Ask The Expert
Chris Roberts - CEO SAFE International
As an added and interactive feature of this website, Chris Roberts, the founder, CEO, and chief instructor of SAFE International, has kindly agreed to answer readers’ questions in a question-and-answer format to help educate readers about all types of personal safety issues.
A Personal Note from Chris:
"My name is Chris Roberts, CEO of SAFE International. My business has had the honour of teaching more than 120,000 women since 1994. I realize that women have completely different concerns, fears, and needs than males in regards to personal safety. The goal of my Ask the Expert segment will be to not only answer questions on self defense, personal protection or safety, but to also educate everyone on real life violence with answers that may not be politically correct, but honest. I invite all readers to email me your question(s), and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with all of you here."
A Personal Note from Chris:
"My name is Chris Roberts, CEO of SAFE International. My business has had the honour of teaching more than 120,000 women since 1994. I realize that women have completely different concerns, fears, and needs than males in regards to personal safety. The goal of my Ask the Expert segment will be to not only answer questions on self defense, personal protection or safety, but to also educate everyone on real life violence with answers that may not be politically correct, but honest. I invite all readers to email me your question(s), and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experience with all of you here."
DISCLAIMER: This forum is intended simply to encourage discussion, and to provide an opportunity for the exchange of thoughts and ideas pertaining to personal safety and defense issues. However, it is extremely important to remember that, due to the wide range of variables involved in any form of physical encounter, there is no such thing as an absolutely fail-proof response. While certain actions and techniques may provide for better odds of a successful outcome, due to the wide-ranging and dynamic factors involved in any confrontation, the effectiveness of certain techniques can never be guaranteed in all scenarios. Christopher Roberts is acting on a non-compensated and non-commissioned basis to provide advice based upon his years of training and experience in this field. By participating in this forum, you warrant that you have read and comprehend this disclaimer, understand the subjective nature of the advice given herein by Christopher Roberts or any others participating in these online discussions, agree to hold all participants harmless, and pledge to use the advice provided at your own discretion and risk.
PERSONAL SAFETY Q & A
QUESTION: Don't know how to throw a question your way, but one I believe many women have that would benefit them being answered is: "I believe/have been told that if you fight back against a rapist, it will only make matters worse. Several anti-rape organizations advocate not fighting back. What is your view on this?" - Take into consideration studies in rape prevention are not updated (the youngest study I found was from 1993) and several other studies (up to 20 years old) all show that 70-80% of women who fight back are not raped/prevent rape completely. Hella good numbers - but these STATS aren't widely shown. If you could tackle this question (many women have it) then I believe you will serve many people well, brother.
ANSWER: Thanks for the question, Malachi. I will start by saying it is always an individual decision on what to do, and the circumstances and variables of the scenario determine the best strategy. The challenge is, that in such a high stress scenario, the ability to make the "best decision" becomes very difficult. My feeling is that it is usually advisable to fight back, but when and how are also determined by the scenario and the attacker. I base much of it on the fact that an attacker does not want to get hurt, get caught, or attention drawn to them. In the scenario of a sexual assault, the attacker needs privacy/isolation and a victim. This usually means that there is no one around to help or hear you. This also takes away much of the chance that they will get caught. Consider this from the Safety Tips page of this website, "In their 1992 book, Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives, the authors (two FBI agents and a psychiatry professor) revealed the discouraging fact that physical resistance generally results in increased levels of violence from the attackers. But, on the other hand, all of the victims of their same study, who had offered full compliance, had been murdered." What that tells me is that you have some chance of survival if you do fight back and virtually none if you don't. Common strategies used by attackers is to say things like, "If you cooperate with me, I won't hurt you", but I would ask back, what in the history of knowing them shows they are trustworthy and why don't they want you to fight back (3 things they don't want). See, people like Colonel Russell Williams and other sexual predators don't think the way we do, so when they promise to let you go or make some other offer, we want to believe there is some good in them and that they will honor their promise. But again, this is an individual decision. I once instructed a woman who approached me after. She went on to tell me she had been dragged to a car at knife point, put in the car and sexually assaulted. She felt if she had fought back, she would have been killed. Who am I to say she should have done anything different. She is alive and followed her gut feeling on the best way to handle it, but very often the results are not successful. I will not get into what to do physically here, but I do appreciate your very important question. Years ago I felt the pressure to have a definite answer to women's questions, but that is speaking from ego I believe. My most common answer when someone asks me if a certain move or skill will work is "MAYBE". One of the reasons I respect instructors like Richard Dimitri is that he allows both the students and teachers to analyze, question, and come up with thoughts on scenarios. If an instructor has an answer they promise will work, RUN! I hope I haven't started rambling or getting off the topic. Please feel free to expand on this or follow up with another question. I will be offering statistics in upcoming posts. Thanks Malachi.
QUESTION: Chris, I hear so much about not appearing as a victim. Can you explain this further? Thanks!
ANSWER: Criminals/Attackers, aka "Bad Guys" are opportunists who look for easy victims. They will generally look for someone is unaware, not paying attention, or who just look distracted. One of the first things I teach is the importance of displaying the body language of someone who is confident, aware, and one who just doesn't look like an easy mark. There are so many people today walking around talking on their cell phones or listening to their ipods, that if you just avoid those 2 distractions, you are a lot less likely to look like a target. Also, walking with purpose with head up on a swivel gives appearance of confidence and that of someone who is aware. There are many other aspects to this I will address as this forum moves forward, but that is a good start based on your question. Thanks.
QUESTION: Chris, to open this discussion, can you please explain to the readers why you dislike the term “self defense,” and then discuss what types of questions you are prepared to address here?
ANSWER: Here is a link to my blog where I addressed that exact question: Why I Hate the Term "Self Defense"
ANSWER: Thanks for the question, Malachi. I will start by saying it is always an individual decision on what to do, and the circumstances and variables of the scenario determine the best strategy. The challenge is, that in such a high stress scenario, the ability to make the "best decision" becomes very difficult. My feeling is that it is usually advisable to fight back, but when and how are also determined by the scenario and the attacker. I base much of it on the fact that an attacker does not want to get hurt, get caught, or attention drawn to them. In the scenario of a sexual assault, the attacker needs privacy/isolation and a victim. This usually means that there is no one around to help or hear you. This also takes away much of the chance that they will get caught. Consider this from the Safety Tips page of this website, "In their 1992 book, Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives, the authors (two FBI agents and a psychiatry professor) revealed the discouraging fact that physical resistance generally results in increased levels of violence from the attackers. But, on the other hand, all of the victims of their same study, who had offered full compliance, had been murdered." What that tells me is that you have some chance of survival if you do fight back and virtually none if you don't. Common strategies used by attackers is to say things like, "If you cooperate with me, I won't hurt you", but I would ask back, what in the history of knowing them shows they are trustworthy and why don't they want you to fight back (3 things they don't want). See, people like Colonel Russell Williams and other sexual predators don't think the way we do, so when they promise to let you go or make some other offer, we want to believe there is some good in them and that they will honor their promise. But again, this is an individual decision. I once instructed a woman who approached me after. She went on to tell me she had been dragged to a car at knife point, put in the car and sexually assaulted. She felt if she had fought back, she would have been killed. Who am I to say she should have done anything different. She is alive and followed her gut feeling on the best way to handle it, but very often the results are not successful. I will not get into what to do physically here, but I do appreciate your very important question. Years ago I felt the pressure to have a definite answer to women's questions, but that is speaking from ego I believe. My most common answer when someone asks me if a certain move or skill will work is "MAYBE". One of the reasons I respect instructors like Richard Dimitri is that he allows both the students and teachers to analyze, question, and come up with thoughts on scenarios. If an instructor has an answer they promise will work, RUN! I hope I haven't started rambling or getting off the topic. Please feel free to expand on this or follow up with another question. I will be offering statistics in upcoming posts. Thanks Malachi.
QUESTION: Chris, I hear so much about not appearing as a victim. Can you explain this further? Thanks!
ANSWER: Criminals/Attackers, aka "Bad Guys" are opportunists who look for easy victims. They will generally look for someone is unaware, not paying attention, or who just look distracted. One of the first things I teach is the importance of displaying the body language of someone who is confident, aware, and one who just doesn't look like an easy mark. There are so many people today walking around talking on their cell phones or listening to their ipods, that if you just avoid those 2 distractions, you are a lot less likely to look like a target. Also, walking with purpose with head up on a swivel gives appearance of confidence and that of someone who is aware. There are many other aspects to this I will address as this forum moves forward, but that is a good start based on your question. Thanks.
QUESTION: Chris, to open this discussion, can you please explain to the readers why you dislike the term “self defense,” and then discuss what types of questions you are prepared to address here?
ANSWER: Here is a link to my blog where I addressed that exact question: Why I Hate the Term "Self Defense"
