Levels of Awareness
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008Levels of Awareness
Let’s talk about awareness. Awareness is an often forgot about part of self-defense. Much too often we walk around without having a clue what is going on around us. We are thinking about work, what we will have for dinner, what we will watch on TV, etc. When we are not aware of those around us, we are more vulnerable to becoming the victim of a violent attack.
We should always notice who is around us and what is happening around us. If something is happening in the restaurant that we are in, we should be aware of it. If the same person is always around us at the mall, we should be aware of it. If someone is approaching us in the parking lot, we should be aware of it (and we should always be aware of where we have parked). If we return home and there is something different about our house than when we left it, we should notice that.
When our awareness tells us that something is wrong, don’t just ignore it, dismiss it, think it is our imagination, etc. It is at this point that we need to take some kind of action. I will give you some examples, but there are many situations where this could apply. If we notice an undesirable action happening in an establishment that we are in, we can leave. If we feel that we are being stalked in the mall, we can go to security. If we think that someone is following us while we are driving, we shouldn’t go home, but we could go to a busy, well-lit place, a fire station, etc.
If, after taking the above actions, we are still pursued by a potential attacker, we may be able to de-escalate the situation. I will give some examples of de-escalation. Getting our hands up in a non-threatening manner. Telling our potential attacker to back off, that he is getting too close. Telling our potential attacker that we don’t have a cigarette, change, or whatever he is asking us for. We do this in a stern, firm manner, yet we don’t make it seem as if we are challenging the potential attacker. Remember, we don’t want to challenge him to a fight. We want to let him know that we are not an easy target, yet we are willing to walk away peacefully. It will be up to each one of us to use our own judgment as to when we feel that the attack is inevitable. When that happens and we feel that we are not going to be able to walk away peacefully, we need to launch our own pre-emptive attack.
At this point, when we have to defend ourselves physically, we must shut our attacker’s body down. He is no longer the attacker, he has now become the defender and we have become the attacker. We have become the predator and he has become the prey. We need to use our strong weapons (hands, feet, knees, elbows) and attack his vulnerable targets (eyes, ears, nose, temple, throat, solar plexus, groin, knees, etc.). We continue the attack until he is no longer a threat and we can leave safely. At this point, we should leave and go to safety.
This article is a basic guide through the levels of awareness. An event may or may not unfold this clearly. A certain stage of awareness may only last a few seconds, stages may overlap, or we may not have the luxury of seeing all of the stages. Attacks are chaotic events. It is up to each one of us to decide when we feel we should take the situation physical and when we feel that we are no longer in danger. It is also up to each one of us to make sure that we are operating within the legal guidelines of the law.
If you would like to learn this in great detail along with many other lifesaving skills, click on the following link to view our products:
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Yours in safety,
Phillip Poe