"I found Without Warning informative and I think every woman should see it. I'm going to have my 16 year old daughter watch it. I plan on watching it several more times so I can remember exactly what Dominick said to do. Hopefully, neither myself nor anyone I care about will ever have to use these techniques but, just in case, I feel much more confident knowing what I now know."
K. Beloge, Sterling Heigh
"I highly recommend the self-defense videotape for women, Without Warning. As a therapist who treats women who have been raped or attacked, I have seen the emotional devastation such assaults can cause. This video offers women easy to remember techniques and can give women the self-confidence they need to plan ahead to defend themselves and not panic blindly during an attack. For women who choose not to use physical force against an attacker, the trainer also provides common sense guidelines such as being aware of your environment and keeping a suspected attacker in view rather than turning your back on them. This video is a much-needed tool which any woman could use to further empower herself."
Karen Harper, M.S.S.W.
Rape and Sexual Abuse Cen
"Thank you so much for Without Warning. I am giving one to all the people in my life who are important to me. I am asking them to consider the people in their lives who can also benefit from the message it teaches."
K. Ryan, Rochester, MI
Recently in Nashville...
"I went to bed one evening just like I do every night of the week. I checked my front door to make sure it was locked, turned off the lights, and lay my head down on the pillow to go to sleep. Friday, September 19, 1997 seemed like an evening like all others. Nothing appeared to be out of place. I was alone.
Around 4:00 a.m. I felt someone touch me. It was kind of blurry at that time as to whether or not I was dreaming, or if in fact there was an actual person in my bedroom. When I opened my eyes, I saw the dark figure of a man dressed all in black standing over me at my bedside. My mind reeled as I struggled to decipher if this was simply my imagination. No-one was supposed to be in my apartment at that hour while I lay sleeping and unaware. This wasn't supposed to happen to me. That's Hollywood. That's the inner-city, not my safe little suburbia.
In the dark the man leaned over the bed where I lay and starting asking me questions. He kept repeating himself I believe to determine whether my demeanor would be one of submission or resistance. At that moment I realized that my life was at risk and I would have to make all the right decisions if I were going to remain alive and unharmed.
My mind raced back to the things that I had learned from a self-defense video for women called Without Warning... it works both ways. The premise of this instructional video is that without warning you may be attacked, but just as your attacker surprises you, you can turn the tables and surprise him back by disabling him or doing something that allows you to get away. He will have no idea what you know. He will have just picked the wrong lady to mess with.
From what I learned from Dominick DiVito's video, I knew if I was to have a chance at survival, I would have to turn my panic into reaction. With my attacker's size, weight, and position to his advantage, I would have to fight his weaknesses, not his strengths. In my time of need, all the principles I had learned started playing back in my mind as though I were watching the video live. I could hear Dominick saying that mental preparation is crucial, and as women we must give ourselves permission to fight back. I literally lay there in bed planning my moment to attack him back.
I didn't start crying and asking a lot of questions to make my attacker upset. I didn't try to start punching him with my fists in a feeble attempt to get him to leave. I stayed quiet and only answered his questions when spoken to, even addressing him as 'sir.'
While I lay in the most vulnerable position possible, my attacker was building confidence in his ability to intimidate me and get his way. He stated every stereotypical threat; 'Don't make a sound or I'll kill you. Just do exactly what I say.' He even flashed a knife to reinforce his position of control. But this didn't surprise me. From what I had learned from Without Warning, an attacker will generally use fear and any means possible to intimidate and manipulate the woman to get what he wants.
My attacker made one last statement before preparing to rape me by saying, 'Just do exactly what I tell you to do.' When he reached towards my face to pull back the covers from my bed, he didn't know that he was giving me the opportunity I had been waiting for to strike back. Prior to that time, I was totally incapable of making any move that would have been undetected. He lifted one of his legs and started to climb on top of me while reaching towards his belt to undo his pants.
At that exact moment, when he thought he was in control and everything was going just fine for him, I struck back. He had given me my opportunity to defend myself by exposing my arms and legs to move. I am not a body-builder or karate expert, just a woman who was implementing what Dominick teaches that we are to fight an attacker's weaknesses where he is vulnerable. And my attacker was vulnerable because his attention was diverted as he was reaching for his pants and standing on only one leg.
In one quick and fierce blow, I bent my knees and then kicked him with both feet in the center of his chest. I shoved him away with all of my strength, and the culmination of my pent up emotions and terror exploded in a scream. He was totally unprepared and unaware that I would be attempting such an act. I had been so submissive, so quiet. Now I had caught him off guard, without warning.
He went flying a short distance to the wall. Instinctively I immediately sat up and jumped out of the bed and starting moving toward him.
HE RAN.
I chased him to the front door, screaming the whole time. He dashed off into the night.
I called 911.
When the police arrived they couldn't believe that I had actually done what I had done. They said I was so brave.
I know that I was because of what I learned from Dominick DiVito's video.
Without warning, it works both ways. And it really does.
Caryn S.
PS: Not long after my experience, I asked to be a spokesperson for Without Warning. My experience was frightening, but not to be forgotten nor swept away under the rug. I do not believe I am meant to keep quiet about my attack and more importantly, the reason I am quite possibly alive today. People need to know that even if they are attacked, they do not have to become a victim. I am hoping my story may assist in saving the lives of others.
"Dramatic narration and artistic filming technique set the stage for this female-centric taped instruction about what to do if attacked in a variety of settings. A series of re-enactments--including possible scenarios in a parking garage, in an elevator, in a car, and at the shopping mall in the company of a child -- are analyzed and replayed by a black belt in Chinese Kenpo karate with a specialty in women's self-defense. The end game here is to arm women with a weapon that often proves more powerful than a gun: good common sense. And in that regard, it succeeds marvelously."
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