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The self-defense mechanisms to use are the ones you probably already know.
Most of us get into the self-defense world because we recognize violence in our world and realize that violence might find us.
Then we search our memories and find most of what we know about violence comes from movies and TV. By default, we think we need to become a superhero to defeat all the bad guys.
In some rare times, what the situation needs is a superhero, but most of the time if we just do the things we know we are supposed to, we will avoid 90% of the violence in our world.
But studying the mundane is boring. It is way more fun to take classes that are absurd over a lecture on the basics of locking your doors at home. I have more fun at firearms classes that we repel out of helicopters and assault a target than a class on how to draw a gun under different situations and in different ways.
High-Speed low drag is fun and exciting, doing the mundane every day will keep you alive and out of harm’s way.
If you aren’t doing the everyday simple things then you aren’t serious about your or your family’s safety. Most of the things are common sense that should be followed. The signs on how to do things are everywhere and still, not everyone does them.
In Texas, I see this sign in parking lots everywhere. It reminds you to lock your car, take your keys, and remove your belongings. It seems to be getting better in Texas but years ago, everyone would just leave their car running and go into the store and come out and wonder why car theft was so high? I’ve got an idea.
Now we have signs that remind you to do the things you know you should do to keep yourself and your stuff safe. But there are a lot of people that don’t do it. Do you lock your car, take your keys, and hide or remove your belongings every time, at every place?
At home, do you lock your doors all the time, every time? Even when you are standing in front of it? Do you lock your windows? Richard Ramirez, the infamous “Night Stalker” (the original) from California found most of his victims by finding open windows of homes and climbing in. Maybe you should lock your windows. And just an aside, police didn’t catch him, a group of citizens in Boyle Heights California got him after he tried to carjack someone to escape a convenience store after someone recognized him. The citizens nearly beat him to death before officers could get there and “rescue” him.
If you think the police will save you, they want to, but they generally can’t because they can’t be everywhere.
Lock your doors and your windows while you are at home and when you are away.
Here is an “oldie but goodie” from Boy Scouts, the Marine Corps, elementary school, and probably your mother, take a buddy with you when you go places.
My son is now in Scouts and he is required to take a buddy with him everywhere he goes away from camp and when they are on outings. It’s harder for two people to get into trouble than one.
The Marine Corps had the same policy but called them “Combat Buddy.” In combat, it was a really good policy. On the Marine Base, it seemed stupid. But it was a good practice to keep us out of trouble and from having something happen to us.
If you can, use this same policy and it will keep you safer. I know it isn’t always practical, but the more you use it, the safer you will be.
Here are a couple more advanced techniques for your self-defense: Look up from your phone and move with purpose. If you keep your nose stuck in your phone all the time, you will miss lots of things that could kill you. Sometimes it is as simple as the car that is driving too fast in the parking lot you are walking through. Yes, the car is supposed to stop for you, but if the driver doesn’t see you, you are the one that will be seriously hurt or killed.
Move with a purpose is a phrase I’m stealing from the Marine Corps again. After spending 10 years in the Corps, it is hard to forget all the things that I was programmed with. Some of that programming is still useful. A large study was done by law enforcement years ago about how criminals pick their victims. After years of researching and questioning guys in prison for violent attacks, the conclusion was the way people walked.
If someone walked with a purpose, head up, strong-looking, faster moving, no one wanted to victimize them. The criminals picked the opposite people to victimize, people that moved slowly, with an abnormal gait, and head down.
Walking and moving with a purpose have gotten me out of trouble and into a lot of places that I wanted to go. Simple.
Last, “Don’t do stupid things, with stupid people, in stupid places.” I originally heard this from John Farnam and has been repeated by everyone. It might be one of the smartest things ever said about self-defense. If you follow the saying, you will avoid almost everything that will kill you.
My good friend Bob Mayne at the Handgun World Podcast added “at stupid times.” It’s a good addition. Stupid times could be after dark, with a friend when they have been drinking too much, or during a large protest.
If you do the simple things for your self-defense you are 90% there. If you don’t do the simple things and want to do the “high-speed, low-drag” stuff, you will get into more situations where you need high-speed training.
The best way to win a fight is not to be there.
Stay Safe,
Ben