Awareness

It is a sad fact of life that acts of violence are more prevalent in today's society. Becoming a student in a reality based self-defence system like Urban Krav Maga can teach you the physical and psychological skills for dealing with aggressive and violent confrontations, however avoidance is the best approach. The consequences of a physical attack can be very serious, even if you are the victor, both psychologically and legally.

The key to preventing yourself becoming a potential victim is alertness. In self-protection circles we often use Alertness Colour Codes to classify an individuals awareness of danger:

Code White

• Unaware of any potential threats and unprepared for trouble

• This is exactly what most potential attackers are looking for

• You will not see the attack coming

• Your reaction time will be greatly increased

Code white is not desirable, ever. Some people are habitually complacent, others are in code white because they are pre-occupied with other things or perhaps have their alertness reduced by excessive consumption of alcohol. Whatever the reason this is not the state of alertness to be in to ensure your safety.

Code Yellow

• Alert for threats

• Looking around and conscious of dark shadows, suspicious behaviour

• You will not be taken by surprise

• You will react more quickly to any attack

In self-protection terms this is a good state to be in. Your alertness will by itself mark you out as a hard target. Most assailants will pass you over for an easier mark. In addition to alertness the way you dress and carry yourself will also send out signals that can deter an assailant with pre-meditated violence on their mind. Dressing smartly in clean clothes also conveys confidence, dark colours are also associated with power in our culture. When walking in the street maintain a good posture and walk purposefully. Keep you shoulders back and look up, do not look down at the ground and shuffle - don't live in code white.

A good tip for maintaining code yellow alertness without becoming paranoid about the whole thing is to run an internal commentary just as when you are driving a car for example... "I'm just coming to the bottom of my road about to take a left, I see a group of slightly suspicious youths ahead of me .. maybe nothing to worry about but I'll cross over the road just in case. As I come to the corner I take a wider path rather than turning a tight circle so that I can see if there is anyone around the corner standing close to the wall ....."

Remember even though violence is becoming more commonplace we do not want to become paranoid and start to see threats everywhere and behave like extreme survivalists. There are many more good people than bad in this world, and with sensible precautions we can reduce our chances of having to physically protect ourselves. Ensuring that we are in code yellow whenever we go out is a good place to be.

Code Orange

• Under threat and prepared to respond

• Ready to escape or fight if needed

We are equipped by evolution to recognise potential threats to our safety. Fear is our alarm system, it will release a dump of adrenaline into your system when a threat is perceived by your sub-conscious. Listen to the warning. Take appropriate action if you can to avoid the threat, turn down another road where there are more people, into a shop or mall. Be prepared to turn tail and run if you have to. If you cannot for any reason run (e.g. you feel you will not be able to outrun your attacker) then do not deny the threat. Be prepared to talk your way out of trouble assertively or to act to defend your self should the situation warrant it. You will have more confidence in you ability to do this with some training such as we provide at Urban Maga.

Code Red

• Violence is about happen

• No doubt about it

• You are ready for it

• You are looking for the first hint of an attack or of crossing the line that you have set as your defence threshold

• You will act to defend yourself the way you have been trained to when the trigger occurs

It is a very stressful state to be in for any length of time, adrenaline will be coursing through your veins in huge quantities. You will need it, through your training you will not freeze under its influence but harness it to your benefit. You will disable your attacker enough to allow you to escape safely. There are signs that give a way an imminent attack, sometimes they are very obvious in the case of un-premeditated or "hot attacks" but not so obvious when the attacker is more "cold" and has a pre-meditated routine.

Let us look at "hot attacks" first - hot because anger is involved usually arising from a confrontation. The tell tale signs of imminent attack from an aggressor are:

• Intense continual staring

• Lowered brow

• Use of aggressive language especially the barking of aggressive swear words

• Vigorous pecking of the head to emphasize the monosyllabic threats

• Splaying of the arms as though the aggressor is carrying an imaginary bucket of water in each hand

• An inability to keep still, moving from side to side, pointing and twitching - tell tale signs of adrenaline dump

• The face becomes pale as the blood is diverted to the muscles

When faced with this situation it is important to accept what is happening, try to physically and psychologically put up a "fence". Speak in commands not requests. Keep the aggressor at distance. The techniques for achieving this are too detailed to go into here but will be covered in our lessons. If the attacker does not calm down but continues to move towards you, then you MUST act to physically defend yourself if escape is not an option, make plenty of noise and attract attention to yourself. Again make sure you have had the training to enable you to do this effectively.

"Cold attacks" involve deception on the part of the assailant. They are avoided by not putting too much trust in strangers. Again your natural alarm system will tell you something is wrong. You will feel uneasy, as though you are being talked into something you do not want to do. Listen to these warnings. Tell the potential aggressor assertively to back off! If he keeps coming forward despite this there should be no doubt in your mind that the intentions are not good. If escape is really not possible, make plenty of noise and be prepared to protect yourself physically.

There is much more to be said about the soft skills involved in self protection but the above gives you an idea of some of the skills aside from the physical ones we will teach you that help to keep you safe.