How powerful is a knee strike exactly? Self-Defense Tip #21

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It’s time for another simple self-defense tip. Chances are you’ve been doing this one without even knowing it.

Knee Strikes are Powerful! Self-Defense Tip #21

Have you ever had to high-step to get over an obstacle, a small child or something rolling down the driveway at you?

Then you know how to do a knee strike! 😀

It’s probably one of the more common defensive moves, because a strike to the groin is pretty quick way to end a confrontation.

Because of this, however, many men have learned to protect that vulnerable area.

So, is it still useful?

Yes! It turns out the thigh is almost as good of a target. A knee slamming into the leg muscles is powerful enough to cause a very painful muscle spasm. This accomplishes two very useful things to help you get away from an attacker.

1. Cause sudden, intense pain to distract your attacker and make them let go.
2. Injures the leg so chasing after you is much harder = you can get away.

Keys to a powerful knee strike:

1. Stay level or low to the ground, keeping the supporting leg slightly bent, to maintain balance and increase your power
2. Tuck your leg and drive your knee forward with as much speed as possible.
3. Keep your hands raised to protect your face, especially if the attacker bends forward in pain when your knee lands.
4. Exhale sharply or yell out something short like “Stop”, “Back off” or “Jerk”. Feel free to bust out a karate yell, too, if you’d like. The yell will tighten your core muscles, focus your energy, make you hit hard and might even make the attacker think twice about sticking around for more. 😀

And um . . . that’s pretty much it. If you can high-step over an obstacle, just do it with more intention and speed, and you’ve got a powerful knee strike.

The secret is to practice!

Have a friend hold a couple of sleeping bags rolled tightly together, an old couch cushion, or get a punching/kicking bag to practice on.

It really just takes a handful of tries before you’ll get a feel for this simple, yet powerful strike and be better prepared to defend yourself.

Have any of you used a knee strike to defend yourself? How did it go? Any tips? Please share.

Good luck and keep safe out there!

______________________

Misty’s Writing Update:

So, the final chapter is done, but . . . not the epilogue! LOL.

My best author friend, Stephanie Mylchreest, read the beginning of the book and gave me some feedback. She has perfect timing. She commented on a senior mage being a fun character she liked, and I’d almost forgotten about the lady.

Steph’s comment was just in time for me to add the imperious mage with all her attitude to the final chapters.

And then Steph commented about chapter 10, which I’d almost forgotten about. It’s a bit mysterious and you’re not really sure what’s going on because it doesn’t have anything to do with the current story. Turns out it’s a little clue to a fun plotline that will unfold over the whole series.

Thanks again, Steph!

So, now I’ve got a bit of an epilogue to write with a few more clues to this mysterious situation before the next book comes up.

I enjoy these little “Easter Eggs” myself in longer series, so hopefully the readers will, too.

Then it’ll be on to my very long to-do list and all of the things I marked to fix later.

My procrastination is coming hope to roost – lol.

Thanks again and enjoy reading this week!

— Misty 🙂