Pretty Deadly Podcast

Can cleaning your living room teach you self-defense? In this episode, Susie Kahlich walks us through everyday household tasks—throwing toys, dusting, vacuuming—and reveals how these ordinary movements are secretly self-defense techniques in disguise. Highlights: ● How side-arm throws build reflexes for real-world defense ● Why feather dusters and vacuum handles are stealth training tools ● The ma...

What does The Karate Kid have to do with real-world self-defense? Everything. Continuing in the kitchen, this episode explores how wiping counters, kicking the fridge closed, and sweeping the floor are actually training your body for effective blocks, strikes, and takedowns. Highlights: ● Wiping in circles = real block and redirect training ● Side-kicking your fridge builds striking mechanics ● Sw...

💬 Episode Summary What if you could train self-defense without adding anything to your schedule? In this episode, Susie Kahlich explains how everyday household tasks—like washing dishes or loading the dishwasher—can become effective training tools for self-defense. Learn how scrubbing, reaching, and bending can help you practice strikes, wrist locks, and escapes, using movements you already do ev...

Episode Length : ~12 minutes Episode Summary : In this episode of the Pretty Deadly Podcast, founder and martial artist Susie Kahlich breaks down the violent attack that changed her life—and launched a global self-defense movement. Rather than sharing a typical survivor story, Susie walks listeners through the assault as a tactical case study , examining how her instincts kicked in at the time—and...

“Don’t You Remember Who You Are?” – Surviving and Interrupting Date Rape In this raw and unflinching episode of the Pretty Deadly Podcast, host Susie Kahlich , founder of Pretty Deadly Self-Defense and violent crime survivor, shares three personal stories of surviving and interrupting date rape — spanning decades, cities, and stages of life. With clarity, strength, and a no-BS lens, she breaks dow...

In this raw and insightful episode, Pretty Deadly Self-Defense founder Susie Kahlich explores how seemingly random pieces of media—true crime podcasts, a childhood “Stranger Danger” assembly, even a high school driver’s ed video—can become life-saving tools in dangerous situations. Drawing from her personal experience as a violent crime survivor, and her work in trauma-informed self-defense, Susie...

Pretty Deadly Podcast: Finding Agency in Self-Defense 🔴 Episode 132 – How I Fought Back (Without Even Knowing It) After a violent attack in her home, Pretty Deadly Self-Defense founder Susie Kahlich set out to understand what really happens in moments of crisis. In this episode, she shares how her body's natural self-defense instincts helped her survive—long before she ever trained in martial art...

🎙 New Episode: The Pretty Deadly Podcast Returns! After a long break, Pretty Deadly Podcast is back! In this relaunch, Susie Kahlich , founder of Pretty Deadly Self Defense, shares her survival story, martial arts journey, and the evolution of Pretty Deadly —from a workshop for her mother to an international program. Now, she’s bringing it to the U.S.! 🔹 Topics Covered: ✔ Surviving homelessness,...

of violence against women in New York There has been a spate of violent men sucker punching random women in New York City recently. How do you defend against a sucker punch? This episode talks about: • The definition of a sucker punch • The role of the random attack in the history of GBV • How to identify someone targeting you • Can you even defend against a sucker punch? • Why is this happening a...

In 2005, Pretty Deadly founder decided to run a marathon. In this episode, Susie shares her experiences training for, and running, a marathon, and how that relates to self defense. This episode talks about: Expectations and support Stereotyping body types In what ways softer training is harmful to women in self defense The value of learning how to take a punch How these stereotypes contribute to t...

Women should feel safe while working out and here's how to feel safer. This episode explores important safety concerns for women in gyms, women's safety while running, why health and safety are important in a fitness environment, including why women won't ask for help at the gym. Hosted by safety fitness gear founders Faith C., of FittSafe and Susie K. of Pretty Deadly, they discuss what it means...

This episode talk about how to handle trauma when it’s triggered in a client.  Trauma triggers can be scary and upsetting for everyone. Do you know what to do when a client experiences a trigger? This episode talks about: Recognize the signs Spotlight & shame Giving permission Buddy system Protect yourself  **** You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly Podcast. You can learn more...

This episode explores how trauma actually works in the long term, both in the brain and how it manifests in the body, and gives some practical advise for working with people suffering from PTSD. This episode talks about: Trauma is data with no file/context Replays until normalized or filing place found Emotionally always trying to get back to the moment before This shows up in behavior such as fru...

What if questions can sometimes make us feel like we're in over our heads, but this episode explores why they're actually great for self defense, and how to guide people towards figuring it out for themselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of violence. This episode talks about moving out of our comfort zones as trainers to look at the methods and kinds of threats women actually face, rather than what we imagine is happening: True crime story Not all men Teaching things people actually need The urban myth of the ponytail You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly Podcast. You can...

Just as a quick recap, FInal Girls Film Fest is an annual festival hosted here in Berlin celebrating the best in women’s horror: meaning, features, shorts, workshops, talks and even book launches about horror created by women, and women’s roles in the horror genre.  And every year for the past 6 or 7 years, Pretty Deadly leads a self defense workshop for the festival, based around a horror th...

We interview martial artist, teacher and self defense trainer Julia Brasch in this episode of the Pretty Deadly Podcast. Julia is a German martial artist and teacher with over 30 years of experience, training in Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu and Muy Thai. Her start in martial arts was unique in that her teachers and trainers for the first five years of her schooling were all women. Julia talks about the im...

Self defense is already associated with fear and scary situations. This episode explores why using scary stories to motivate people to learn and train self defense tends to have the opposite effect. This episode talks about some famous urban myths and the real #truecrime stories behind them: Kitty Genovese Mary McGriff Philadelphia subway assault A real life kidnapping incident in Michigan A real...

TW: This episode contains descriptions of an attack. This episode talk about the importance of hope in self defense, and how often it can be extinguished when training is too complicated. This episode covers: Susie takes a self defense class BJJ - defending against a familiar attack Every defense was to choke the attacker into unconsciousness, but crushing against the adam’s apple and not the jugu...

This episode I want to go all the way back to the beginning, and why I started Pretty Deadly in the first place.  ***** Before I go on, have you checked out our new website? It’s amazing, if I do say so myself. One of the things I’m most excited about is our booking system, that let’s people book directly with certified self defense trainers and payments go directly to them. That may not seem...

How to teach self defense to disabled people. **This is our final episode of Season 7! Thank you for listening and happy new year!" Facts about disabled people Fallacies about disabled poeple What to look for and how to adapt for: No/low vision Deafness Physical disability Wheelchairs Prosthetics It’s really all about balance. Everything else follows. You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly P...

Ok, so targets. What are we really aiming for? Small moving targets Precision & training Relation to honor False beliefs around targets Energy of targets & how it damages Looking for results What happens when you remove the targets?  You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly Podcast. You can learn more about who we are and what we do and how to find a Pretty Deadly course near you...

Self defense and honour – what exactly are we defending, when we’re defending ourselves? Male honour projected onto women and assuming same value, but also male honour in terms of owning women’s bodies But this doesn’t compute for women. Let’s look at it in terms of traditional roles: Lineage doesn’t pass through the woman. honor killings male punishment for breach of honor [my kids, my wife] why...

Self defense? Or retailiation? What’s the difference and how do you know? For self defense it’s pretty simple: Verbal warnings Only when boundaries are crossed When all warnings ignored Self defense as a last resort (physical), never a first response –  Which brings us to retaliation: it’s after the fact:  It’s an eye for an eye mentality It’s punishment And you’re doing it because you c...

This episode is about use of force and proportionality in self defense. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.