The video above has made its way around the Krav Maga and entire martial arts community over the past 1-1/2 weeks. It shows a woman working out at an apartment gym innocently opening a door for another member of the facility. What follows is an immediate and vicious attack, which this woman manages to survive through sheer warrior spirit.
Her example has created much dialogue across the self-defense community for it shows what an untrained woman is able to accomplish through tenacity and a never quit attitude. She ultimately prevails by outlasting her attacker.
She is to be applauded and used as an example that aggression, itself, is a major asset in self-defense. As the US military frequently states when discussing violence of action in response to an attack, ” The first one to 100 wins! “
However, there are two areas that everyday people (not only Krav Maga practitioners) should consider while viewing the video. The first is the use of terrain as a means of creating obstacles for the attacker. This is seen in the video as this brave woman uses benches and other workout equipment to create barriers to his attempted approaches. When we speak of situational awareness, what we are partly discussing is this ability to navigate terrain and use same to obstruct and block the path of an attacker. Again, this woman did this brilliantly.
The second area to be considered is the opportunity to use “weapons of convenience.” The term weapons of convenience refers to ad hoc items which are available to a defender at a moment’s notice. In the case of this video, there are dumbbells all around and if she had picked up a light dumbbell, she would have been able to use it as an extension of her hand to injure her attacker while striking. Any attacker who is confronted by a defender brandishing a kettlebell or dumbbell would certainly hesitate before pursuing their attack further.
In fairness, the woman did use her phone, but I believe the visual of her holding a piece of iron might have dissuaded the attack from continuing.
Do not mistake this discussion to be any level of criticism for what this woman was able to accomplish under stress and duress. She will continue to be the poster child for how never quitting and raw survival instinct can triumph in the face of danger.
What I am trying to bring forward are the principles of Krav Maga that stress the ability to be victorious during an attack if we are not just trained in how to use our bodies as weapons, but also in understanding how the surrounding terrain and environment can aid in the battle.
