David Borgenicht - The Worst-Case Scenario 2013 Daily Survival Calendar

1 Step up and into the blow, with your arms held against your body.

You must react quickly and against your instincts, which will tell you to move back and away. By moving closer, you can cut off the power of the blowyour attacker will not have as much momentum. Also, you will avoid extending your arms, which would make your own counterblow less powerful.

2 Push or punch at the blow instead of simply trying to absorb it with your own sword.

In a blow aimed at your head, have your sword completely parallel to the ground and above your head. The most effective block is in the center of your sword, not at the end, where you have less leverage. Always move out toward your opponent, even if you are defending and not attacking.

On this day in 1785, two men completed the first balloon trip across the English Channel. Jean-Pierre Franois Blanchard, a French inventor, and American doctor John Jeffries made the trip in two and a half hours inside a hydrogen balloon. Along the way, the balloon lost gas and almost fell into the channel, but the pilots kept airborne by throwing overboard all the ballast, clothing, and cargo (except an international mail package). They successfully made the first international airmail delivery when they landed in the Felmores Forest in France.