DC IMPACT SELF DEFENSE INC

Was I Prepared?

--Allison Ober, Graduate of DC IMPACT Women’s Basics

Since I took IMPACT, I haven’t taken many walks without making sure that my arsenal of IMPACT techniques was along with me. I would always go through a conscious checklist of my options, verbal and physical, and keep them fresh in my mind—just in case. I think that I was afraid that if I didn’t make sure they were still there, they might disappoint me if I truly needed them. The other day I forgot to check if they were there, and for the first time in over a year, I really did need them.

I think that the main reason that I forgot to run through my checklist that day was because it was a bright, sunny Sunday afternoon. I was in a “safe” neighborhood, and there were zillions of people bustling through the streets. Why would I even think that I would be harassed, let alone assaulted, on such a perfect, relaxing Sunday?

I was walking along the sidewalk very preoccupied with my surroundings—the smell of hot fudge coming out of Bob’s Ice Cream, the sea of faces flowing toward me, and the new bagel store across from the movie theater. Every now and then I would glance down and straighten the handle bars of my bike when the tire started to veer off in the wrong direction (my knee went out during my bike ride, so my bicycle and I were on the first leg of the two and a half mile walk home), but mostly I was just looking around, surveying the day and the people in it.

At one point, I was studying intently the interaction of a couple that was walking toward me. And then, all of a sudden. . .WHAM! What was that? I was hit! Someone had just hit me in the chest! Time stopped, but my heart raced. In a split second I had thrown my bike down, reeled around on my heel, and assumed what felt like the most powerful, solid stance I had ever been in. I saw my hands fly up in front of my face, and then heard a loud, forceful yell come out of my mouth that said, “Get the hell away from me! And never, never hit anyone again!”

A guy who I hadn’t even noticed walking toward me before turned to me and, with an angry seething glance and a lurch forward, yelled back, “I’m going to kill you bitch!” His words must have gone right past me, because I stood there, practically unblinking, hands still in front of my face, and yelled even more loudly this time: “I said GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!!!” The words seem to hit him in the face even more forcefully than a punch. It even looked like they had knocked him backward! But as soon as I stopped yelling, he regained his courage and began to move in again, this time throwing his lit cigarette at me. Once more he came at me, and once more I turned up the volume and pushed him back.

I quickly realized that if I stopped yelling again, I was going to be attacked. I had a brief moment of ambivalence deciding what to do—I was angry, full of adrenaline, and knew what I was capable of doing to him if he hit me again.

Suddenly, I heard new words coming from within me: “I need help. Can someone please come over and help me? This man is threatening me!” No sooner did the word “help” leave my lungs, than a couple of people jumped in between my attacker and me and sent him on his way. That interesting couple that had walked past me earlier (it felt like hours since I had seen them, but could have only been minutes) was standing beside me asking me if I was o.k. I felt like they were shaking me out of a dream.

Yes, yes, I was o.k. I was more than o.k. I hadn’t been afraid to yell. I didn’t back down. I had made a scene and asked for help. I felt strong and confident enough to fight, but chose not to. As I walked away, and tears of relief dripped from my face, I realized that I would always be o.k. checklist or no checklist.

#give2max