Even though the primary choice is to avoid or deter physical assault whenever you can, such a case is not always possible. There may be confrontations in which you can not run away fast enough or where your attempts to diffuse a hostile situation are pointless. When you face imminent bodily injury or harm, you need to know how to defend yourself quickly and effectively especially if you find yourself without your pepper spray or stun gun in hand, and you are left with only your bare hands as tools for your safety.

You may be walking home to your dorm room on a college campus and feel uneasy about walking by yourself because the campus' escort service is closed for the evening. The knowledge of practical self defense could come in handy for your benefit and perhaps save your life.

Girls especially make vulnerable targets simply because they are physiologically weaker than guys. Look for classes in self defense that are taught on your campus or your local community. Sign up for classes that are catered for women only.

There are self defense classes that are taught specifically for the female community where no men are allowed to take. The class should also teach self defense methods catered to females who are short in stature. The reason for that is that a potential assailant statistically is taller in stature than his female victim.

First hand knowledge of self defense methods can help a woman out of a potentially dangerous or volatile situation. Knowledge of striking points on the assailant can come in handy when you sign up for these classes.

For example, if a woman is grabbed from behind and locked into a bear hug, a good striking point would be the assailant's knee or foot. If you are wearing high heels, use the pointed end of your heels to your advantage in this situation by digging the heel right into the perpetrator's knees. If you are still standing on your feet, you can use your high heels and stomp on his feet.

This should buy you some time to run and call for help.

In another example, if your mouth is not covered by the assailant's hands, another good technique to use is to yell out "FIRE!" Do NOT yell out "HELP!" When people hear the word "FIRE," they are more likely to come to your rescue or call police on your behalf thus cutting down on the response time in getting the help you need. Yelling out "help" on the other hand will cause people to stop and assess the situation, where you could lose precious time in getting any real help.