By: Robert Ashton
Last weekend, I witnessed a guy get “jumped” in a club. Not sure if he deserved it, or how it happened but it brings up a good point about what I feel is the most important part of self defense. He and another guy were swinging at each other when a friend of one of the jumpers came along and blindsided the victim.
Suddenly he was on the ground getting stomped in the back by one guy, while the other guy was socking him in the face. Then another gentlemen (who you could tell from pre and post fight interactions, did not know anyone involved) joined in by stomping on the front side of the guy.
When it was over the victim was laying in a pool of blood. He was carried off by friends, while the people who jumped him went back to dancing and were never removed from the club. But thats not the point.
What I want to get across is that the most important aspect of self defense in my opinion is AWARENESS! Look for signals that tell you something is about to go down, from the vibe, to the body language of a person. You also need to make sure that you always, always, always, check your left and right limits, because you never know when someones “homeboy” is going to come and stomp your face in. Make it a habit to keep your head on a swivel.
This applies in ANY situation. You may be walking down the street with your eyes glued to your phone then the next thing you know, you’re getting stabbed. However if you had been looking around you would have seen the guy with a knife, and probably could have avoided the altercation altogether by running.
How do you defend yourself from a car accident? By being aware of other cars around you. How do you defend yourself from debt? By being aware of your spending. How do you defend yourself from getting wet while walking outside? By being aware of the weather. How do you defend yourself from running out of gas? By being aware of how much you have left…..Get the point? the list goes on and on. Awareness is the root and the key to keeping yourself safe.
You don’t have to take martial arts classes, or be a ufc fighter, or a military combatives expert to learn how to work on your awareness. You just need to practice making it a habit. Take a look around you every so often, make note of things, people, animals and what their behavior is. Keep your senses open.
If you get attacked you don’t get to chose the who, what, when, where and why. You don’t get to pick who attacks you, so stay aware. You don’t get to pick what they attack you with, so stay aware. You Don’t get to pick when they attack you, so stay aware. You don’t get to pick where they attack you, so stay aware. You don’t get to pick why they attack you, so stay aware……
The only thing you get to chose if you get attacked, is the How…..How are you going to react? How are you going to succeed? How are you going to survive?
Robert (AKA “Rob”) is an instructor at Elevo Dynamics and currently holds the rank of Brown/White belt in To Shin Do. He spends his free time being a car enthusiast, and is currently studying to get his personal trainer certification.
