I ask my self-defense clients this question all the time — especially if they are enthusiasts that almost solely rely upon their gun collection for self-defense. How would you protect yourself from a violent attack if your gun malfunctioned? Or you ran out of bullets? Maybe you can’t even find your bullets or your gun in time enough to actually use them.

Tonight, when your family goes to sleep, it’s going to be a bit different than most…You tuck your kids in and you slip into bed with your wife, who is quickly drifting off into sleep herself. You read a bit from your favorite book or catch some of a late night show. You think your hear a sound coming from down in the kitchen. You are not easily shaken, so you just shrug it off as you’re “imagining things” and go about your nightly routine.

You go to the bathroom one last time and as you come out – BAM! You’re struck with the sight that you have only thought possible in Hollywood films. There is a thug posed right in the doorway to your bedroom – a BIG thug. You are certain your gun is kept right by your bed in a biometric safe, but is the clip in? Is it loaded? Where did you leave your box of bullets? Whoa, there’s no way you are gonna get this altogether before this attacker is upon you!

You stand there like a statue. Time feels frozen like a bad crime scene picture. You don’t know if you are scared or just feel unprepared. You’re just have no clue what to do – your mind is blank! Your wife looks over at you in a half awake haze. She starts to speak, but when her eyes follow yours to what you are staring at over at the door. She shrieks at the top of her lungs. She’s Very, VERY, loud.

Your heart skips a beat as you hear cries for help coming from your children’s room as well. Did they react just to hearing their mom’s scream or because another intruder could be in their room, too? You hear another clang coming from down in the kitchen. Is there a 3rd guy? Wow, now a 4th intruder? You must make your move and it has to be with no delay. No time to think. No Hesitation. You MUST act right now! Do You know what to do???

You are the mark and you are in the middle of a home invasion. You have to ask yourself the question, am I going to live or die? Am I truly prepared to protect my family with the self-defense skills and know-how that is needed in a time like this? Have I really taken the time out to learn everything there is to man-up and keep my family safe from harm? Without second-guessing myself and possibly causing them even greater harm?

When that attacker lunges towards you – THIS is what you do…

Self-Defense has a lot to do with self-reliance and preparedness. You must take action before your time of need. There is no time to prepare when already confronted with an emergency situation, especially not a violent one. When an intruder enters your home with the intent on harming you or your family, you only have time to react – not to plan. Your reaction is your action. So your plan for action must already have been set in place prior to the emergency.

This home self-defense plan for your family must be developed, set, checked, tested, retested, and refined before it can be effective. Then, the plan must be rehearsed and memorized so that it be comes reactive instead of thought-based. You don’t have any time to think when split-second decisions must be made. Rather, you must come from a place knowing rather than thinking in an emergency situation like a violent attack or home invasion.

When someone breaks into your home, it must be “go time” all the time. There is no room for hesitation. Your life and the welfare of your family are in your hands. So this is how you prepare: Take the time now, RIGHT NOW, to build a realistic home defense plan and educate yourself on all the aspects that you might feel you are lacking in.

Put the training and the resources in place – both physical and mental. Learn how to defend yourself from a violent attack. Understand how criminals might enter your property and make it harder for them to do so. Commit the family to learning, practicing, and memorizing what to do and how to do it. It must stick in their minds so that they can just move into action without thinking.

Security is based on putting the protocols in place that become habits not hinderances. If you put a whole system of self-defense together and then neglect to abide by it then it’s useless. If you make it so complicated or, on the other hand, so simple that it’s inherently lacking, then you lose, too. It must be decisive, direct, and devastating to an attacker who crosses your line of defense.

Here are 7 Simple Home Invasion Self-Defense Tactics to put into place:

1. Have at least 3 different escape routes out to the house that all of your family members know and have traced. Their exit plan must be instinctual and effective. Remember, just like in advanced military based tactics: 2=1 and 1=NONE. If you only have two ways out of an environment, you can quickly find yourself only having just one.

Unfortunately, in the midst of a violent attack, the one escape route that you have may now be blocked by the very attacker that you are trying to get away from. So make sure you always have more than a pair of options within all aspects of the design of your system.

2. Make sure multiple hiding places are possible in the event that escape isn’t an option. Remember from just above, more than three, at the least. Although exiting a potential violent encounter is always the best route, sometimes it is impossible to make that happen. So there always must be a second set of variables put in place.

3a. Know where your gun is at all times. If you own a weapon, always have it locked, cocked, and ready to rock. By locked, I mean in a safe secure place that is easily accessible to you and any other adults in the household that you know, love, and trust. A biometric or simple push-button combination box is best. It’s your choice in keeping a round chambered or not. Trigger locks are great precautional measure for extended storage, but not “active” storage.

3b. When I say cocked, I mean you must have the unit well maintained, cleaned, and lubricated. A firearm is useless for defensive purposes if it is just as likely to jam as it will fire. I won’t get into makes and models here, but fancy and expensive just don’t cut it – simple, reliable action does. Also, make sure that you have ammunition in or right by the piece. As an additional safety precaution, you don’t have to have a round chambered, but you better know that it isn’t so that you know you need to load a round before you can trigger.

3c. Ready to rock means: get training on your gun. Don’t think that you are even gonna hit the broad side of a barn door without keeping up your target practice. Just chillin‘ in the firing range shooting at targets is the bare minimum. If you can afford it, take regular tactical firearms training courses. Stay on top of your education, because the last time I checked, bad guys just don’t stand still — especially if they see a gun being drawn.

4. Always keep a bug-out bag loaded, maintained, and ready to go. What’s a bug-out bag you ask? It’s for when it all hits the fan and you gotta get outta Dodge really fast! It should have all the basic necessities to escape and evade any situation. The most important point to make here though, is that most people keep their bug-out bag inside their house; for the purpose of home invasion defense, you must insure that the bag is stored at a close location outside of your house. You don’t have time to dig around through stuff in your house before you make your escape. That would completely contradict and prolong your escape and evasion unnecessarily.

Store your bug-out bag in a tool shed, unattached garage, or secondary enclosure away from your primary house. The size of the bags and what you put in them depend upon what area of the country you live in and what the regional weather is like there at the time (some contents of the bag may change seasonally), how many days supplies need to last for, and how many people the bag is to service. The amount of factors and variables that go into this are beyond the scope of this article, but I will discuss them in an individual post at a later date.

5. Exterior routes, rendezvous, and relocation. You must create provisions for where to go once you get out of the house, how to hook back up with other household members, and where you are all going to head to after that. Also there must be protocols in place for what to do if someone didn’t make it out or is unaccounted for. Have the cops been called? Are there other possible perpetrators outside your property that need to be dealt with?

6. Learn how to create improvised self-defense tools on the spot. Some refer to these as improvised weapons, but I always want to lead my clients in a “defensive” direction. With great knowledge comes great responsibility, but since none of us are spiderman, we have to make do with make-shift tools and train our intuition to take action in an emergency situation.

7. What do you do when you have to actually fight back with your bare hands? Fight back with all your might. Don’t stop and don’t give up until the threat no longer exists. I am a firm believer that when all possible options are exhausted that it is, without a doubt, better to be judged by 12 rather than carried by 6. This is the case in most home invasions. The eminent threat of death, rape, or torture of your family is not a judgement call that can be made in the matter of time that you have in a potentially violent situation that has already begun to take action with the unlawful entry to your property.

Now, that doesn’t mean that I condone the use of lethal force in situations that do not require the use of it to adequately protect and escape. But, when you are out-numbered or the true nature of the threat is unknown, then deploying maximum force in the self-defense of your family is not only necessary, but required as you do not know what will come at you next.

To learn more about specific techniques and tactics needed to protect yourself and your family from violent attacks and home invasions, get your free self-defense tips right to your email by signing up below:

I ask my self-defense clients this question all the time. Especially if they are enthusiasts that almost solely rely upon their gun collection for self-defense. How would you protect yourself from a violent attack if you couldn’t get to your gun? Even if you carry in-home, but you just don’t have it on you at that moment. Maybe you can’t even remember where you left it, or if you put it down for a moment, or if it’s in a box by your bed.

Let’s say your family is just going to bed for the night. Your kids are tucked in and your wife has already drifted off asleep beside you, as well. As you turn off the TV or put your book down on the night stand, you hear an odd noise coming from downstairs. You are not a very paranoid type of person, so you just brush it off as if you’re “hearing things” and go about your business.

You get up one last time to hit the bathroom and as you come out – BOOM! You’re hit with the sight that you have only envisioned coming from the movies. There is a guy standing in your bedroom doorway – a BIG guy. You know your gun is safely kept right by your bed in a biometric safe, but it’s clip isn’t in. Heck, there’s no way you are even gonna get to it before this giant is upon you.

You stand there frozen. Time seems to feel like it is in fast forward and slow motion all at the same time. You can’t even tell if your scared. You’re just standing there and you don’t know what to do. Your wife rolls over and opens her eyes in a half awake haze. She starts to say something to you, but her eyes glance over to the door to see what it is that you are fixated on. Then she screams. Very, VERY, loudly.

Within a heartbeat you hear a cry come from your kids room too. Is it because they just heard their mom’s shriek or is it because there is yet another intruder in there too? You hear another thud coming from downstairs. Is there a 3rd? Maybe even a 4th intruder? You must take action and it must be right now. No stopping. No second guessing. You MUST know what to do. Do You???
You are caught right in the middle of a home invasion and unfortunately you are the mark. The question is, are you going to be the Victim or the Victor? Do you have the abilities and the skill to take this guy at your door, and God knows how many more, out? Right here? Right now? And without hesitation?

This is what you do when this guy starts moving towards you…

Self-Defense of home and property can look completely different from person to person. As a follow-up to yesterday’s LL Cool J incident, I wanted to take a look at home invasions and property protection a bit further in-depth. There are a lot of factors that come into play as to how you choose to defend yourself and your belongings. Family and friends, children, pets, and personal property all come into play when taking a stand in your defense. Whether you live in a single family home or an apartment or condo makes a big difference, too. The cost and quality of your personal effects and, more importantly, their sentimental value or how hard and long it took you to acquire them.

If you live in a rental unit, whether it be a house or just an apartment, there is usually far less pride and care you will have for that property. That’s good and bad all at the same time. What’s good about it is that there is rarely any type of sentimental attachment or built up pride in the domicile. It’s not usually on your own dime if there is any damage to the overall structure or well being of the grounds.

You most likely care very dearly about the contents and people living with you, but not the property because it’s not yours. This lack of personal attachment is good, but, at the same time, also promotes a problem. When you don’t own the property you live in, you tend not to care about it much. If you don’t care about the interior, exterior, and grounds as much. This can lead to laziness in the upkeep of your environment.

Failing to upkeep your house and property can shoot the probability for home invasion or burglary way up the statistical ladder. Having overgrown garden shrubs and bushes can pose for easy hiding places for criminals. Faulty lights and electrical mechanisms for gates can prove to be the invitation that bad guys were looking for. If you have the idea that a rundown property will get a pass from the perps, think again. You might just be creating the opportunity for a violent attack to occur against you or one of your family members. Rapists are just as much of opportunists as robbers are.

If you live in an apartment or condo, leaving the blinds open all the time or a bunch of prime merchandise on your deck is an invitation to burglary and theft. I had a client get an expensive bike stolen off of a second story balcony. The intruders just brought a ladder one night and climbed right up. The bike was always in plain site, but the people thought that being on the second floor was enough of a self-defense against any crime. For the record, this wasn’t a bad neighborhood, either. It was just five minutes outside of Beverly Hills, CA.

If you live in a single family home, you have a chance to acquire a lot of things. Not just a bigger TV or multiple cars, but the tools, art, china, and the list goes on and on… But just because you own it, would you actually desire to defend it with your life? I’m not talking about your wife, kids, family, and loved ones. Yes, even fluffy the cat or fido the dog, too. I’m talking about the stuff like electronics or doodads that could possibly be worthless in less than 5 years.

I believe that every person has a right to defend their property. Though, I do question what it is that people consider to be potentially worth more than their life. Would you put yourself in front of a bullet for your car? A lot of people do during a car jacking. Would you stand between a knife and your purse or wallet? Is it really worth rolling the dice on your life for those types of personal possessions? I’m just asking the question, so don’t shoot the messenger if your answer is a resounding “yes.”

Many people put themselves in harms way everyday to protect what they possess and believe in. I don’t question anyone’s right to take a stand and fight to defend what is rightfully theirs. I honor it. I do suggest before putting your life on the line that you truly gauge whether it is potentially worth dying for in a violent attack. Defend your family to the death, but please – let the bad guys take your rolex… fake or not!

Was LL Cool J’s use of Self-Defense the right thing to do in stopping the intruder in his home? LAPD responded to a 911 call made shortly before 1 a.m. on Wednesday August 22, 2012 in Studio City. LL Cool J had reportedly caught, taken down, and restrained a male intruder having just broken into his family’s home. Supposedly his whole family was home, as his daughter made the call. Did he put his family at risk by his actions?

Personally, I think LL was just plain lucky. He was lucky there was only one intruder. He was lucky that he was unarmed. And he was most certainly lucky that it wasn’t a professional job and that the whole thing wasn’t a set up to let his guard down.

I know LL is completely ripped and in awesome shape, especially at 42 years old. In addition to his extreme physical workout regime, I have heard he has had extensive boxing and MMA training. I’m also sure he has done his fair share of stunt work on this military police show – NCIS Los Angeles. The thing is, none of that is real world experience for how to handle yourself when it comes to true self-defense.

In fact, Hollywood stunt acting is about as far in the opposite direction that you can go. Now, Uncle L did grow up back on the east side of New York, Queens to be exact, so I’m sure he is no stranger to the way the world really works. I don’t know how tough his hood was, but I can bet you he knows how to handle himself. But chillin’ around the way is a big difference to protecting your now celebrity self from a violent attack. I know “Mama said knock you out…” and he did, giving the intruder a broken jaw and nose. But, LL is famous now, and that comes with a different set of responsibilities in protecting his famous family, too. He needs bigger security, better protocols, and more advanced self-defense mechanisms in place.

What should you do if you ever encounter a similar situation? Let’s take a look at this situation, taking into account that money is a factor and we want to protect our family and our bank account at the same time! Here are some simple questions you can ask and effective steps that you can take in stopping a home invasion before it even starts:

1. Be the brightest home on the block. Bad guys are like roaches, they hate light. So let them scurry to someone else’s house instead of yours. How can you go green and still get the job done? Utilize solar powered garden lights. They might cost you a bit more money upfront, but they will be worth it in the long run. Plus, solar is low maintenance and easy to install. Also look at motion activated lights. There is nothing more deterring to a bad guy than to think that he has been caught before he even commits a crime.

2. Don’t forget to always lock your doors. This may seem overly simple, but there is more than one time that police have responded to a situation that involves no forced entry. It means that the home invaders either had a key or walked right in an unlocked entryway. This goes for windows, too. Sometimes locks on the windows can be faulty and an intruder can just slide the window open simply by applying pressure to the glass with both hands. There’s a fast, effective, and almost free way of solving this using dowelling that you pick up from a hardware store.

3. Realize that the most important aspect of your alarm system is not the siren. It’s the set-up, monitoring, and response. There is a lot you can do in this area. Do some very good research online into the response times and actions of alarm companies in your area. There are always the big national players that have coverage nationwide, but there is also usually smaller, more responsive regional companies, too. Sometimes bigger isn’t always better. The accuracy and advanced technology that is available these days is only a factor if the security company actually utilizes it to their customer’s advantage.

4. What’s your action plan? Again, this is something that sounds overly simple, but is something that almost nobody ever does. Put together an action plan for your family. Even put it to the test. Because if you have some dry-runs through it, you will find the potential holes in it and be able to mend them. Also, it allows everyone in the family to familiarize themselves with it too. When it all hits the fan in a real emergency situation, that is not the time you are going to want to find out that the plan doesn’t work or no one remembers it. Also, realize that the more you can condense the plan to work for various different emergency situations, the better it will be in standing up during a real crisis.

Now, as far as the invasion of LL Cool J’s home, I believe he has every right to protect it any way he sees fit. I am just concerned about people getting the right type of training to protect there family and their home. This intruder that broke into his house was supposedly just a transient and LL overpowered him with ease. But, just because he was a vagrant, doesn’t mean the home invader wasn’t going to fight back. Had he done so, what would LL have done? What would he have done if the vagrant had a knife or a screwdriver (a favorite among those who live on the street)? What would his actions have been if there was a dirty blood-laden syringe involved? How would he have handled it? Could he have handled it?

It was lucky that nothing like that was involved, but those are the questions you have to ask yourself. Then take the time to search out the answers and the proper training to insure that you are applying the best self-defense to the situation. Your own life and the lives of your family and loved ones are at stake. You need to mitigate the risk involved in those violent situations. You need to be prepared with the best personal protection possible.

All self-defense programs are not created equal. Heck, a lot of them don’t even cover the basics in real world self-defense. They focus too much on history and belts, making them more like every other made-up martial art — the other MMA. Seek out the best source for self-defense instruction and a reality based training environment. If when you get there the guy is wearing pajamas (a gi), leave. If the guy has more degrees than a doctor, leave. If the guy talks about forms and kata, run out of the joint as fast as you can. Because in every one of those situations all you will do is lose your money and possibly lose your life if you try what they say in a real violent attack. Your life is worth more than the bullshit that they are selling. So don’t get sucked in and do yourself a disservice. Get real self-defense training.