One of the questions I get in almost every self-defense workshop is, “What do I do if someone tries to force me into a car?”
People want to know how to get away and which technique will work. But by that point, someone is already close enough to grab you, threaten you or control where you go.
You are trying to make decisions while you may be frightened, surprised and unsure of what will happen next.
That is why, when I teach personal safety, we start with what happens before someone gets that close.
Recognising danger earlier gives you more options
Imagine you are walking towards your car and notice someone changing direction to follow you. As you move, they move. When you slow down, they do too.
You do not know what they want. You have noticed enough to reconsider walking straight to your car.
Depending on where you are, you may be able to turn back towards the building, walk into a shop, move towards other people or ask security for help.
You don't need to wait until someone grabs you to take a concern seriously.
That is situational awareness in practical terms. You notice something early enough to still have choices.
Sometimes you will not get that warning. Someone may surprise you, or you may only realise what is happening when they are already in your space.
Pay attention to what the person is trying to do
If someone confronts you, what they are trying to achieve matters.
Do they want your phone or wallet and then want to leave? Are they trying to keep control of you? Are they trying to restrain you or move you somewhere else?
You cannot know everything about their intentions. You can pay attention to their words and actions, and notice whether the situation is changing.
I teach that your possessions are replaceable. You are not.
Someone demanding your belongings presents a different problem from someone trying to force you into a vehicle. Your decisions need to take that into account.
Being moved to another location is a serious escalation
If someone is trying to force you into a car, they are trying to take you away from the people, possible help and surroundings you can currently assess.
At the first point of contact, your priority is to look for an opportunity to get away.
The distance between you, whether there is a weapon, whether there are other attackers and your ability to move all affect the choices available. No single technique can account for every situation.
You have to make the best decision you can with the information you have in that moment.
Working through the question in a self-defense workshop
This is usually where I see people in the room start nodding.
Someone who arrived wanting to know how to escape a grab is now thinking about what they might notice before the grab, where they could move and what would tell them the danger was escalating.
That is how we work through these questions in my company self-defense and threat recognition workshops. When we practise physical skills, we also talk about the circumstances in which someone might need them and what could affect their decision to act.
If your staff are already asking what they would do if someone grabbed them or tried to force them into a vehicle, let’s work through those questions together.
Contact me on 078 458 5338 or ann@flagacademy.co.za to arrange a personal safety and self-defense workshop for your team.
In your corner,
Ann
A
nn du Plessis is a human safety specialist and the founder of FLAG Academy. She works with organisations, schools and individuals to build practical skills for physical, emotional and psychological safety.
A large part of her work focuses on personal safety, threat recognition and self-defense. She helps people understand how to notice early warning signs, recognise concerning behaviour, respond to changes in their environment and make safer decisions before a situation becomes harder to manage.
Through FLAG Academy, Ann delivers Threat Recognition & Personal Safety workshops, practical self-defense training, GBV prevention programmes, anti-bullying workshops and psychological safety training.
Her approach to personal safety goes beyond teaching people how to respond once something becomes physical. She focuses heavily on prevention, awareness, pattern recognition, boundaries and the decisions people can make earlier, while they still have more options available to them.
Ann holds a black belt in Goju Ryu Karate and has a background in trauma-informed coaching. Her work combines practical safety skills, human behaviour and lived experience to help people feel more confident recognising risk and knowing what to do when something does not feel right.