Self-defense the Hapkido Way Self-defense is a way of life. Ever since my first day of training, when I was about 17 years old, I knew it would be with me forever. Training with others always is useful, but even when I haven't had partners, I've practiced: mentally and physically. I run drills in my head, solo drills on an open floor, and practice kicks, punches, and blocks. BUT...I always miss training with other people. It's difficult to do a lock on yourself. Luckily, my son is willing to...

BOUNCE BACK LIKE A BALL FROM A WALL Are you feeling like a boulder landed on you after this election cycle? I'm struggling to get out from under the damn thing. So, I need to build my resilience. But, building your resilience isn't just necessary when you're disppointed about an election. Here are 5 science-backed strategies you can use, starting today! Drumroll, please... change the narrative face your fears practice self-compassion meditate/practice mindfulness/gratefulness cultivate...

Are you stuck like a truck sinking in mud? Charlene Jones is an expert in coaching others to identify what's getting them stuck, and more importantly, how to get unstuck. In part 2, we discuss dreams, dream journaling, and how to use your dreams to help you better understand what's happening in your life. It's fascinating stuff! She helped me unpack a dream about spiders - and I hate spiders - which was key to understanding the message. It was so obvious! Charlene knows a lot about the...

How do you deal with emotion? Do you drink or eat excessively? Blow up? Manipulate people? Charlene Jones has spent the better part of forty years exploring what makes us tick by first understanding herself, and then helping others to better understand themselves. She does this through meditation (teaching and practicing), dream work, and coaching.  Check out her bio: Initiation in a Tibetan Temple, a three month retreat, walking on a glacier in Norway, riding in a four-seater Cessna...

Prime your brain for positive gain! Priming is the unconscious affect that one stimulus has on our response to another stimulus. For example: If I prime you with the color yellow, then you're more likely to identify a banana later, because yellow and banana are assoicated in your memory. You'll do this more quickly than if you weren't primed for yellow.  Words, images, and experiences can be used to prime our brains for future stimulus.  Our brain focuses on what we tell it to focus on,...

Growth Mindset Portrayed by Female Leads in Movies Todays' Topics: Top 10 Female Movie Leads with a Growth Mindset Badass Woman in History Moment Safety Tip of the week La Femme Nikita GI Jane Mulan Bend it Like Beckham The Quick and the Dead Electra Akeelah and the Bee Beauty Shop Katara from The Last Airbender animated series Mae in Near Dark Common themes: Unwillingness to accept how others define their world or them in it. A willingness to take risks to achieve something more for...

Do you have a fixed mindset, a growth mindset or both? According to Dr. Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, it's possible to have one or the other, and sometimes even both! We can have a fixed mindset for a particular area of our life, but have a growth mindset for every other area.  A key thing to remember: Learn to recognize when you're in a fixed mindset. How? Your language will be absolute, and oftentimes negative. For example, "I can't lose twenty pounds....

This episode of the Womanly Art of Self-Defense is sponsored by Ardent Media where passion meets purpose. Top 15 Safety Tips  Always have a way home from wherever you are Always have money for the bus, a taxi, a ferry, or a train Always have a fully charged phone Always have at least a 1/2 tank of gas Always walk with your head up Always walk like you've got somewhere to be Always think of what you wear or carry as a potential weapon Always know where you've parked your car Always lock your...

BE CONSISTENT!  You've probably been told that once or twice, huh? And it's definitely important, but... What if consistency is holding you back in some way? Consistency is us in our comfort zone which means we'll likely experience steady performance. Pretty cool, right? Maybe, maybe not. It can be good and it can be bad.  What if the thing you're consistent about is smoking, excessive drinking, drug use, or indulging in your favorite ice cream?   You get the idea. Improvisational...

Are you Pretty Loaded? You might not be, yet, but by the end of this episode you might be inspired to get there.  Beth Warford created Pretty Loaded as a direct response to a scary encounter she had with some young buck who'd stalked her. Now, she and her small team are creating situational awareness PSAs and providing training internationally. Her down-to-earth, practical approach to self-defense is a perfect fit for the Womanly Art of Self-Defense. Check out this Psychology Today article...

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.   Let's start at the beginning. You want to create a new habit. It's something small like increasing your physical activity throughout the day.  If you follow Dr. B.J. Fogg's advice or author, Stephen Guise's suggestions, then you'd begin by doing two things: Choose something that can be accomplished in 30 seconds or less Make whatever it is so stupid small that you can't fail. As you begin implementing your new...

Get what you expect. Here's how.   Believe in yourself. Believe in others. Rinse and repeat.   Is it really that simple? Yes and no, but mostly, yes. It's all about creating a positive mindset, which for some, is admittedly more difficult than it is for others, but can be done. Here's what we need to understand: Pygmalion Effect: The high expectations a person of influence has of us results in higher expectations of ourselves, and thus better performance outcomes. Golem Effect: (The...

It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water. - Franklin P. Jones    Your Language Sucks! (Here's how you can change that.)   Years ago, during my early training & development career, I learned about E+L=M.  The concept is simple: Event plus the language used to describe the event equals our motivation to act. The event is always the same. For example: (E) Dinner date with a new person (L) Sh/e is going to think I'm a complete...

We all know what intuition is, right? But what if I told you it's one of your body's superpowers? Tune in for the science behind intuition and 14 ways you can develop more of it in your daily life. And don't miss the Safety Tip of the Week! Here are a few more resources that might interest you: Sounds True Creative Visualization, Shakti Gawain 7 Books About Dream Meanings to Help You Decode Your Thoughts The Science Behind Intuition   14 Ways to Develop Your Intuition Meditate Notice...

Curious how this podcast got its name? The Suffragettes, led by Edith Garrud, inspired me to name this podcast the Womanly Art of Self-Defense. While bouncing around name ideas, I conducted a few surveys to get an understanding of how the name might be received. Some thought the name was degrading, sexist, and marginalized women. That couldn't be further from the truth!  These women are the earliest Western models of wearing a dress, using an umbrella, and a few other tools, to defend...

Is fear holding you back? What if I told you that you can get it under control with 3 different techniques? This quick episode is packed with great info! I share the three components of emotion, a useful definition of fear (so we're all on the same page), the Lazarus Theory, the 5 fears we all have in common (and every fear belongs in one of the five categories), 3 techniques you can begin practicing today to handle your fear, and the safety tip of the week. Oh, and stay tuned for the quote! 

How would you rate your daily level of situational awareness?  In this episode, I introduce a common definition of SA, explain focus lock, normalcy bias, and establishing a baseline, plus The Color Code by fire arms expert Jeff Cooper. The great info doesn't stop there! I share former CIA agent Jason Hansen's pre-incident indicator tips, a few games to help you practice and develop your new skill, share the safety tip of the week, and challenge you to identify a relatively famous quote.  

WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE ANYWAY? What part of our brain is in charge of our fear response? Is it true that we run or fight? Can you easily identify aggressive body language? In this episode, I identify where fear comes from, what really happens when we're faced with a threat, and introduce several types of behavior that are typically viewed as aggressive. Some are more subtle than others.  And stay tuned for your safety tip of the week. It's all about locks. (but not the Hapkido variety.)