you spend time with them? Who strengthens you? Who is present when you feel best about yourself? Now look at how you treat yourself – Do you say “No,” to others when appropriate and realize you’re saying “Yes,” to yourself? Or do you beat yourself up if you don’t help everyone who asks?

That is where you begin for a Safer 2009. Stay tuned, as I go into more detail of where to go from here and you will notice improvements in all aspects of your life when you put these tips into action!

So…self-defense can warm and fuzzy once you learn what it really means and how to use it to your advantage; not just against someone else. The idea is to become so strong mentally and emotionally that no one can tear you down into exhibiting weak body language, the most common “visual” attackers use to select victims.

By: Kelly Rudolph

About the Author:

Ambrose Hussein asked:


rape or violence against women in general? Why or why not?

For some reason I’m just not too confident in the power of guns for self-defense – and unless a person is going to concealed-carry his/her handgun in public, s/he doesn’t even have access to it all the time or in situations where **** or violence can occur.