Real self defense is awareness that everybody can learn. Punching, kicking and throwing are all excellent techniques to know, but they are to be used as a last resort and will take a lot of practice to perfect. In the first instance, we need to take everything back to a base level and understand the reason why people are attacked and divide that into random assaults and fights.

Let’s start with random attacks. Even though we call them random, they’re not really by chance, but targeted. The attacker is looking for an easy target and a quick get away, not a fight or a confrontation. So, they scan the situation and look for what they believe to be the easiest victim. This is done very quickly, and the attacker is looking for a weakness. The victim can be drunk, on their own, or looking lost.

There are many variables, the main one is not being aware of one’s surroundings. This does not mean walking around in a state paranoia though; put simply, it is understanding where you are, day or night, crowded or quiet. A city center location at 1am and at 2pm are very different with regard to that mentioned above. In other words, the same location at different times can pose a set of different risks. Take for example the capital city of Dublin. At 1am there are people on the streets that have been drinking and taking drugs. Add to this a section of society whose main goal is to rob or mug an innocent victim. By stark contrast, at 2pm shoppers and families fill the same streets. The potential for crime is still there but to a lesser degree.

What skill does one need here? To know what to look for, or to put it another way, to be aware of the things that are not quite right. Intuition is a powerful thing: if you get a bad feeling about something, trust your gut. Be aware of everything around you. This can be done in a very passive and automatic way. Like driving, we look a head and it is second nature to be aware of what is around us. Without realizing it, we anticipate danger. We drive with a different intensity at different times of the day e.g. rush hour, taking the kids to school, Sundays. Same road , different risk. The same skill can be applied to the street and a potential danger avoided.

Fights are a lot easier to recognize. The usually start off with some sort of verbal argument and escalate into violence. Taking control from the start is key.

Control the distance

Talk down the assailant

Give an easy exit

WALK AWAY

Control the distance

There is a distance of personal space of about half a meter, this is by invitation only and it is paramount that the space is kept. The best way to do this is the fence. The basic concept of the the fence is a barrier between you and the other person in a non threatening manner. The lead hand controls the distance of the aggressor. Your opposite hand is used to check the range but primarily it is held back for attack purposes, should the dissuasion fail. The fence is a half technique as the hand does not have to travel too far to strike. Never fold your arms or put your hands in your pockets if you are having a verbal confrontation.

Talk down

Try your best to talk the aggressor down. If there is more than one person look for someone in the group that is does not want the confrontation to escalate to violence. In most groups not everyone wants to fight and if you are not getting a response from the main threat, try appealing to another member of the group. In my experience this does not usually work in groups of 2 as they are all usually of the same mind-set.

Give an easy exit

Nobody wants to lose face in an argument, so one-showmanship or trying to win a battle of insults, is not the way to go. An easy exit for the aggressor without losing the argument is what you are looking for. It means giving an apology (even if you have done nothing wrong), but so be it.

Walk away

If you can walk away. DO IT! It is however, best to do this at the very start as the longer you stay and argue, the more risk there is of a physical altercation or violent attack .

If all else fails, and you have tried to defuse the situation as you feel the aggressor will attack, then be first! Hit fast and hard. It is better to have a controlled explosion than a bomb going off. Become bulletproof

image source: Dailytelegraph.com.au