Awareness - Our best protection
A keen sense of awareness is our best protection. It is the one thing that will contribute to our personal safety above all else. Of course it is argued that avoiding trouble is the best protection, and so it is without a doubt. Its just that practicing good awareness techniques leads to avoidance in the majority of cases. Awareness involves projecting confidence, noticing your environment, sensing trouble, being a hard target, employing common sense and doing some forward planning.
It also takes away the element of surprise from anyone who seeks to harm us.
All those who hide in darkness, ambush the vulnerable or who attack in numbers are basically cowards. They always seek the weakest target to attack and even if the chosen prey is a 90 year old blind, disabled woman with no arms they will still attack from behind to eliminate even the slightest noise, resistance and chance of being hurt or caught.
Random attacks are not usually as random as most people think. Occasionally an attack may be opportunistic or you may be unfortunate enough to have walked in on the commission of a crime, but if that is the case, you probably havent exercised good awareness. In most cases, attackers will observe before they attack; predators always look for the weakest and most vulnerable prey with the least amount of awareness, isolated in the loneliest place. They are no different to animal predators in the wild. So the idea is to avoid being a target.
Being aware of attacker rituals is helpful in avoiding trouble. The only attacker who is ever likely to need personal privacy is the rapist; but this is not always the case because sexual assault is not about sexual intimacy, it is about anger, control and power. Even sexual assault in numbers is becoming more prevalent. So it is safest to assume that all criminals and predators have at least one accomplice. Criminals are well practiced at lying and tricking their way into setting up their target. They often distract or misdirect the attention of the intended victim by means of some ruse, or trick their way into being trusted by pretending to need or offer help.
Criminals rely on the fact that most of us are polite and obliging and that we always want to avoid a scene and personal embarrassment. In this "set up" phase, only one offender may be visible; the other(s) remain hidden. Setting up the victim may also mean observing, following or leading a person to a lonely spot where the criminals are less likely to be seen or caught. Accomplices will appear when the target has been set up. Criminals are basically lazy; they dont want noise, resistance or a challenge, nor do they want to be seen, identified, interrupted or caught. Their basic rule is to do the least work for maximum return and to create maximum shock for a quick getaway and poor victim memory (and ID) later.
In an increasingly violent world, the desperate need for mind altering drugs has overtaken all consideration for basic human decency, so the attacks become bolder and more brazen. The violence increases to maximise shock value and minimise noise and resistance. To counter this, our awareness strategies must improve accordingly.
Until recent times, people have always taken personal safety for granted. The days of enjoying guaranteed personal safety when going about our daily activities have disappeared with the spate of recent attacks, many of which have occurred in broad daylight. Attacks occur on the streets, on walkways, in our cars and in a variety of social contexts.
It is important to realise that the same awareness strategies are used to avoid, minimise or manage verbal conflict as well as physical conflict. In fact, good awareness will, most of the time, stop a difficult situation getting started, let alone escalating to physical conflict.
Safety tips sets out common sense awareness tips in some common everyday situations. Although at first it may seem a lot to remember, you will see that it can be distilled down to a few key strategies that can be applied to any situation. After practising for a while, you will start to develop the "habit of awareness" and, in time, it will become instinctive. You will do it automatically, without consciously thinking about it. Once again you can reclaim your freedom and walk without fear.
Your self-protection relies on your planning, vigilance, awareness, calmness and lots of common sense!
See our Griffith Aikido Self defence programme here Griffith Aikido - Self Defence course
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Aikido
A modern martial art developed from the traditional Samurai class of martial arts in Japan. Aikido has no blocks or punches but instead redirects the attackers energy to throw or immobilise them. Suitable for men, women and children. With a good mix of aerobic and weight bearing training its a good way to maintain inner and outer health and pick up some handy skills as well.
Griffith Aikido
A dynamic martial arts club that has been operating on Brisbanes Southside for over 25yrs offers regular beginners courses for newcomers, classes for kids and advanced training for the old hands. Men and women of all ages enjoy training in a co-operative atmosphere under the guidance of Japan recognised instructors and benefit from regular visits by senior instructors from Japan. Start Today
