How to practice situational awareness safety for self defense

Learning situational awareness is one of the most fundamental skills you can learn in self-defense. As children, we were very aware of our environment. Unfortunately as we grew older, we lost these skills due to many factors such as social media. Why is situational awareness important? If you don't have full awareness of your environment, you won't be able to respond to a threat quickly enough. Thus, you will be unprepared for an attack and possibly die as a result. How do you hone your skills in situational awareness safety? The tips below will be based on a certain degree of scientific understanding:

* Practice keeping a safe distance - In order to react quickly enough to an attack, you need to maintain a safe distance between you and a potential threat. How? Stay a few feet away from strangers or potentially dangerous people. Practice verbal assertiveness and establishing healthy boundaries. Use "I" messages. If you don't keep your distance, your vision will be limited. You won't respond quickly enough or if you do respond, it's too late.

* Learn to read body language - One of the fundamental ways of reading an attacker's intent is body language. It's very difficult for people to mask body language. By reading non-verbal cues, you'll raise your alertness levels and act accordingly. What are some signs that someone is about to attack? Dilated pupils, sweat, a clenched jaw, fist, stiff neck, legs in a fighting stance, etc. If you want to learn more, read my blog post "7 warning signs of an impending attack." 

* Study your environment - Whenever you plan a trip to a certain area, take the time to research the crime rates. The higher the crime rates, the higher your alertness needs to be. Familiarize yourself well with your environment. Learn where the nearest exits are, where to find cover and concealment, where potential weapons are, where potential allies are, etc. 

* Observe your relationships - Sometimes the people you keep in contact with be it associates, friends, parents, lovers, etc. can be potential threats. This can be due to various underlying factors such as unresolved conflicts, negative emotions, violent behavior, physical or emotional neglect, abuse, etc. When you notice changes in your relationships that could potentially lead to violence, you need to act.

* Eliminate distractions - In order to respond quickly enough, you need to get rid of all distractions. If you're driving, turn off your cell phone. If you try to do too may things at once, you may get caught by surprise if an attack were to occur.

* Know where to direct your focus - You don't have eyes at the back of your head. It's impossible to have a complete 360 degree view of the world around you. Therefore the only solution is to figure out where your attention needs to be. You don't have to constantly keep looking over your shoulder for a potential threat but you shouldn't completely let your guard down either. You should divide your focus in order to keep from getting caught off guard. 

There was a study done where volunteers were asked to count how many times 3 basketball players in white passed a ball. A woman in a gorilla costume came in and walked away. Half of the viewers missed her. Why? This phenomenon is called inattentional blindness. It's when our attention has become so focused on one particular thing that we lose sight of other things. See the link below for more details.

https://www.livescience.com/6727-invisible-gorilla-test-shows-notice.html

* Establish a secure parameter - We know that you can't always have your guard up. That's why it's important to designate a safe area and take precautions to secure it. To increase your situational awareness, you must take advantage of the resources already available. This could be in the form of security cameras, alarm systems, and other smart security systems.

In conclusion, these are a few key tips to increase situational awareness safety. Above all, you need to accept that there's a small chance that you'll be caught off guard and unprepared for an attack. Situational awarness safety doesn't make you completely invincible but it will help you in most cases. Practice these skills in your daily life.

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Do you need to learn self defense?

I'm sure with all the training, techniques, hard work, conditioning, crimes, etc. people have asked themselves at least once "do i need to learn physical self defense?" I give some of my thoughts and things you should consider regarding that question.

To start, i'm not one of those people who resort to scare tactics. I don't like pulling up a horrible violent crime or statistics and say "see! This is why you need to learn self defense!" Scaring people into learning self defense isn't a healthy much less productive way of building their confidence. Should you learn self defense? It really depends on you. Do you really need it? Personally, i don't need to learn self defense because it's not practical in everyday life. Self defense for me is more of a hobby than it is a dire need. In the areas that i lived, there was no need to defend myself from strangers. I was never attacked or a victim of a violent crime because the crime rate was low. My philosophy was as long as i avoided trouble, i'd have little to no problems with violence. So far, it's worked 100% of the time. Unfortunately, i can't say the same for people living in different areas of the world where violent crime is a daily occurrence. 

When you are trying to decide whether or not you should learn self defense, you should ask yourself these questions 

1) Do i need physical self defense? Some people will give into irrational fears perpetuated by the media on violent crimes and thus, end up learning self defense the wrong way. Others use self defense for the wrong motives such as revenge or controlling others. Do your research and see if violent crime in your area is a big issue unless you are a witness to it in daily life. 

2) What kind of self defense is more practical for you to learn? If you are a victim of verbal abuse (insults, threats, teasing, blaming, blackmail, list goes on) then learning verbal self defense is more practical than hand-to-hand combat. It's not practical for you to have a physical response to a verbal action. 

3) What do you expect to get out of it? - If you don't have any specific goals in mind, you won't get very far in self defense. Could be developing confidence, defending yourself against weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and so forth. Once you have an end goal in mind, work towards achieving it. Make your goals realistic. Don't just ask the typical question "what's the best martial art for self defense?" and then expect to realistically defend yourself in every situation.  

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If you have a weapon, why learn martial arts?

The guns vs. martial arts debate has been a fascinating one even to me. A question people seem to be wondering is "if you have a gun, why learn hand to hand combat?" As i mentioned in my blog post "why relying on weapons will get you killed" (http://everythingselfdefense.blogspot.com/2016/12/why-relying-on-weapons-will-get-you.html ), i've already listed several key reasons why using only weapons is a bad idea. Why should you learn hand to hand combat?

First, most situations don't require a gun and would be legally or physically dangerous if you do use one. Many people use guns and think about survival than about the legal consequences that follow. According to law, you are generally only allowed to shoot if someone is using lethal force against you. Other than that, you could be convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison. If you want to do time in jail or prison every-time a violent situation arises and possibly get your gun taken away then by all means use a gun for self defense. If you want to learn how to avoid that then you should learn hand to hand combat in addition to firearms training.


The other critical reason why you should learn hand to hand combat in addition to gun self defense is because you need to create distance, time, and speed in order to use your gun effectively. Guns are long range weapons. Fists are short range weapons. If you don't know how and when to use each one appropriately, you may find yourself wrestling with an attacker over your gun. If you can land the first shot with no problems and your enemies scatter then good! If you lose the gun then that's very bad for you. I once saw a video of a gun defense instructor teach students that when faced with multiple attackers, you should punch one guy and then clinch as you fire two shots in him before you shoot at the others. This is very bad advice because the other attackers could hit you from behind and take the gun away from you. By using guns and hand to hand combat together, you are better equipped to defend yourself. When fighting multiple attackers, you beat them up. If someone draws a gun, you could either disarm or use an attacker as a shield before you draw your own gun and fire. If the gun jams or you run out of ammo, you could still use it as a melee weapon and do some serious damage.


While this would work in theory, the chances of you needing a gun in self defense are rare and often pose more problems than solutions. A study done showed that there was no advantage to using guns than other means of self defense.

In conclusion, you can't just simply "point and shoot" without considering the potential consequences that follow such as killing an innocent person by accident.

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to my blog for updates, more advice, and exclusive content in the near future. I'm proud and excited to offer a FREE sample chapter of my E-book "Jeet Kune Do: How to build your own fighting system for self defense!" It's essentially a step-by-step guide on how to make your own self defense system suited to fit your own needs using Jeet Kune Do. If you would love to receive your FREE chapter of my e-book, click on the link below and share a post via. social media then it's yours for FREE! Be sure to also fill out the survey on the right and provide feedback on my blog. Leave questions, comments, and suggestions below.

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Trust no one in self defense

The media and many self defense schools perpetuate the belief that you will be attacked by a complete stranger. The harsh and most horrifying reality is you are more likely to be attacked or killed by someone you know than by a complete stranger.

Studies have shown that many crimes (murders, fights, rapes, assaults, etc.) are done by ex lovers, family members, friends, acquaintances, and associates (see link below.) Nevertheless people have an irrational fear that someone whom they do not see on a daily basis will attack them. We would rather believe that a stranger with a history of violence will most likely make us the victim of a crime. We couldn't possibly imagine someone that we know and love could be capable of such horrendous crimes and yet this is the reality for many people. As for why these crimes happen, the reasons range from jealousy to greed and rage to abuse.

The saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer.. " is very profoundly true. If we are to practice effective self defense then we must train to fight against anyone including those who are close to us. It may seem cruel and unthinkable but it must be done to ensure the safety of our lives along with the lives of others. We must put ourselves in the mindset that if our own friends are willing to go far enough to harm us, they were truly never our friends to begin with. If our spouses and family members go as far as hiring contract killers to assassinate us, they truly never loved us. We are taught by society that our entire happiness depends on giving ourselves wholeheartedly to those we love. We often see healthy boundaries as wrong because love cannot possibly have any boundaries but this is a lie. In reality, a healthy loving relationship has boundaries because boundaries are there to prevent harm and promote self respect. Once you allow someone to hurt you including those you love, you betray your own identity and self respect. No one not even your family has the right to hurt you and if they do without respecting your wishes, you have a right to defend yourself.

In conclusion, trust no one in self defense. That doesn't mean that you should be afraid of being attacked everyday of your life. It simply means that you should acknowledge the possibility that those closest to you can betray you. Choose who you let into your life carefully. Choose the people you deem are worthy of your trust. Be mindful of motives for why someone you know would want to hurt you. If the time comes that your loved one raises his or fist against you, be prepared to defend yourself.If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to my blog for updates, more advice, and exclusive content in the near future. I'm proud and excited to offer a FREE sample chapter of my E-book "Jeet Kune Do: How to build your own fighting system for self defense!" It's essentially a step-by-step guide on how to make your own self defense system suited to fit your own needs using Jeet Kune Do. If you would love to receive your FREE chapter of my e-book, click on the link below and share a post via. social media then it's yours for FREE! Be sure to also fill out the survey on the right and provide feedback on my blog. Leave questions, comments, and suggestions below.

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http://www.rrstar.com/article/20100216/news/302169859