Unleash your inner tigress

Unleash your inner tigress

January 2015

By Shivi Verma

I Can Defend Myself, Martial Vout, Life Positive Publications Paperback,  INR 295, 187 pages

Human life is an attempt at transcending animalistic impulses and becoming saner, gentler and more humane. But according to Martial Vout, author of I Can Defend Myself, a book seeking to encourage women to defend themselves against sexual and other assaults, if this inner animal is embraced, instead of rejected, it can rise to protect you in dire situations.

Martial’s commitment to the cause of self-defense is total. Even a cursory reading awakened the she-warrior in me, for whom fighting and defending territory comes as naturally as breathing.  Martial’s point is that defending yourself against attempts like rape, molestation and murder needs no special skill acquired through intense training. You only need to arouse the sleeping tigress within, and she will do the job. Martial says that every woman is born with an immense ability to ferociously defend her territory because mammals have evolved from the reptilian state, which makes it natural for us to fight an enemy to death. Observing the defence mechanism of wild animals who give fierce fight to their offender, Martial says that Mother Nature equips everyone with the strength and ferocity needed to fend off an attacker. The she-bears and tigresses are known to even kill their male counterparts if they felt that they threatened the life of their cubs, and they go to no martial art classes.

But unfortunately in human females this instinct has become subdued due to centuries of submission to the brute male force. Martial says that befriending your inner tigress is the first step in defending yourself against possible attacks. “But this inner beast will stay asleep if you are submissive in your everyday life and do not  tell people who misbehave with you to respect you,” he warns. After urging you to demand respect for yourself in everyday life, Martial shows multiple ways to paralyse the attacker through many practical and effective ways illustrated through photographs. “Real power is explosive, not muscular. You need not be tall, heavy or muscular. You only need to be ruthless,” he says. Martial  is a Swiss security advisor and self-defence instructor. Besides training in full-contact and combat shooting he developed his own self-defence method after observing the instinctive and defensive reactions of  human beings, other mammals and reptiles. A good book, a powerful book, and a book filled with leashed animal fury. Read it carefully since it will get you in touch with your power like nothing else. 

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