The original title of this post was going to be "Awareness", but that term is just too overused in martial arts circles and those that claim to teach 'real' self defense skills seem to tackle it half-assed. I'll try not to use the term too much here and get right to the subject of this post.
Awareness is one of the first things that should be covered in your training. You can be attacked by anyone, anytime and anywhere. Awareness is actually the key to avoiding a confrontation altogether. This may mean changing your daily pattern and analyzing yourself. This analyzing effect is an exercise that I recommend to every client concerned for their personal safety. Every few days or weeks, take the time to really study your day and your actions. Play the ‘bad guy’ and try to determine when you are most vulnerable to an attack. Is it when you are standing in line at the grocery store? Are you paying attention to your surroundings as you go to the car? Are you counting massive amounts of cash out in the open before you pay in the restaurant? Do you frequent establishments that serve alcohol and are you heavily under the influence when you leave? Are you easily distracted on the way to or from work? How safe do you feel in your own home, backyard, on your street, in your neighborhood, downtown, or out-of-town? Take a close and hard look at your everyday living. What can you easily incorporate and effectively use to increase your personal safety awareness?
Speaking of which, awareness is also your primary mode in the heat of battle and especially in the aftermath of one, since you are still hyped up and the adrenaline rush is still not down. This means training yourself to avoid what law enforcement calls ‘tunnel vision’. Do not become so focused on one thing that something or someone else threatening gets to one side or behind you. For this very reason, the concept of creating (or sometimes recreating) a scenario and putting it into your training is essential to your survival on the street.
Assertive behavior (like I teach in my FAST Defense classes) is an important companion for awareness. Part of your behavioral action is communication which can be either verbal and/or non-verbal. The non-verbal part is perhaps the key component to avoiding an altercation altogether. You project through body language what you are feeling and your mindset of the moment. This can be as easy as keeping your head up and eyes looking as you approach your car or front door. It can also mean making a change to your daily habit of going to the ATM at the same time every Friday. By avoiding eye contact with people you project that you are insecure and vulnerable. To an attacker, this says ‘lunch is served’!
What I propose are brief and intermittent periods of being your own 'bad guy' to exploit your own weaknesses. By doing that, you can fix them and become less of a target to the REAL Bad Guy!
Clyde Arnold has been teaching martial arts in Northern Kentucky to both adults and youth since 1995 and studying since 1983. Coach Arnold teaches private and small-group Personal Defense (Self Defense) / FAST Defense to adults and is also the Martial Arts Program Director at Top Flight Gymanstics in Crestview Hills, KY. More information about these programs are available at ClydeArnold.com and NKyMartialArts.com.
Tags:
clyde arnold, martial arts, personal defense, self defense
Posted at: 02:57 PM | Add Comment
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