Know Thyself Defense: Your Move

By Sandaura Brooks

Know Thyself Defense dismantles the factors surrounding attacks to create understanding and teaches sensible actions to prevent, avoid, or escape a dangerous situation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781982224752

Sandaura Brooks

Sandaura lives in the Colorado Rocky mountains where she is a writer, teacher, drummer and wolf advocate. She has taught self-defense for private groups and universities for over 25 years. You can find her on YouTube for useful safety tips and insights.

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Copyright © 2019 Sandaura Brooks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Interior Image Credit: Mary Godbee

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2472-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2475-2 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:  03/28/2019

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Wednesday 2 pm

Trusting That Voice – Author’s Note

PART I BODY ARMOR

1. The Cave that Swallows Us

2. That Deep Dark Cave

3. The Dismantled Attack

4. Zone One: Warning, Warning

5. 100% Right 100% of the Time

6. Zone Two: Immediate Danger!

7. Zone Three: The Hunt

8. The Face of Evil

9. Zone Four: Immediate Attack

10. The Moment of Truth

11. Panicked about Panicking

12. Beyond Panic

13. Is This Really Happening?

14. The Eternal Scream

15. Fight, Flight, Freeze or Surrender

16. The Weaker Sex versus the Perpetrator

17. Weakness into Strength

18. The Down and Dirty

19. Should I Buy a Gun?

20. The Erection Exception

21. Expect to Know Him - Seriously?

22. Character Assassin

23. First Impressions

24. Pretty Woman

25. The Lunatic

26. The Protectress

27. Ugly Goes to the Bone

28. Zone Five: The Never Me Mindset

29. Helplessness

30. Healing

31. My Home Is My Castle

32. Overstuffed, Overlooked

33. Auto Motive

34. Being Followed

35. Sex versus Rape

36. Acquaintance Rape

37. Last on the List

38. Stranger Rape

39. Never Lose To A Girl

40. Personal Medicine

PART II MIND ARMOR

41. If Only

42. Bad and Wrong

43. Everything Happens for a Reason

44. The Finger of Blame

45. Mind over Matter

46. Name It, Claim It, Release It, and Replace It

47. Poison into Medicine

48. Victoritis

49. Note to Self

50. Sorry

51. Under My Breath

52. Until Now

53. Paranoia Marketing

54. What if

55. How Dare You

56. Um, Yes and No

57. Um, No and Yes

58. Give and Take

PART III FAMILY ARMOR

59. High School Shootings

60. A Word on Teen Boys

61. The Blow of Betrayal

62. One in Four

63. Stranger Danger

64. Speaking Up

PART IV SPIRIT ARMOR

65. The Power to Forgive and Forget

66. The Power of Dreams

67. The Power of Music

68. The Power of Faith

69. The Power of our Call

70. The Power of Zone Six: New Medicine

From Self-Defense to Self-Love

Mission Statement

Important Message

Author’s Close

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my most important teachers.

~ To my daughter Crystal, who attended many of my classes as a child and encouraged me to write this book. I never imagined what an amazing friend you would become.

~ And to my son Colin, who has become a strong and insightful man and a great friend of mine.

Thank you both for always loving and forgiving me,

You are the best.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE

• To my mom, M’aedba, the strongest, most courageous woman I know.

• To my dad, Cliff, for the love, curiosity and courage to explore the world.

• To Wendy, for steadfastly inviting me onto the path.

• To Susan, who often co-taught class with me and always seemed to be there whenever I needed help.

• To Doug Anderson, for his valued feedback of my first manuscript.

• To both my amazing students and friends: Laura S. and Laura L., who generously gave their time to my video and whose spirits are so inspiring.

• To Adam, of the Adam Ezra Group for the use of Life of a Thief as the soundtrack to my video.

• To Kate and Susanna for their amazing friendship, humor and patience.

• To Kathedral, for her support, editing and sense of humor.

• To Michael, and Roberta, for all their patience and support.

• To Tim Niedermann, for encouraging me in the face of resignation.

• To Mindy, for the amazing final edit, and for getting me across the finish line.

©Sandaura Brooks

All Rights Reserved

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WEDNESDAY 2 PM

The day was slowly heating up as the clouds moved on, taking their showers with them. Meghan peered out her bedroom window, glad to see the sun. It had been a rainy day and she looked forward to getting outdoors. Smiling, she grabbed a hat for a quiet afternoon in her garden.

Outside, an intruder made his way to her back porch. The back door was locked as usual. Meghan should be safe from him. Most criminals need only a locked door to make them find another mark. Today would be an exception to the rule.

Hat in hand, Meghan entered her living room.

A sound too loud, too violent, exploded from her kitchen. Without thought, Meghan ran straight to the commotion. On a splintered frame swung the porch door… she stared down at a man on her stairwell. He clutched a knife and wore a mask. She froze. He looked up at her.

He had done the unimaginable: he had kicked in a locked door.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three.

She snapped out of it. A familiar voice in her head gave her an order. Get to the front door. She tore back into the living room. Her shaky hands jiggled the key in the timeworn lock.

Too late. She felt fingers in her hair throw her onto the floor. Now he stared down at her.

That familiar voice spoke again. Okay he knocked you down. What can you do? She stood up.

This shocked him. He grabbed a vase and hit her on the head. She fell down again. More instructions from the voice: Okay, he knocked you down a second time. What can you do now? She stood back up and began negotiating with him. Take my credit cards, my car. There is cash in my purse. You can have my ATM card.

He was visibly shaken by her calm demeanor. He refused to talk, only grunted and pointed toward the bedroom. She heard the voice again: Breathe. Look around. Think. What can you do? Meghan ignored his signal to go into the bedroom and smoothly offered him her valuables a second time.

He grabbed her, the serrated kitchen knife at her waist. He dragged her backward toward the bedroom. The voice became louder: What else can you do? She seized the blade of the knife and bent it forward, away from her body as they moved into her bedroom. He threw her onto the floor. Only at that moment did he notice the bent blade in his hand. He freaked out and flung it across the room.

He climbed on top of her and began to rip her clothes. His plaid shirt was both buttoned up under his mask and tucked into his khakis. He sported a brown leather belt. His hands were gloved. She was unable to see any skin at all.

He leaned over her to block her view as he took his pants down. Doggedly the voice continued: What can you do here? She kneed him in the groin so hard he caught air. His wrist bent with the force of her blow and she saw his skin. One tiny glimpse and she knew who he was.

He persisted. Still on top of her, he tore a telephone cord from the wall and strangled her with it. What can you do now? The voice asked. The cord was getting tighter. She put her fingers under the cord to breathe and capitulated. She told him she would do anything he said. He released his grip. She knew he had the capacity to kill. And she also knew he would kill her if she recognized him.

Despite all his effort and planning, he was unable to get an erection and finally stopped.

He hastily dressed himself while still on top of her. He hunted down the knife and picked it up. He straightened the blade while he watched her face for fear. She was terrified. Pleased with her terror, he waved the knife triumphantly and grunted one last time. He left the way he came in.

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Thursday, 7 am, the next morning. My phone rang.

Hello?

I heard Meghan’s voice. She sounded upset.

Sandaura?

Yes?

In a gush of words, she described what happened to her.

What? When? Are you okay? Where are you now?

Meghan called me because I was the voice she heard in her head.

TRUSTING THAT VOICE – AUTHOR’S NOTE

WHERE DID THIS VOICE COME FROM?

I call this book Know ThySelf Defense because the most important power we have in defending ourselves is to know who we are. When we know this, we can develop insight into what our nature is and what we are likely to choose to do in a crisis.

This is an exploration of you. It is an exploration of the voice in your head and how to train it to serve you.

Consider this an exercise of looking in the mirror. Only you truly know you. The more honest you are about your response to any given insight, the more you will learn about yourself and your inner voice.

Please keep in mind these Insights are designed to get you thinking. You may be surprised at how much intuitive power and natural insight you already possess. You may also find some of your beliefs confirmed, while others may be challenged.

Prepare yourself. I am asking you to get to know yourself in a distinct way. I am asking you to consider new ideas, new ways to look at things, and new ways to respond to them. I am asking you to recognize what you like and what makes you uncomfortable.

Know ThySelf Defense is organized within a structure of four sections: Body, Mind, Family and Spirit. Although each section is dedicated to one aspect of life, they are deeply interwoven.

Each section revolves around a core philosophy of Six Safety Zones that unfold throughout the book. This philosophy comes from teaching women’s self-defense in four states for over twenty five years. I teach holistically, as a woman, friend, martial artist, partner, sister, daughter, and mother. Another core principle of mine is nothing is wrong. We are all students in life.

To be clear, I began my martial arts career in college with Tae Kwon Do, then studied Mo Do Kwon, American Hopkido, and Kempo before being trained as a women’s self-defense instructor. They are distinctly different, and add dimensions of insight to each other.

Good self-defense expands our capacity to live a full and meaningful life. There are many talented professionals and resources available nowadays! I have included resources from cutting edge thinkers, professionals and technology for you. Please reach out and learn what they have to offer – they are amazing. It will only empower you. Remember, it is ultimately up to you to help you.

PART I

BODY ARMOR

I begin by exploring physical danger and how to recognize threats, risks and situations. This includes factors for our home, car, and purse as well as a look at risky habits. I use the many stories shared with me for our collective benefit. For privacy sake, each story is a compilation. Each