59-year-old Grandfather Peter Flanagan killed 27-year-old John Bennell after he broke into his home.

The grandfather stabbed Bennell with a kitchen knife while he tried defending his home after a machete-wielding gang broke into his terraced house.

Mr Flanagan has said that he has never been able to erase the memory of the 27-year-old burglar he stabbed to death.

“I see John Bennell’s face everywhere.” Flanagan said “He’ll be with me for the rest of my life.”

Flanagan told British newspaper, The Sun that he cannot sleep at night over what happened. He said he remembered how deep the kitchen knife sunk into Bennell’s chest and the piercing scream that leapt out of the intruder’s mouth.

Moments later, Bennell died from severe chest wounds – leaving Flanagan fearing that he would be jailed for murder.

Flanagan even spent two nights in police custody, but authorities did not charge him for murder because they believed that he used reasonable force and acted in self-defence.

“This is not a situation I ever wanted” Flanagan said

You surely heard about the reality that you can use self defense weapons. Many people are speaking about this all the time and sadly we noticed that there are several that have acquired a good deal of untrue facts. The truth is that self defense is some thing that is challenging to understand, specifically when we are speaking about the policies. You will be informed that you can use something in order to protect your self but when you go down to the law enforcement agency station soon after the attack you could end up becoming taken into custody collectively with your attacker. Since this is undoubtedly some thing that we do not want to occur, let us feel about some of the most necessary facts that you have to have to give some thought to.

Studying What Self Defence Weapons are Allowed

This is almost certainly the most necessary fact that you have to take into account. In numerous countries there are different laws. Even extra, in diverse USA states you will come across unique laws. You will need to be knowledgeable and see exactly what self defense weapons you can transport around with you. In most cases you will not be allowed to have a knife or a handgun without having a license. Daze guns may well be permitted and even some scaled-down martial arts weapons. If you know exactly what you can take about with you then you will make a substantial stage in the direction of not having any guidelines related troubles when making use of the weapons to safeguard your self.

A Self Defense Weapon is Useless if You Do Not Use it

We observed countless that feel that merely because they have a self defense weapon with them they are completely secure. This is definitely not true given that of the fact that most individuals will not even get to use those weapons that they transport around. It is fundamentally useless to have a weapon on you if you cannot use it in time. It is suggested that all self defense goods are put definitely close to your fingers so that you can promptly get to them. In addition, we recommend that you learn some normal hand to hand self defense moves so that you can buy some time to get to the weapons in the occasion that you are surprised.

The Significance of Staying Relaxed

Although this is not something that is linked with the self defense weapons, we have to recognize that every person can get scared. The most vital factor that needs to stay on your mind in the occasion that you are attacked is that if you panic you will not be capable to safeguard your self. When going by means of special self defense programs you will discover about how to fake being in panic but you have to have to remain powerful at all instances.

To learn additional about Self Defense make sure that you visit the Best Self Defense internet site. You will understand a lot there from how to handle yourself when you do not have a weapon to how to use weapons if you have them. Likewise, search at womens self defense! 

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To explain this idea a little more, just because you have had some training and you are hot stuff in the gym or dojo does not automatically prepare you for the reality of a confrontation in a bar or on the streets.  In fact very little can really prepare you for what can be the most terrifying and debilitating moments in your life.  Even very experienced and extremely capable martial artists have frozen when confronted with a real threat outside of the dojo where there are no rules and anything can happen.  What if the person you are arguing or falling out with has a knife you could be six foot fifteen stone of trained muscle that would not mean a thing if you are stabbed.

Yet some people will say does your martial art not teach you how to deal with a knife attack well we do knife attack training and it is very rare you can disarm or get away unscathed no matter what you may have seen on television or at the movies.  We have all seen Seagal or Van Damme dispatch and disarm attackers with knives and guns this is the movies, not a cold wet Friday night outside the dog and duck with an angry thug coming at you with a drink fuelled fury determined to ruin your night.

Hopefully you can see why I say the avoidance of confrontation or violence can be the best tool in your self defence armoury.  Easier said than done I know, nobody likes backing down or having friends or family thinking you a coward well let me tell you they do not.  There is nothing heroic or clever getting into a fight over a spilled drink or a thoughtless remark or any one of a hundred similar stupid reasons that sometimes lead to tragic consequences for you and your family.

You may think with what I have said so far that martial arts training have little value nothing could be further from the truth.  Martial arts do not just teach you to fight, if you are taught well they also give you the humility and confidence which gives you the ability to walk away without letting your ego get you into the kind of trouble that can have life changing consequences.  This is not to say you should not fight back when attacked but let this be the last resort talk or walk your way out if at all possible.

Some of the toughest men and women I know many of whom work as security in bars and clubs consider that they have failed to a certain extent if they have to resort to violence to remove potential troublemakers from the premises.  They would much rather talk you out of the club than throw you out they try and defuse the situation by being firm confident and friendly in fact the last thing they want is for the situation to escalate to violence.  Not because they could not handle it because believe me these are very accomplished and genuinely tough individuals but to them violence is and should be the last resort.

This may seem so because most attackers often lie in wait for their victims and will only attack when they think they have advantage. This is will probably be someone who is distracted or not paying attention. This is why using headphones when walking in strange places should be avoided.

a) To minimize the attackers advantage it is important to carefully observe your surroundings and then mentally note things that seem out of place. Try and think like a perpetrator in order to anticipate their method of attack and take appropriate steps to avoid it.

b) Be alert of someone watching you intently or following you on foot or in a vehicle. If you notice something suspicious get out of the place and if necessary seek help. Try and stay close to other people who can assist in case of an attack instead of walking away and leading the attacker to your home or to an isolated place.

c) It is important to look around your vehicle before getting in. Make sure you check the backseat and underneath the vehicle. If there are trees around note that an attacker can hide behind them.

a) Instincts, sometimes referred to as “women intuition” or a “sixth sense” enable human beings to be aware of danger even when there is no apparent reason for such feelings. Do not ignore your instincts because they could save you from looming danger.

b) Be careful of people who attempt to lure you to a place outside of your plans. The infamous serial rapist and killer Ted Bundy lured his victims by asking for help while wearing a cast or using crutches. He also posed as an undercover cop and would ask his potential victims to get into his car to drive them to the police station.

Some of Bundy’s potential victims suspected something was wrong with his demeanor while others saw through his lies and were able to escape because they trusted their instincts. Many others did not escape and became victims of his crimes.

c) There are many perpetrators closely tied to the potential victim. These could be relatives or acquaintances who will attempt to use this bond to cloud a person’s instinct. It is important to trust yourself even if it is with someone you know. Statistics shows that the vast majority of sexual assaults are committed by acquaintances.

d) Listen to the instincts of others. It could be that others may have picked a stimuli that you did not pick. For example, if a child tells you someone makes them feel uncomfortable, please listen and watch out for that person. Many children become victims of sexual molestation because they are not listened to.

Adopt the “buddy system”.

Most attackers attack an individual because it is hard to control numerous victims without the risk of being overpowered or having one of them run away and get help. Unless an attacker has a weapon or is in an isolated area like a remote parking lot most of them will avoid attacking a couple or a group of people.

It is therefore advisable to have a friend or family member accompany you when you are out. Make sure the “buddy” you go out with is someone you can count on incase of an emergency.

What then should you do if you are attacked? There are three viable options that one could adopt incase of an attack. These could be run, fight or comply with the attackers demands.

a) If getting away is an option, that should be your first choice. If there is no immediate way to escape one must make quick decision whether to comply or fight.

b) If the attacker only wants some piece of property like a purse, money, car among such, one should immediately comply and get away to safety. These are replaceable things not worth your life.

c) If it is established that robbery is not the attacker’s motive, then fighting back should be considered. This is especially true if one suspects the attacker intends to kill, rape or severely harm the victim. A warning sign for this would be if the attacker attempts to move the victim to a more isolated location to avoid being interrupted or caught.

d) Even in (c) above, sometimes a victim’s best chance for survival depends on the victims complying with the attacker’s demands until a moment arises when the victim can get away to safety.

Being Prepared

a) Learn some self defense or martial arts techniques that could become handy in case of an attack.

b) Pepper Sprays and electric shockers are popular self defense devices that one could carry with them when out. It is important to note though that they are not always 100 % effective. For one a user can accidental spray themselves or have the wind blow the spray back to their own eyes. If the attacker is wearing thick clothing, a shock device can be very effective if the victim is within arms length of the attacker for effective use.

c) Be practical and use anything you have to fight back. A woman’s purse can be a good weapon and so is a backpack. Keys or a pen can be used to gouge out the eye(s) of the attacker. If the attack is in the house things like a baseball bat, carving knife, flashlights can also help stop the assailant.

The best defense though is prevention. So please practice safety awareness at all times

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Rather than getting tormented by bullies constantly, here are some ways that you can get rid of your bully once and for all.

Ignore them

This is the first thing you can do to fight bullies. Bullies love attention, so be sure not to give them any. A bully will do all he or she can to aggravate and get the better of you. He or she usually performs this by taking advantage of every chances to get into your head, your feelings, and possibly even hurt you physically. Although you think you can punch him/her with one well-placed and well-timed shot to the jaw, it’s still best to pay no attention to him or her. A bully won’t leave you alone if you always pay attention to him /her. If you take the bully out of attention, he or she will get the hint that you’re not the one to be bullied. In addition, you have more important business to concentrate on than to be besieged by a bully.

Outnumber the bullies

Bullies are actually big time cowards who struggles to convince theirselves otherwise. While loners are mainly the target of the bullies, it’s a good trick for you to make more friends. Bullies won’t aim for people who have friends who will defend them from their tormentors. If you have kids, make sure to support him/her to strike up a friendship at school. A bully may be able to fight one or two children, but he or she can’t stand up to a whole team of children. There’s a good chance that your child’s buddies will be the same children attacked by the schoolyard bully. One kid may not be able to stand up to a bully, but with the power of friendship and bravery, these kids will be able to stand up and hold their own against the bully. Bonding together can also educate them a priceless lesson in life: one for all, and all for one.

Learn self defence

When you’re tackled by a aggressive bully, you need to defend yourself from injury. It’s one thing to be psychologically scarred by a bully, but it’s another thing to be physically scarred by one. Except you want to return to home every day with a new wound to clean and to nurse, you should to learn some self-defense techniques. Self-defense is also a good way to stop bullies from ever lay his/her hand on you in the first place. You can register yourself at a training dojo or martial arts center to learn some self-defense techniques. Takedowns, reversals, and other self-protective moves can help you against a bully’s attacks. However, you should keep in mind that you should never use tehniques self-defense to hurt a bully, or to be a bully yourself.

Or, you can always kill them with kindness

Being kind to every and anyone you meet is your stronghold. Be gracious. When those around you see what a nice person you are, the bully puts himself/herself in the spotlight when picking with you. He shines the light on his insecurities and bad social skills; others will come to your defense.

Remember, a bully doesn’t have to be in charge of your life. They may think that people they scare are cowards, but nobody is more cowardly than their selves. There are some times that you’ll end up confronting the bully, but usually the wisest and bravest thing you can do to a bully is to walk off.

A bully will usually ‘act out on instincts’ of anger & tension because of stress in their life at the given moment because this is probably the only way they know how to let off steam. But rather, more than likely, he or she has planned out their torment towards you because of ‘how easy’ a target you are to them. This could be an instant decision right there & then without them having too much time to think, or it could even be a well planned out & calculated scenario over time.

This is mainly because of insecurity issues instilled when they were a youngster; probably they lived within a violent family atmosphere because their role model was intimidating. Or they were even brought up around violence & were bullied themselves, or there is something just not right in their minds.

A bully will get to feel ‘power’ every time he or she executes an act of violence towards another & this makes them feel good within their own mind without too much, if any, consideration for their victim at all. Or maybe bullying allows them the privilege of ‘showing off’ in front of their friends & maybe others because of lifestyle & lack of sufficient punishment due to laws. 

Intimidation is the factor here! If a bully feels he is more intimidating than you are, & he or she can sense they could get away with this act because of ‘your own fears & insecurities concerning your own abilities’ of ‘not sticking up for yourself,’ he or she could quite easily be tempted to take their step to the next level of ‘violence.’

Reputations! You may know the bully. Maybe he or she has a reputation because of their undesired acts, previously, towards others. Reputations are only built up because that is how you, &/or, others, perceive that person’s ability of him, or herself! So you will adhere to this line of thinking & thus allow the bully to have his wicked way with you because you fear his reputation & what he or she can do to you not only mentally, but physically too.

So why not build up your own reputation? This is quite achievable once you have gained sufficient confidence & courage towards ‘what you, yourself, are capable of’ within a possible violent situation if needed to be. To build confidence means ‘you are prepared.’ You must gain further knowledge & regularly practice out scenarios & you will then become more adapted because you will tend not to focus upon your aggressors abilities, but rather your own, & what you are capable of ‘doing to him or her’ if needed be.

Once you are prepared you will have a much better chance of dealing with the situation because you have taken the time to ‘find out what to expect’ within such a potential violent situation or scenario. Expectation will prepare your mind to become ‘aware’ & this awareness is the first line of self protection, or self defense. Once you become prepared because of ‘knowing’ through your own practice of finding ways of self protection, you will become more ‘self’ confident & you will start to give off a different kind of energy that makes you, become perceived, in the eyes of any potential aggressor, that you may not be the easy target that he or she ‘thought’ you were.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think? Regards! Dale.

     By the time your day has ended, more than 10 children have been killed with guns and many, many more are wounded. Guns are a major cause to violence in the society. It is obvious that they are dangerous and that they hurt/kill countless lives, most of these innocent. Guns should be removed from all criminals, gangs and normal civilians. They cause way more harm than good (if any) in the hands of criminals and civilians. Getting rid of them now will make the future a lot safer.

Guns in civilian hands lead to more violence and deaths. They are by far the most used weapon for homicides. In 1993, 17075 homicides were committed by guns. 7252 homicides were committed by all other weapons. In 2003, 11053 homicides were committed by guns and 5475 were committed by all other weapons. Take away guns and those thousands of people who are killed each year can be saved. However, the phrase many people use in defence of guns is “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”, and so people will always find another way to kill. But look at the sheer power of guns and what is being allowed for civilians and gangs to get a hold of. First of all, most guns (handguns) are easily concealable in bags, purses or clothing. They can be fired at long range with a single pull of a trigger and if hit, the victim would die without knowing what hit them. They are so deadly, the criminal doesn’t even have to shoot the gun to commit the crime. The plain fear induced when a gun is pointed at a victim is enough to render them helpless. In 1994, there were more than 1.3 million non fatal gun crimes. In 2003, 53.7% of suicides were committed with a gun. All of this proves that guns are nothing more than a danger and threat to people’s lives. “But they help people in self defence” gun fanatics would say, and that leads to the next paragraph.

Just how practical are guns when used for self defence. From 1987-1990, guns were used in self defence 2 out of every 1000 gun crimes (0.2%) and 0.87% of the time in violent gun crimes. It figures too because if someone points a gun at the victim, what is the likelihood of the assaulter allowing the victim to reach for his/her own gun? Keeping a gun at home for self defence is also pointless because most of the time, it would be locked up to prevent children from accessing it but it would also prevent the owner from using it when an armed robber invades the house. Also, guns kept in homes for self defensive purposes are 22 times more likely to kill a family member or friend than to be used for actual self defence. Furthermore, if the armed criminals committing the crimes didn’t have guns to begin with, then they would be a lot less deadly and wouldn’t require guns to be dealt with. Using guns for self defence is a non practical excuse for allowing guns to be legal. Besides, there are always non lethal alternatives for self defence that can be made available to civilians in the future.

Guns are dangerous to teens and dangerous with teens. In 1993, 74.1% of homicide offenders with guns were aged 14-24 and majority of homicide victims were at this age group as well. These teens are the future and if they are involved with guns at a young age, they will likely grow up into dangerous people in the future. According to a study at Harvard University, 59% of students from grade 6-12 know where to get a gun and 2/3 of these students can get one within 24 hours. Again, this just proves that guns are being handled way too loosely. Most of the homicide victims with guns are teens as well and they, again, are the future. They should be protected and having guns out there in the public is doing the exact opposite. If we want a safer future, we should eliminate all guns from private ownership, or at least make stricter laws so that young teens don’t have easy access to guns. If guns are removed from private ownership, teens grow up in a safer environment, when they become adults, the whole society will be safer.

Guns in the wrong hands will continue to be a threat to innocent lives. Some people may say, well why don’t we ban cars, knives, or even McDonald’s as they lead to the deaths of innocent people as well. Sure there are car accidents, but how many people can get through their lives without cars? How will people cut their meat and vegetables without knives? These things all have purposes in real life. The only thing guns are used for is to kill and injure people and in untrained hands, they are very dangerous. They offer little to no benefit in our society in the hands of civilians. During a 19 year span, 85 644 715 guns were produced in the US. However, despite the danger of guns in civilian hands, banning guns is not the solution. As guns are removed from law abiding citizens, criminals who don’t follow laws anyways will still hang onto their guns. This would put even more danger to the citizens as now they will have a worse chance against armed criminals. That is the problem right now. How can the continent eliminate all guns from private ownership? There may not be an answer as criminals will always find ways to get guns, but something has to be done.

We are at a busy emergency department in a large inner city hospital, the night shift nurses are dealing with the usual suspects drunks, drug addicts and various other night crawlers.

We are looking at one nurse in particular, she is fairly young about twenty six or seven of slight build and about five feet three inches tall.

She is dealing with one difficult patient who is the worst for drink and is getting beliggerent loud and possibly violent.

The young nurse attempted to calm down this drunken thug who was not going to be told he had to wait his turn. With a mouth full of anger and swearing he attacked the nurse.

Imagine his surprise when this insubstantial woman not only stood her ground but in a flash had him on the floor with his arm painfully held up his back while she awaited assistance. The security staff were not surprised when they came to take over that this nurse had taken care of the situation in a calm and measured way. For it was well known in the hospital that outside of work she was a dedicated martial artist who ran her own school.

I am sorry to say not all of these attacks have such a positive outcome and more nurses and doctors are being attacked every day. They have security and cameras at these places but that will not stop these thugs and is of little comfort to the victims who are only trying to do there jobs.

Sara the nurse I have been talking about does what she can to help the situation in her hospital by running courses for her fellow workers. I think it is about time more protection is given to these hard working proffessionals. Sara is a senior instructor for the Open Circle Fighting Method where she has proved herself many times and is held in great respect and affection by her fellow instructors. To see what Sara and others teach just go to our website  and get a free newsletter and Dvd.

If you know certain pubs or clubs have a reputation for trouble stay away, just go somewhere else. How often does drink play a part, drink sensibly enjoy yourself but do not get so out of it you lose control. Stay vigilant if you see trouble it is to easy to get involved just leave. How often have you walked into a bar and the atmosphere feels bad listen to your instincts and go somewhere else. Self defence or protection. If at all possible join a club that has self defence classes for the times when all the above has failed.

I have been involved in one form or another for over twenty five years in the martial arts. Over the last few years I have noticed a very large increase in adverts both on the internet and local newspapers. Telling you how you can protect yourself and loved ones from such attacks. I am sorry to say most of these adverts remind me of the old Charles Atlas adverts. You remember the strip cartoon where the weedy looking man gets sand kicked in his face and the girls laugh. So he goes home and sends off for the Charles Atlas course. We next see our hero with a six pack and biceps that would put Arnie to shame. He then proceeds to knock out the same bully and all the girls love him. Do you see what is wrong with this scenario?

No it is not how shallow the girls are portrayed though you would have a point. No it is what they are not telling you. It could take years of training to build your body like that if at all. The same can be said about martial arts. In styles like Karate, Judo, Kung Fu it can take many years of training to develop an adequate self defence that will work in a real life situation. I do apologise to anyone who feels I have been a bit unfair to pick out these three disciplines. It is just that they will be better known to the general public. Also please do not feel that it is a waste of time to train in them as there are fantastic benefits to be gained. That’s for another article; this one hopefully is about realistic choices. If you are looking at taking up a martial art just for self protection, do your homework look for a site or class that offers courses in self defence not just sport Karate for example.

Good luck in your choices I hope that this may have been of some help.