Pretty Deadly Podcast: Finding Agency in Self-Defense

🔴 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!

⏱️ Timecoded Highlights

🕒 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.

🔗 Links & Resources

🗞 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

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