A very complicated yet important issue in defending yourself is the use of force. The use of force by one person against another is illegal unless used in the line of duty, such as a police officer, or in reasonable self-defense. What is reasonable depends on the severity of the attack and the circumstance of the attack. A person may use force, even deadly force, against another person if you reasonably believe that such force is immediately necessary for the purpose of protecting yourself against the use of unlawful force by the other person. Such justifiable use of force is commonly called "self-defense." However, your use of force must not be significantly greater than, and must be proportionate to, the unlawful force threatened or used against you. For example, if someone swings at you with a club and you knock her out with a punch, you have acted justifiably and legally to defend yourself. The force you used was not disproportionate to the force of the attack. It is immaterial that you were not actually hit by the club. However, if an attacker has no weapon and is demanding your purse, killing him may likely be deemed excessive force and you may find yourself on trial for your life. Just as in the old children's saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me," mere words, no matter how offensive, usually do not constitute an attack to which you may physically defend yourself. If you decide to respond physically, remember that your next response should be to flee. Act quickly and decisively to throw the attacker off guard while you get away. If someone grabs you, you probably can't beat them with strength but you can by outsmarting them. If they grab your wrist, pull your wrist back so your hand is in waving position (palm facing forward) and twist it toward yourself and pull your arm away. It is hard to hold onto wrist bones that are moving in that way. They stumble toward you and you stumble back, so you can use that momentum to backhand him with your knuckles in the forehead, nose or teeth. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the arm between the elbow and armpit or in the upper inner thigh. HARD. (Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it. It hurts.) If an attacker puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible. It doesn't take much pressure to bring someone to their knees using this method. | 
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