pop his eyes with her thumbnails

I've discovered that this is a far more effective strategy to defend against heifer attack than punching the heifer in the skull. (Heifers have thick skulls.)

My psychotic criminal father wasn't good for much, but this advice stood me in good stead. Not the eye-popping, but the neck punch.

I recently congratulated a male coworker on using principles of positive reinforcement for getting better cooperation from his 6 yr. old daughter rather than resorting to violence and fear. But then I reminded him he would have to make an extra effort to purposefully teach her to defend herself from predatory males, since he was not standing in that role himself. He brought up the thumbs-in-eye-sockets and flat side of hand to throat techniques as examples of things he would teach her.

Also very effective without needing much elbow room is a finger laid across the top of the philtrum and pressed back at a 45 degree angle.

Ask Holli.

I have seen that demonstrated. It's like a magic trick; it's hard to believe how well it works, even seeing it.

People used to muff it all the time at krav, basically just shoving the head back with momentum. I adored going around and laying it on each person properly and watch their eyes shoot open with the pain and shock--and then telling their partner not to stop until they got that same look.

A horse-riding friend of mine told me that sheer strength was pretty much useless for controlling a horse. "You can haul off and punch one as hard as you can," she said, "and the horse kind of twitches its skin." What you've got to do is dominate them psychologically, with a good deal of positive reinforcement.

Having actually driven a half-ton ox with a tiny little twitch that was about 18" long, I can attest that this principle works on cattle as well.

The philtrum is the bit right below the nose, right?

The philtrum is the bit right below the nose, right?

Yep. If you apply pressure evenly up and back where the nose joins there, you can induce startling tearjerking pain, and also snap the head back, which shifts the attacker's centre of gravity.

I just tested pressure there on myself, and I still feel the ache.

Ah, empiricism.

Hmm. A blow to the philtrum might be one of the few things a "Karate chop" is genuinely good for. Or are you better off with just pushing with a finger, easier aim and all that?