Pretty Deadly Podcast

Can cleaning your living room teach you self-defense? In this episode, Susie Kahlich walks us through everyday household tasks—throwing toys, dusting, vacuuming—and reveals how these ordinary movements are secretly self-defense techniques in disguise.

Highlights:

● How side-arm throws build reflexes for real-world defense

● Why feather dusters and vacuum handles are stealth training tools

● The martial arts wisdom hidden in “wax on, wax off”

Timestamps:

00:51 – Toy Tossing as Throwing Practice

03:41 – Why Side Throws Matter in Self-Defense

04:46 – Frisbees, Records, and Shuriken Energy

06:24 – Weaponizing Books and Magazines

07:57 – Dusting as Blade Training (Shuto Strikes)

11:02 – Wax On, Wax Off (Window Cleaning = Defensive Blocks)

12:16 – Vacuuming and Syncing Movement with Power

Listen / Watch:

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📺 YouTube: Pretty Deadly Self Defense

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🔔 Follow Pretty Deadly Self Defense for more self-defense tips, solo travel advice, and badassery.

Have fun. Make friends. Kick ass. 💪💜

#SelfDefense #PrettyDeadly #WomensSelfDefense #SoloTravel #SelfDefenseTips

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What does The Karate Kid have to do with real-world self-defense? Everything. Continuing in the kitchen, this episode explores how wiping counters, kicking the fridge closed, and sweeping the floor are actually training your body for effective blocks, strikes, and takedowns.

● Wiping in circles = real block and redirect training

● Side-kicking your fridge builds striking mechanics

● Sweeping = elbow control and takedown practice

01:00 – Karate Kid and “wax on, wax off” explained

02:10 – Turning wiping motions into defense drills

04:10 – Side kick mechanics (using your fridge!)

05:52 – Wet dish towel = face strike practice

09:06 – Sweeping as a takedown

10:51 – How to strike with a broom like a hanbo

🎧 Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Acast

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PrettyDeadlySelfDefense

📰 Substack: https://prettydeadlyselfdefense.substack.com

🔔 Follow Pretty Deadly Self Defense for more self-defense tips, solo travel advice, and badassery.

Have fun. Make friends. Kick ass. 💪💜

#SelfDefense #PrettyDeadly #WomensSelfDefense #SoloTravel #SelfDefenseTips

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What if you could train self-defense without adding anything to your schedule? In this episode, Susie Kahlich explains how everyday household tasks—like washing dishes or loading the dishwasher—can become effective training tools for self-defense. Learn how scrubbing, reaching, and bending can help you practice strikes, wrist locks, and escapes, using movements you already do every day. This isn't just about efficiency—it’s a feminist reframe of how and where self-defense happens.

Whether you’re a beginner or a longtime Pretty Deadly fan, this is where martial arts meet real life.

🔗 prettydeadlyselfdefense.com

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• How cleaning can train self-defense reflexes
• Why martial arts instruction often misses the mark for women
• How to train like elite athletes without the gym
• The origin of Pretty Deadly’s “kitchen sink” approach
• Strike, block, and escape techniques built into daily habits
• 
  

00:00 – Welcome & training mindset

00:36 – Train like elite athletes: everyday movement

01:46 – Gender bias in martial arts teaching

02:45 – Creating Pretty Deadly for real-world women

03:32 – Turning chores into training: the new series

04:46 – Scrubbing = claw strikes to remove grabs

05:58 – Washing pans = elbow strike practice

06:41 – Glassware = wrist locks for escapes

07:43 – “Shake the Water” = escape a two-hand choke

08:44 – Dishwasher tips: shuriken & bending safely

10:13 – Putting dishes away = palm strikes with follow-through

11:46 – Using your whole body in strikes

12:56 – Don’t train more. Train smarter.

🧽 Scrub with purpose

🧼 Load with awareness

🍽️ Strike with a plate

Because every move you make can be powerful.

🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible & more.

🎶 Theme: “Icarus Wish” by Dead Centuries. Used with permission.

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Episode Length: ~12 minutes

Episode Summary:

In this episode of the Pretty Deadly Podcast, founder and martial artist Susie Kahlich breaks down the violent attack that changed her life—and launched a global self-defense movement.

Rather than sharing a typical survivor story, Susie walks listeners through the assault as a tactical case study, examining how her instincts kicked in at the time—and how she would respond now, with 25 years of martial arts training behind her.

Stage by stage, she reflects on the positions, the physics, the fear, and the missed opportunities—offering insight into how small, practical movements can be the key to surviving and escaping violence.

This episode is both a personal narrative and a valuable educational resource for survivors, self-defense instructors, and anyone curious about real-world applications of martial arts in high-stress environments.

Highlights & Key Moments:

• [00:02:22] Beginning of the assault: shoved and pinned against a wall and "scratch your back" defense
• [00:03:30] Pushed to the ground: using push-pull and momentum philosophy from martial arts to turn a fall into a throw
• [00:05:32] Hair grab and punch: wrist manipulation and how to absorb a punch
• [00:06:38] Crawling toward the kitchen and why "grab a knife" is a dangerous myth without training
• [00:07:43] Introduction of shrimping (from martial arts like BJJ and Kung Fu) to turn around leg grabs
• [00:08:54] Vulnerability of attackers in moments of distraction—and how to exploit balance points like knees and ankles
• [00:11:25] Final thoughts on learning to use space, momentum, and balance in self-defense situations

Key Takeaways:

• You don’t need brute strength to defend yourself—just leverage, awareness, and a few basic tools.
• Survival is not a clean, choreographed fight—it’s messy, instinctual, and often improvised.
• Martial arts can reframe fear into focus, giving you usable strategies in real-world scenarios.
• The body remembers, even when the mind doesn’t—and that memory can be retrained to protect you.

Learn the Techniques:

Explore Pretty Deadly’s trauma-informed, body-aware approach to self-defense at PrettyDeadlySelfDefense.com, or join the conversation on Instagram @teamprettydeadly

Keywords: self defense for women, martial arts case study, personal safety, trauma-informed training, Pretty Deadly Self Defense, shrimping technique, hair grab defense, wall pin escape, real-world martial arts, violence prevention for women, survivor strategy, how to escape an attacker

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“Don’t You Remember Who You Are?” – Surviving and Interrupting Date Rape

In this raw and unflinching episode of the Pretty Deadly Podcast, host Susie Kahlich, founder of Pretty Deadly Self-Defense and violent crime survivor, shares three personal stories of surviving and interrupting date rape — spanning decades, cities, and stages of life. With clarity, strength, and a no-BS lens, she breaks down the manipulative patterns of coercive assault, the complexity of survivor reactions, and how martial arts and muscle memory saved her when words failed.

🔔 Trigger Warning: This episode contains detailed personal accounts of sexual assault.

🎯 Key points in this episode:

• Date rape survivor stories
• How to stop sexual assault
• Self-defense for women
• Real stories of coercion and consent
• Martial arts for self-defense
• Personal safety for solo women
• Feminist self defense podcast
• Surviving date rape
• Consent and coercion explained
• 
  

🕒 Episode Highlights & Timecodes

00:00:18 – Why We Need to Talk About Date Rape

Susie introduces the episode and issues a clear content warning. She shares her intent: to name the unnamed and help others understand what happened to them, just as she once needed.

00:01:30 – New York, 90s: "The Nice Guy" Setup

The first assault: a guy plays the role of rescuer after a painful breakup—only to assault her in her sleep. She reflects on how the term “date rape” didn’t even exist in common vocabulary then, and how publishing her story helped others come forward.

00:05:49 – Paris, 20 Years Later: “I Couldn’t Help Myself”

Jet lagged, wine-drunk, and unconscious, Susie wakes up to a confession from a toxic partner. She explores the confusion of betrayal in relationships, and how social conditioning warps our perception of rape as flattery.

00:07:54 – Paris Again: The One She Interrupted

A consensual hookup turns threatening when the man ignores her firm “no” and pushes for non-consensual anal sex. In a split second of panic and clarity, her martial arts training kicks in. She fends him off with a tactical strike—later integrated into Pretty Deadly training as a move called The Frenchman.

00:10:42 – How Pretty Deadly Teaches This Reality

Susie shares how the real-life moves that protected her are taught in Level 3 of Pretty Deadly. It’s not just theory. It’s not just talk. It’s lived. And it’s trainable.

👊 Key Takeaways

• Date rape isn’t always violent—it’s often manipulative and confusing.
• Consent can’t exist without the option to say “no” and be heard.
• You can interrupt assault—even mid-act—with proper training and presence of mind.
• Recognizing manipulation is the first step to preventing assault.
• Survivors don’t owe a perfect reaction—they owe themselves healing and truth.
• 
  

✨ Learn More

→ Find classes, become a trainer, or explore Pretty Deadly’s programs: PrettyDeadlySelfDefense.com

→ Follow on IG: @TeamPrettyDeadly

→ TikTok rants, real talk, and rebellion: @PrettyDeadlyBoss

🎵 Music: Icarus Wish by Dead Centuries (Berlin)

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In this raw and insightful episode, Pretty Deadly Self-Defense founder Susie Kahlich explores how seemingly random pieces of media—true crime podcasts, a childhood “Stranger Danger” assembly, even a high school driver’s ed video—can become life-saving tools in dangerous situations. Drawing from her personal experience as a violent crime survivor, and her work in trauma-informed self-defense, Susie unpacks how our brains absorb and store survival instincts through everyday content.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about how we prepare ourselves for danger—often without realizing it.

🎯 What You’ll Learn:

• Why true crime podcasts are actually self-defense tools
• How women’s social conditioning can interfere with instinct—and how to push past it
• Real-life examples of how stored information surfaces in moments of danger
• Why self-defense education can (and should) go beyond the dojo

(00:46) – Why True Crime Podcasts Are Secretly Self-Defense Lessons

True crime’s popularity among women isn't about gore—it's subconscious training.

(01:23) – How Your Brain Stores Survival Tools Without You Knowing

From conversations to news stories, everything you consume becomes part of your defensive toolkit.

(02:39) – Real Story: A Woman Attacked in Berlin

A woman uses a piece of news she once read to instinctively try to protect herself during an assault—and how her survival instinct was dismissed even by herself.

(04:44) – The Cost of Being “Polite”

Susie discusses how immigrant women often suppress their instincts to avoid “being a bother,” and how dangerous that can be.

(06:07) – The Logic Behind Facing an Attacker

A moment of insight changes Susie’s perception of how self-defense instinct really works.

(07:20) – Susie’s Own Story: Stranger Danger at 32

A childhood PSA resurfaces 24 years later, helping Susie survive a brutal attack in her own home.

(08:26) – Driver’s Ed Saved My Life

A decades-old memory from a video on drunk drivers helped her body survive physical trauma.

(09:56) – You’re Probably Learning Self-Defense Without Realizing It

Everything from movies to songs to podcasts can train your brain to respond in danger—even if you’ve never taken a self-defense class.

(10:42) – No Class? No Problem.

Susie shares why even if you can’t access a class, listening to podcasts like this is still valid—and valuable—self-defense education.

🔗 Links & Resources:

• 💻 Visit: prettydeadlyselfdefense.com – Classes, workshops & certifications
• 📸 Follow: @teamprettydeadly on Instagram
• 🎥 Watch: @prettydeadlyboss on TikTok for rants on politics, capitalism, and feminist survival
• 🎶 Music: “Icarus Wish” by Dead Centuries (Berlin)
• 
  

#selfdefense #womensafety #survivorstories #traumainformed #prettydeadly #truecrimepodcast #intuitiveinstincts #situationalawareness #selfdefensepodcast

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🔴 Episode 132 – How I Fought Back (Without Even Knowing It)

After a violent attack in her home, Pretty Deadly Self-Defense founder Susie Kahlich set out to understand what really happens in moments of crisis. In this episode, she shares how her body's natural self-defense instincts helped her survive—long before she ever trained in martial arts.

We break down why self-defense is more than just fighting techniques, how trauma shapes our perception of survival, and the hidden ways we defend ourselves without even realizing it.

💡 Key Takeaways:

✔ Why self-defense isn’t just about fighting—it’s about using what you already do naturally.

✔ How women are conditioned to think they "failed" at self-defense, even when they survive.

✔ The biological survival mechanisms that kick in during an attack—and how to trust them.

✔ How understanding your own agency can help break free from long-term trauma.

🎧 Listen now & reclaim your power!

🕒 00:00:02 – Welcome Back to the Pretty Deadly Podcast

🔹 Why talking about the attack that led to Pretty Deadly has become… boring (and why that’s a good thing).

🕒 00:01:31 – Can Trauma Have an End?

🔹 The journey from reliving an attack to reclaiming personal agency.

🕒 00:02:55 – What Actually Happens When We Fight for Our Lives?

🔹 Self-defense isn’t just about throwing punches—it’s about survival in any form.

🕒 00:03:37 – Why Most Women Don’t Learn Self-Defense (Until It’s Too Late)

🔹 The social conditioning that keeps women from claiming their right to fight back.

🕒 00:04:25 – The Only Rule of Self-Defense

🔹 If you survived, you defended yourself—100%.

🕒 00:07:52 – The Moment My Body Took Over

🔹 How relaxing at the right moment saved Susie from a knockout punch.

🕒 00:13:06 – Where Do We Really Learn Self-Defense?

🔹 It’s not just in a class—it’s from everything we’ve ever seen, heard, or experienced.

📍 Perfect for: Anyone who has ever wondered if they could really fight back—and how to harness their own natural self-defense instincts.

🗞 A Stranger Tried to Kill Me in My Own Home https://medium.com/@susiekahlich/the-end-of-trauma-5a4b8b477d07

👓 The End of Trauma: https://medium.com/@susiekahlich/the-end-of-trauma-5a4b8b477d07

🌐 Learn More: prettydeadlyselfdefense.com

📲 Follow on Instagram: @teamprettydeadly

📢 Follow on TikTok: @prettydeadlyboss

🎶 Music Credit: Icarus Wish by Berlin-based band Dead Centuries

👉 Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform! 🚀

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🎙 New Episode: The Pretty Deadly Podcast Returns!

After a long break, Pretty Deadly Podcast is back! In this relaunch, Susie Kahlich, founder of Pretty Deadly Self Defense, shares her survival story, martial arts journey, and the evolution of Pretty Deadly—from a workshop for her mother to an international program. Now, she’s bringing it to the U.S.!

✔ Surviving homelessness, 1980s NYC, solo travel, and a violent attack.

✔ Why traditional self-defense fails most women.

✔ How Pretty Deadly makes self-defense fun, natural, and effective.

✔ Moving from Berlin to San Francisco—what’s next?

✔ How everyday movements—like handing over a cup of coffee—become powerful self-defense techniques.

📍 Perfect for: Women interested in self-defense, personal safety, and confidence-building.

👉 Learn more: prettydeadlyselfdefense.com

📲 Follow: @teamprettydeadly (Instagram) | @prettydeadlyboss (TikTok)

🕒 00:00:02 – Welcome Back! The Pretty Deadly Podcast returns.

🕒 00:00:26 – Survival & Strength: From homelessness to ninjutsu.

🕒 00:01:42 – Moving Pretty Deadly to San Francisco: What’s next?

🕒 00:02:37 – Why Most Self-Defense Fails Women (and how to fix it).

🕒 00:03:40 – Finding the Right Martial Arts Teacher: Susie’s story.

🕒 00:09:27 – The Birth of Pretty Deadly: How a lesson for her mom became a movement.

🕒 00:12:03 – Self-Defense Should Be Fun: Breaking free from fear-based training.

🕒 00:13:01 – Everyday Moves as Self-Defense: The power of natural motion.

🕒 00:14:18 – Bigger Mission: Gender equality, empowerment & self-defense.

🕒 00:15:03 – Where to Learn More: Classes, certifications & resources.

📡 Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify & more!

⭐ Leave a review to help others find the show.

📢 Share this episode with someone who should hear it!

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of violence against women in New York

There has been a spate of violent men sucker punching random women in New York City recently. How do you defend against a sucker punch?

This episode talks about:

• The definition of a sucker punch

• The role of the random attack in the history of GBV

• How to identify someone targeting you

• Can you even defend against a sucker punch?

• Why is this happening and what should we do about it

Listen at the link in our bio or here: https://t.ly/HhL5t

*****

You can find the Pretty Deadly Podcast on iTunes , Spotify and Audible , or your favorite pod player -- just search for "Pretty Deadly Podcast" and give us a follow!

This podcast is produced by SINGE Network for Pretty Deadly. Our theme song is a track called Icarus Wish by Berlin-based punk band, @deadsentries , and is used with permission of the artists.

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In 2005, Pretty Deadly founder decided to run a marathon. In this episode, Susie shares her experiences training for, and running, a marathon, and how that relates to self defense.

This episode talks about:

Expectations and support

Stereotyping body types

In what ways softer training is harmful to women in self defense

The value of learning how to take a punch

How these stereotypes contribute to targeting women for violence

You have been listening to the Pretty Deadly Podcast. You can learn more about who we are and what we do and how to find a Pretty Deadly course near you by visiting our website at prettydeadlyselfdefense.com. And if you’re a fitness or martial arts pro and you’d like enhance your instructor skills, our certification programs are open for enrollment, and you can find them on our website at prettydeadlypro.com.

This podcast is produced by Singe Network for Pretty Deadly, recorded in Berlin,and our original music is the track Icarus Wish by Berlin band Dead Sentries, used with permission from the artists.

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