Most Common Attacks on Women
and How to Address Them
The Most Common Attacks on Women & How Women Empowered® Addresses Them
Most women are not worried about tournaments or competition rules. They worry about the real world. They worry about situations that appear without warning. They worry about the moments where they do not have the advantage of strength, size, or preparation. These concerns are not dramatic. They are simply true.
Women Empowered at Gracie Jiu-Jitsu St. George was created to prepare women for these exact moments. The program teaches twenty essential techniques that match the most common attacks used against women. These techniques work under pressure, in tight spaces, and against larger opponents. They do not require athletic ability. They require clarity and leverage.
When a woman knows how to respond to the most likely threats, she gains a confidence built on understanding, not imagination.
Why Realistic Attacks Matter
Self-defense must reflect what actually happens. Women are not usually attacked while standing in perfect balance with time to plan. Most assaults involve surprise. Most involve grabs, holds, or attempts to control movement. Many occur during ordinary activities, often when a woman is distracted by something she cannot ignore.
A mother leaning into the back seat to secure a child.
A woman unlocking a door at night.
A student reaching into a bag.
Even the most aware person cannot maintain vigilance every moment of the day. Awareness is helpful, but life does not allow perfection.
This is why Women Empowered teaches what works after awareness has already dropped. It teaches survival beginning from disadvantage, not preparation.
The Five Most Common Attacks Women Face
Every technique in Women Empowered corresponds to a real threat. The curriculum avoids unrealistic movements and focuses on what women are statistically most likely to encounter.
1. Wrist Grabs and Arm Control
Attackers often begin by seizing the wrist, arm, or clothing. These grabs are attempts to control movement or pull the woman closer. Women Empowered teaches simple, leverage based escapes that free the body without strength.
2. Hair Grabs
Hair grabs are common because they give the aggressor control of posture. The program teaches women how to protect their neck, regain alignment, and use the attacker’s own grip to create opportunities to escape.
3. Strangulations and Neck Control
The term chokehold can be misleading. Most so called chokes are actually strangulations that compress the arteries on the side of the neck. A fully applied strangulation can render a person unconscious in about six seconds. Even without full pressure, the act of having someone’s arm wrap the neck often causes panic, especially if a woman has never felt it before.
Women Empowered teaches escapes that rely on posture, structure, and calm technique. When women repeat these movements in a safe environment, they develop the reflexes needed to survive a moment that would otherwise create terror.
4. Bear Hugs and Body Holds
These attacks are used to lift, carry, or immobilize a woman. The curriculum teaches how to create space, protect the hips, and escape without the need to overpower the attacker.
5. Being Pinned to the Ground
This is the scenario many women fear most. Women Empowered teaches escapes that allow a smaller person to survive and reverse the position using leverage. Fear becomes confidence when technique replaces panic.
These five categories form the backbone of the program. They are taught slowly, cooperatively, and with repetition that builds genuine understanding.
Why Striking Is Not the Solution Most People Believe It Is
Many self-defense systems rely heavily on striking. They show palm strikes, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and hammer fists as if these reactions will end the encounter. Hollywood reinforces the idea that a single impact can stop an attack. Reality is different.
Striking is limited by distance. If the attacker is too close, strikes become ineffective or impossible. If the attacker already has a grip, controlling their posture matters more than striking their body. If the attacker is on top of a woman on the ground, strikes can infuriate rather than discourage. An enraged attacker who feels pain may become more violent, not less.
There is also the matter of accuracy. Striking requires precision and confidence. If a person has not trained strikes regularly and under pressure, the likelihood of landing something meaningful is small. In many cases the strike will not be strong enough to change the situation.
Recently a video circulated of a woman demonstrating a hair grab defense. She anchored the attacker’s hand to her head to reduce pain, which was correct, but instead of using leverage she threw a palm strike and a knee strike to finish. That may work for someone highly trained in striking. For a beginner, it is unreliable. A leverage based technique is more effective, more consistent, and easier for most women to apply. It can be scaled to create minor discomfort or complete structural damage, depending on what the situation demands.
During the early challenge matches in the nineties, this truth was revealed repeatedly. Strikes were attempted, absorbed, and ignored. Many people walked through the pain of punches or kicks and still managed to clinch, grab, or tackle their opponent. When distance collapsed, striking lost its value. Technique became the deciding factor.
This is why Women Empowered focuses on leverage, not impact. It teaches solutions that work even when fear, adrenaline, and proximity remove the luxury of striking.
How These Techniques Give Women a Practical Advantage
Repetition allows the body to recognize danger before the mind fully processes it. A woman who repeats these movements builds familiarity. She begins to sense posture shifts. She notices grips earlier. She responds with clarity instead of panic.
This advantage does not come from strength. It comes from understanding.
Why Practice Creates Safety
Technique learned once is fragile. Technique repeated becomes part of who you are. Women Empowered uses slow, cooperative learning to create durable reflexes. This approach is not about collecting moves. It is about preparing for the moment that may come without warning.
Self-defense cannot depend on luck. It must depend on preparation.
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The Emotional Transformation Behind the Techniques
As women learn these movements, something quiet shifts inside them. They feel clarity where fear used to live. They feel control where panic once appeared. They discover that calmness can be more powerful than aggression.
Many women tell us they joined for safety but stayed for transformation.
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Prepared for the Moments Awareness Cannot Prevent
Even the most aware person cannot prevent everything. Life demands attention. Children cry. Groceries slip. Thoughts pull us elsewhere.
When awareness drops, danger enters. A wrist is grabbed. A waist is wrapped. A strangulation begins. This is where trained technique becomes the difference. This is where repetition protects life. This is where Women Empowered becomes more than practice. It becomes safety.