Pretty Deadly Podcast

This episode talk about the role of anger in self defense..  This episode talks about: Real-life situation when threat to life is imminent: no emotions Men vs women defintion of self defense  Traditional self defense classes  Why "tap into your rage!" is not a good idea The size female rage It can help with training, but it's not ideal to make it a requirement for self defense. You...

A couple of episodes back I talked about training self defense and the female anatomy. In this episode, we're looking at sexual dynamics in self defense training and how it can backfire on women. This episode talks about • Sexualization as a way to dominate • Ego vs. education • When the teacher is threatened by student's skills This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly...

In the last episode, I talked about where we use self defense in everyday life, and in this episode my guest Else Kramer is going to talk about where she uses self defense and her martial arts training in her life as an executive coach, creative mind, solo traveler, philosopher, and mom. Else lives in the Netherlands, where she runs her consulting, creative coaching and podcasting business, Managi...

Last week we talked about our biological self defense systems. Continuing from that subject, let’s talk about where else we use self defense in our daily lives! This episode talks about: Learned self defense examples: putting our hand on a hot stove Situational awareness: petting a growling dog Strategic thinking: crossing the street against traffic Intuition, recognition and pheremones You can le...

This week, we're talking about our biological self defense system -- what is it? Where does it live? How does it work? Can we trust it? This episode talks about: Slimy food - crows & us & sense of smell Sickness & vomit Sleep: systems check Intuition: data Shaking: wake up the muscles, – dark alley story Fight flight freeze or fawn: and women being “nice”  Shame is also a self def...

Last week we talked about self defense, martial arts and boobs so I thought, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about periods too. So, what is it like for women training self defense and martial arts during menstruation? And what is it like to train during perimenopause and menopause?  This episode talks about: How menopause makes you move differently How self defense and martial art...

Training in martial arts and self defense (and a lot of other sports) rarely takes into consideration women's physiology, specifically: breasts. This episode talks about how to train -- and how to adapt training for -- people with breasts, and people without. Topics covered in this episode are: Training in sports bras Training without a bra People who are new to boobs Working with people with mase...

If you’re a martial artist listening to this, you probably know this scenario: you advertise a self defense class, women in your community are enthusiastic, sign ups, no shows, drop offs, you’re lucky if you’ve still got two who finish out the course. You ask them what they think they smile and nod and say it was great and then you never see them again.  Why is that? Let’s look at this from a...

Do you have to know martial arts to teach self defense? The short answer is no, but here's why: Self defense as domain of martial arts Brief history of self defense & martial arts: it’s about art – skill, training, technique, creativity, you have to learn the rules in order to break them, you can build, etc. It takes a long time to become a good martial artist. But it doesn’t take a long time...

In this episode, Susie interviews the first US personal trainer, boxing coach and roller derby skater Cristi Johnson. Cristi lives and works in Alpena, Michigan, and is the first fitness trainer to be certified by Pretty Deadly to teach self defense in the US. This episode talks about: Cristi's history with fitness as @untraditionalathlete How Cristi found roller derby How roller derby changed Cri...

What Not to Wear: This episode was recorded before Jonah Hill's texts to his ex were made public, but women have been blamed for causing sexual assault due to their clothes of thousands of years, from too much make up to high heels to everything in between. In today's world, that extends to our digital devices as well: ear buds, smart phones, head phones -- no matter what we carry, wear or how we...

Welcome to Season 7! In this episode, we're talking about the Feminine Voice in Self Defense. This episode touches on the following topics: Women's "hysteria" and the female voice The history of "hysteria" as a medical diagnosis Upcoming immersive performance in Berlin about Hysteria and the Female Voice Traditional self defense thinking about using the voice, e.g., shouting no, speaking with conf...

Our 101st episode brings a special surprise! Andrew Juarez, owner of Rise Above Self Defense in California reached out to us to chat about the ins and outs of teaching self defense, and self defense as a business. Andrew is a U.S. Navy Veteran who worked as a Gunner's-mate on the Ammunition Ship (USS Mt. Hood AE-29) for 3 years during Operation Desert Storm. Being part of the ships secur...

The commonalities between comedy and self-defense, how we have used humour to diffuse a threatening situation or to talk about something awkward or painful through the art of mimicry or sarcasm to establish a boundary. How I've de-escalated volatile situations using well timed humour.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Women are so socialized to not offend, that it can be hard for us to say no, but's just a muscle we have to train like everything else. In Pretty Deadly courses, groups often employ "The No Game," a game developed to help women get comfortable with saying "no" as a full sentence. Susie and Humay talk about The No Game, and introduce some other creative ways of saying no that can be just as effecti...

Susie and Humay talk about instances in their lives when saying no to someone or setting a boundary offended someone and how we dealt with it. Plus the lessons we derived from it.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hair is a powerful expression of femininity. So why do some women dye their hair after taking a self defense course? Got questions you'd like answered? Email us at hi@teamprettydeadly.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What exactly is emotional self defense and how can we use it instead of or even along with physical self defense? Got questions you'd like answered? Email us at hi@teamprettydeadly.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Real-life instances where we or our students have used pretty deadly self-defense moves. Got a question you'd like answered? Email us at hi@teamprettydeadly.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hollywood and its obsession with horror films where women always get murdered and serial killer biopics where the murderer is glorified. Is it a form of sexism? Got questions you'd like answered? Send us an email to hi@teamprettydeadly.com! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does self-defense differ from culture to culture? Susie has taught self defense in multiple countries, Pakistan, Nepal, South Africa, UK, France, Germany, USA . Humay wonders what are some differences and commonalities in people’s attitudes to self defense and the application of self defense? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Addressing a common fear that women have with learning self-defense. Would it perpetually put them in defensive mode and make them unlikeable and difficult? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are halfway through Season 6, and we're kicking off episode 91 with a new co-host, our Pretty Deadly Trainer in Pakistan, Humay Waseem. Humay is a personal trainer and nutritionist living in Islamabad, and she shares a glimpse of her life as a female entrepreneur in Pakistan's capital city. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you defend yourself from a boss who believes that employment equals ownership? The #metoo movement helped shine a spotlight on workplace sexual harassment, but for so many women across the world, #metoo just isn't possible. When the only thing between you and homelessness is your job, how do you enforce your boundaries without getting fired? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...

Someone asked recently: how do you know you're not the creep? Defining and defending our own boundaries is the core of self defense, but the next step after that is learning to recognize the boundaries of others, and respecting them. How do you recognize someone else's boundaries without testing them, and how much are you responsible for? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...