Listen: The Power In Fear, Part 3

Almost certainly, the safety-conscious Jenny Ewing had no warning before her attacker pounced, dragging her off her bike into the woods; and we'll likely never know whether Meredith Emerson's warning bells rang as she chatted with Gary Hilton.

We do know Emerson, who had a green belt in judo, didn't make it easy for Hilton, who carried a police baton. She struggled so mightily that his baton was left at the scene—an initial clue to identifying her kidnapper. Witnesses also saw Hilton following Emerson—who was walking alone that day. Weeks later, he pled guilty to her murder.

"Oh my God, I can't imagine what she went through," says an Atlanta voice talent who walks regularly with her dogs. "I was afraid for her, thinking about what she was thinking in those final days, and hoping that she didn't penalize herself for that, or say 'This is my fault.'"

"Nobody would've suspected the old man with his dog to be a potential serial killer," says Justin Wilson, head of the Alpharetta-based Assets Protection Consultants. "She was probably disarmed a little bit by his appearance."

Authorities say when Michael Ledford jumped on her, Ewing—who rode about 50 miles daily on her bicycle—clawed, bit, hit and kicked him so forcefully she left him with injuries to his genitals, arms and hands. Ledford has not yet been to trial.

Sometimes, though, your intuition does give you enough warning so that you know that the person in your personal space is bad news. Then, you have to establish a boundary—quickly and firmly.

"Do not allow anybody to get in your personal space," warns Wilson.

The thing is, women are nurturing by nature, and don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But at the expense of safety?

"You know when you feel in your gut when somebody doesn't seem right or their intentions there are not wholesome," says Wilson.

APC Instructor Sarah Frost says no one should hesitate to speak up when they feel uncomfortable with someone getting too close. Again, trust your intuition.

"If they repeatedly step in your space, that's when you can articulate to the authorities that 'I was threatened,'" says Frost. "And that's all you have to be able to do."

An attacker preys on perceived weakness; he wants the meekest victim possible, someone who won't give him a hard time. Say someone asks if you want help with those bags you're loading into your car. A "no, thank you; please stay back" should suffice. If someone insists, Wilson says to look them straight in the eye, and yell at the top of your lungs, "Get back!" At that point, an honest Samaritan might think you a little loud and perhaps paranoid, but will likely move away. Someone trying to aggressively get close to you likely will not.

So Wilson says, forget your manners and swear like a sailor!

"What I would say is, "Get the f*** back or I will beat the s*** outta you!" says Wilson. "Or, my favorite from one of my assistant instructors who's a female—she says, 'Get back or I'm gonna rip your n*** off and shove 'em in your mouth!' And she's a survivor of an attack."

The profanity turns on the spotlight, says Wilson, who reminds us that Jerry Springer's not a millionaire because he doesn't have viewers. Something about a woman screaming bodily injury threats to a man draws our attention, he says.

At the moment you feel unsafe in your own space, the palm-heel strike will make him see stars. Wilson says the moves in the customized classes Assets Protection Consultants sets up for its students are designed to stop the threat in three seconds or less.

Wilson and Frost show just how quickly it can work— in about the time span it takes to read this brief exchange:

"Hey, you got the time?" Wilson asks, approaching Frost.

"Get back," Frost says firmly.

"Hey come on, lady, come on," Wilson says. "Get a watch!" Frost says loudly.

"Hey now--" Wilson says, moving as if to grab Frost's arm.

"Get back!" Frost screams, jettisoning her arm forward with the heel of her palm out, catching Wilson squarely in the jaw.

Lest some worry that they're not big enough, strong enough, young enough, athletic enough, the pair say it's not martial arts, just devastating moves playing upon our natural instincts. The classes are for women only, so as not to allow potential predators to formulate counterstrikes to the moves being taught.

The couple demonstrate the "grab back-grab better," which could also allow a woman to step on a man's feet as she knocks him to the ground, breaking his ankles, and other moves to use the attacker's energy against him.

Though the classes are customized for women and can focus on techniques for particular groups—e.g., realtors—APC also designs safety classes for children, and is available for corporate security consultations and can set up classes on a company's job site as well. E-mail Justin Wilson and Sarah Frost at Assets Protection Consultants.

Frost says women's hips are a built-in power system, helping to drive needed force to spurn an attacker.

"Get on top of him," Frost says. "It takes two pounds of pressure to crush a trachea."

"Ladies close to 70 attend the class, and they all are able to derive the power," Wilson--who is also a policeman--says.

Whether your goal is to stop your attacker just long enough to run away--or so long that the paramedics have to pick him up--remember that crime scene #2 is not an option. Wilson explains why you should never allow yourself to be taken to the "second" crime scene.

"Crime scene #1 is where they gain control of their victim," Wilson explains. "Crime scene #2, unfortunately, is where law enforcement finds you.

"Crime scene #2 is never an option. Period."

It's been said that the more prepared you are, the less likely you'll need any self-defense techniques. Wilson says a former student of APC told him how the class's techniques helped spurn a possible attacker, even before he made his move.

You're already armed with intuition. How about some backup? Take a look at packing heat, Thursday.

Wednesday, 27 February 2008

Assets Protection Consultants, Inc. is located at 1081 Cambridge Square Ste C; Alpharetta, GA; 30004. Their phone number is (770) 331-5625.

Tuesday's Story: Trusting Your Intuition