Theresa Byrne, owner of United Martial Arts Center, teaches women's self-defense built on three steps: Awareness of threat cues, Boundaries through verbal assertion, and Combat using leverage and body weight to break grabs. She stresses early de-escalation and targeting an attacker's weakest grip points with knee or elbow strikes.
I'm here at a place where you all want to be— the gunsmithing shop at MidwayUSA. And that's Larry Potterfield on the lathe. Let's see what he's got for us today.
The FNP is a full-size polymer frame pistol Designed for military and personal defense. Produced by FN, this gun is completely ambidextrous and designed for the hands of most shooters. Chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge and featuring a magazine capacity of 14 rounds, it packs quite a wallop. Let's head out to the range to see how this full-size pistol rates overall for concealed carry in 3 important areas. The time to first hit is a critical factor when considering a concealed carry handgun. How long does it take to fire the first shot on target using only one hand? We're shooting a paper plate at 20 feet. How important is accuracy when choosing a concealed carry handgun? Extremely. After the first hit, how many more hits can you put on target in the next 3 seconds, again, using only one hand? Knockdown factor is the ability of the cartridge to knock down an assailant with one well-placed shot. The .45 ACP is first-rate with regards to knockdown factor. So there you have it, the FN Model FNP chambered for the .45 ACP. Now you know how it scores overall as a concealed carry firearm in 3 important areas. I'm Larry Potterfield with MidwayUSA, and that's the way it is.
Hey, how you doing?
Hey Lance, I'm good.
How you doing?
I'm doing great.
I want to buy you a coffee or something. Let's go.
You know, thanks, but really I'm not in the mood.
I know you like coffee.
I do like coffee, but I really—
I drink coffee all the time.
You know what, I had this discussion with you before. I don't want to go with you.
I'm not taking no for an answer.
You're coming with me, bitch!
No!
No!
No! I'm here with Theresa Byrne, owner and operator of the United Martial Arts Center in Denver, Colorado. Theresa, thank you very much for joining us.
It's a pleasure. It's a pleasure.
Now, you've been teaching martial arts and self-defense for 14 years, is that correct?
Yes, sir.
And you've got a unique perspective. From your perspective, as far as a female approach to self-defense, you've taught literally thousands of females. What would you say is the most important lesson that the average female needs to learn with regard to self-defense and personal protection?
Typically what I would teach in a class is ABCs, so awareness, boundaries, and then the final step is combat. So in awareness, understanding that if someone's trying to hurt you emotionally or physically, that you need to be able to protect yourself, whether that's taking a stance and Putting your hands up, telling someone verbally that they need to stop, or in case of a defense or an attack, using their body.
So it really is a progression of skills. It's something that if you address it sooner in the equation or sooner in that continuum, the better off you're going to be.
Absolutely. And usually a predator— most of the attacks on women are predatorial attacks. So a predator has profiled his intended victim. I hate the word victim, but I haven't come up with another one, but he's asked questions. He's pushed boundaries. He's said things that are inappropriate. He's checked her out to see if she's going to be an easy target or an easy victim. Predators are typically not looking for a fight. Otherwise, they'd go after someone your size or with your skills or attributes. They wouldn't go after a woman. They're looking to overpower her or make her feel bad or victimized. So he's asked questions. He's looked for opportunities to see? What can I do? How can I get in there? How is she going to react?
I see. Now let's say that you've used the verbal skills, you've used perhaps the idea of putting up a guard, showing that you're trying to set a boundary, keep that person away from you, but things still get physical from that point. Let's say that we're in a confrontation, you have your hands up, and I decide that I'm just going to grab and try to overpower you. What would you teach as far as a basic self-defense technique from the physical aspect?
From the, from the physical aspect, the first thing I'm going to tell any woman is to use our torso, use the center of our bodies. If I can use my torso, it's 10 times the strength of your wrist or whatever you're usually using. So a man will almost always reach out with his arms to grab us. So my job is, I don't want you to take me with you. You shouldn't have my hand. So I'm going to stop you, and I'm going to turn my body using the weight of my body to release this grab. Instead of, if I was just to pull, Then I'm just using my— trying to use my strength against you, and that's a battle that you're always going to win.
You're also working toward the weakest part of my grip, using your entire body to power that motion.
Absolutely. So right here is what we call the gate, and you're probably taught that. And at this point, you cannot hold on. From this, I would probably do a knee strike or maybe an elbow to stop you from attacking me. And the whole time, I would be backing up, keeping my hands up, and using my voice as well.
Let's see what all that looks like with No!
No! No!
Excellent. Again, what you saw there was the idea of putting together all the pieces of self-defense. It's a very important way to apply all of your skills, taking the verbal skills, the physical skills, the boundary setting, putting it together into a complete package. Excellent insight from the female side of self-defense. Theresa, thank you again.
Thank you.
I really appreciate your help.
This season on The Best of You'll see us using lights and other gear exclusively from Insight Technology. Through a special arrangement with Insight, we've made it possible for you to win the same type gear that we use here on the show. For more details, visit the Best Defense homepage at Downrange Television, www.downrange.tv.
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