How To Jump From A Bridge Or A Cliff Into Water

When attempting a high fall (over twenty feet) into water in an emergency situation, you will not know much about your surroundings, specifically the depth of water. This makes jumping particularly dangerous. If jumping from a bridge into a river or other body of water with boat traffic, try to land in the channel - the deepwater area where boats go under the bridge. This area is generally in the center, away from the shoreline. Stay away from any area with pylons that are supporting the bridge. Debris can collect in these areas and you can hit it when you enter the water. Swim to shore immediately after surfacing.

HOW TO JUMP

1. Jump feet first.
2. Keep your body completely vertical.
3. Squeeze your feet together.
4. Enter the water feet first, and clench your buttocks together. If you do not, water may rush in and cause severe internal damage.
5. Protect your crotch area by covering it with your hands.
6. Immediately after you hit the water, spread your arms and legs wide and move them back and forth to generate resistance, which will slow your plunge to the bottom. Always assume the water is not deep enough to keep you from hitting bottom.

BE AWARE

• Hitting the water as described above could save your life, although it may break your legs.
• If your body is not straight, you can break your back upon entry. Keep yourself vertical until you hit the water.
• Do not even think about going in headfirst unless you are absolutely sure that the water is at least twenty feet deep. If your legs hit the bottom, they will break. If your head hits, your skull will break.
  

How To Take A Punch

A BLOW TO THE BODY

1. Tighten your stomach muscles. A body blow to the gut (solar plexus) can damage organs and kill. This sort of punch is one of the best and easiest ways to knock someone out. (Harry Houdini died from an unexpected blow to the abdomen.)
2. Do not suck in your stomach if you expect that a punch is imminent.
3. If possible, shift slightly so that the blow hits your side, but do not flinch or move away from the punch. Try to absorb the blow with your obliques: this is the set of muscles on your side that wraps around your ribs. While a blow to this area may crack a rib, it is less likely to do damage to internal organs.

A BLOW TO THE HEAD

1. Move toward the blow, not away from it. Getting punched while moving backward will result in the head taking the punch at full force. A punch to the face can cause head whipping, where the brain moves suddenly inside the skull, and may result in severe injury or death.
2. Tighten your neck muscles and clench your jaw to avoid scraping of the upper and lower palettes.

A STRAIGHT PUNCH

1. The straight punch - the one that comes straight at your face - should be countered by moving toward the blow. This will take force from the blow.
2. A punch can be absorbed most effectively and with the least injury by the forehead. Avoid taking the punch in the nose, which is extremely painful.
3. Attempt to deflect the blow with an arm. Moving into the punch may result in your attacker missing the mark wide to either side.
4. *Optional* Hit back with an uppercut or roundhouse.

A ROUNDHOUSE PUNCH

1. Clench your jaw. A punch to the ear causes great pain and can break your jaw.
2. Move in close to your attacker. Try to make the punch land harmlessly behind your head.
3. *Optional* Hit back with an uppercut.

AN UPPERCUT

1. Clench your neck and jaw. An uppercut can cause much damage, whipping your head back, easily breaking your jaw or your nose.
2. Use your arm to absorb some of the impact or deflect the blow to the side - anything to minimize the impact of a straight punch to the jaw.
3. Do not step into this punch. If possible, move your head to the side.
4. *Optional* Hit back with a straight punch to the face or with an uppercut of your own.

How To Win A Sword Fight

Always keep your sword in a "ready" position - held in front of you, with both hands, and perpendicular to the ground. With this method, you can move the sword side to side and up and down easily, blocking and landing blows in all directions by moving your arms. Hold the tip of the sword at a bit of an angle, with the tip pointed slightly toward your opponent. Picture a doorway - you should be able to move your sword in any direction and quickly hit any edge of the door frame.

HOW TO DEFLECT AND COUNTER A BLOW

1. Step up into the blow, with your arms held against your body. React quickly and against your instincts, which will tell you to move back and away. By moving closer, you can cut off a blow's power. Avoid extending you arms, which will make your counterblow less powerful.
2. Push or "punch" at the blow instead of simply trying to absorb it with your own sword. If a blow is aimed at your head, move your sword completely parallel to the ground and above your head. Block with the center of your sword, not the end. Always move out toward your opponent, even if your are defending and not attacking.

HOW TO ATTACK

1. Move the sword in steady, quick blows up and down and to the left and right. Assuming you must disable your attacker, do not try to stab with your sword. A stabbing motion will put you off balance and will leave your sword far out in front of you, making you vulnerable to a counterblow.
2. Do not raise the sword up behind your head to try a huge blow - you will end up with a sword in your gut.
3. Hold your position, punch out to defend, and strike quickly.
4. Wait for your attacker to make a mistake. Stepping into a blow or deflecting it to the side will put him/her off balance. Once your opponent is off balance, you can take advantage of their moment of weakness by landing a disabling blow, remembering not to jab with your sword, but to strike up and down, or from side to side.

How To Deal With A Charging Bull

1. Do not antagonize the bull, and do not move. Bulls will generally leave humans alone unless they become angry.
2. Look around for a safe haven - an escape route, cover, or high ground. Running away is not likely to help unless you find an open door, a fence to jump, or another safe haven - bulls can easily outrun humans. If you can reach a safe spot, make a run for it.
3. If a safe haven is not available, remove your shirt, hat, or another article of clothing. Use this to distract the bull. It does not matter what color the clothing is. Despite the colors bullfighters traditionally use, bulls do not naturally head for red - they react to and move toward movement, not color.
4. If the bull charges, remain still and then throw your shirt or hat away from you. The bull should head toward the object you've thrown.

IF YOU ENCOUNTER A STAMPEDE

If you encounter a stampede of bulls or cattle, do not try to distract them. Try to determine where they are headed, and then get out of the way. If you cannot escape, your only option is to run alongside the stampede to avoid getting trampled. Bulls are not like horses, and will not avoid you if you lie down - so keep moving.

How To Escape From Killer Bees

If bees begin flying around and/or stinging you, do not freeze. Run away; swatting at the bees only makes them angrier. Get indoors as fast as you can. If no shelter is available, run through bushes or high weeds. This will help give you cover. If a bee stings you, it will leave its stinger in your skin. Remove the stinger by raking your fingernail across it in a sideways motion. Do not pinch or pull the stinger out - this may squeeze more venom from the stinger into your body. Do not let stingers remain in the skin, because venom can continue to pump into the body for up to ten minutes.
Do not jump into a swimming pool or other body of water - the bees are likely to be waiting for you when you surface.

RISK OF ATTACK

The Africanized honeybee is a cousin of the run-off-the-mill domesticated honeybee that has lived in the United States for centuries. The "killer bee" moniker was created after some magazine reports about several deaths that resulted from Africanized bee stings some years back. Africanized honeybees are considered "wild"; they are easily angered by animals and people, and likely to become aggressive.
Bees "swarm" most often in the spring and fall. This is when the entire colony moves to establish a new hive. They may move in large masses - called swarms - until they find a suitable spot. Once the colony is built and the bees begin raising their young, they will protect their hive by stinging.
While any colony of bees will defend its hive, Africanized bees do so with gusto. These bees can kill, and they present a danger even to those who are not allergic to bee stings. In several isolated instances, people and animals have been stung to death. Regular honeybees will chase you about fifty yards. Africanized honeybees may pursue you three times that distance.
Most often, death from stings occurs when people are not able to get away from bees quickly. Animal losses have occured for the same reasons - pets and livestock were tied up or penned when they encountered the bees and could not escape.

TO MINIMIZE RISK

• Avoid collonies by filling in holes or cracks in exterior walls, filling in tree cavities, and putting screens on the tops of rainspouts and over water meter boxes in the ground.
• Do not bother bee colonies: if you see that bees are building - or have already built - a colony around your home, do not disturb them. Call a pest control center to find out who removes bees.

How To Wrestle Free From An Alligator

1. If you are on land, try to get on the alligator's back and put downward pressure on its neck. This will force its head and jaws down.
2. Cover the alligator's eyes. This will usually make it more sedate.
3. If you are attacked, go for the eyes and nose. Use any weapon you have, or your fist.
4. If its jaws are closed on something you want to remove (for example, a limb), tap or punch it on the snout. Alligators often open their mouths when tapped lightly. They may drop whatever it is they have taken hold of, and back off.
5. If the alligator gets you in its jaws, you must prevent it from shaking you or from rolling over - these instinctual actions cause severe tissue damage. Try to keep the mouth clamped shut so the alligator does not begin shaking.
6. Seek medical attention immediately, even for a small cut or bruise, to treat infection. Alligators have a huge number of pathogens in their mouths.

HOW TO AVOID AN ATTACK

While deaths in the United States from alligator attacks are rare, there are thousands of attacks and hundreds of fatalities from Nile crocodiles in Asia and Australia. A few tips to keep in mind:

• Do not swim or wade in areas alligators are known to inhabit (in Florida, this can be anywhere).
• Do not swim or wade alone, and always check out the area before venturing in.
• Never feed alligators.
• Do not dangle arms and legs from boats, and avoid throwing unused bait or fish from a boat or dock.
• Do not harass, try to touch, or capture any alligator.
• Leave babies and eggs alone. Any adult alligator will respond to a distress call from any youngster. Mother alligators guarding nests and babies will defend them.
• In most cases the attacking alligators had been fed by humans prior to the attack. This is an important link - feeding alligators seems to cause them to lose their fear of humans and become more aggressive.

How To Escape From A Mountain Lion

1. Do not run. The animal most likely will have seen and smelled you already, and running will simply cause it to pay more attention.
2. Try to make yourself appear bigger by opening your coat wide. The mountain lion is less likely to attack a larger animal.
3. Do not crouch down. Hold your ground, wave your hands, and shout. Show it that you are not defenseless.
4. If you have small children with you, pick them up - do all you can to appear larger. Children, who move quickly and have high-pitched voices, are at higher risk than adults.
5. Back away slowly or wait until the animal moves away. Report any lion sightings to authorities as soon as possible.
6. If the lion still behaves aggressively, throw stones. Convince the lion that you are not prey and that you may be dangerous yourself.
7. Fight back if you are attacked. Most mountain lions are small enough that an average size human will be able to ward off an attack by fighting back aggressively. Hit the mountain lion in the head, especially around the eyes and mouth. Use sticks, fists, or whatever is at hand. Do not curl up and play dead. Mountain lions generally leap down upon prey from above and deliver a "killing bite" to the back of the neck. Their technique is to break the neck and knock down the prey, and they also will rush and lunge up at the neck of prey, dragging the victim down while holding the neck in a crushing grip. Protect your neck and throat at all costs.

HOW TO AVOID AN ATTACK

Mountain lions, also called cougars, have been known to attack people without provocation; aggressive ones have attacked hikers and especially small children, resulting in serious injury. Still, most mountain lions will avoid people. To minimize your contact with cougars in an area inhabited by them, avoid hiking alone and at dusk and dawn, when mountain lions are more active.