Seniors Stepping Up Their Self-Defense Game

Today’s elders aren’t as ready to be docile little old people as elders may have been in the past. They certainly aren’t about to take any guff from would-be attackers, human or beast.

It’s all in the headlines: 97-Year-Old Woman Fights Off Robbery Suspect; Woman, 83, Fights off robber; 74-Year-Old Man Fights Off Mugger With Tire Iron; and, Woman, 65, Saves Husband From Mountain Lion. These are just a few of the many reports in the news that lead me to advise, don’t mess with old people.

Take Nell Hamm, for example. She beat a mountain lion over the head with a log when it nabbed her husband during a hike. She also tried poking it in the eye with a pen from her hubby’s pocket, but the pen bent, so she went back to clubbing it until it gave up and walked away. Nell is just a youngster compared to 97-year-old Dorothy Buckingham who fought off a would-be purse snatcher who was 50 years younger than she. The robber was arrested a short time after the failed attempt.

One group of senior citizens on a Caribbean cruise gave three armed attackers a surprise when they fought back. Two of the attackers ran away and a third was delivered to the police dead. This is serious stuff. Seniors are taking it seriously too. More and more senior centers have traded-in the Bingo tables for self-defense classes. Students learn how to defend themselves using what is most likely to be at hand - a cane.

Canes can be very effective as you’ll realize when you see the story in the video above.

One super-spy senior recommends, “Stay fit, eat well, and exercise.”

I don’t think I’ll argue with her.