Editorials

 

Is there need for self defense, questions the validity of your perception of how safe your environment is for you to survive. Safety is a state of mind. Most people perceive that their everyday environment is a safe place to be.   People have their new cars with the anti-lock brakes and side impact bars or they belong to a hockey/rugby/lacrosse team and they can handle the physical contact in that environment; or that they have a position in work, rely on their air of authority and their demands are executed with no question. These are some examples of how people live their lives and feel in control because they aren’t challenged to think any other way. Unless you work in an environment which brings you in to contact with the criminal element or a violent situation, you will not appreciate the time and effort that a person who displays anti-social activities may put into to complete their chosen enterprise. 

Violence has, and always will be around in one form or another. Violence against another can be defined as doing harm to a person against their wishes. We see and are surrounded by images of violence but have become less affected by this; many of us have become desensitized because of the pervasiveness of violence in our society. The media has become very good at sensationalizing violence even to the point that they now have catchy names for wars. For example the newspapers and TV show forms of conflict from a game of football, boxing, a news flash of a war torn country, a local crime affecting a person in your community, to a movie where at the end everybody dies but you see the same actors next week in a different film. Once you have become desensitized to the act of violence (from the media) you no longer appreciate the reality of how quick you can be involved in a situation you do not want to be in. The fact is in whatever form it takes place, violence is prevalent and is part of our circle of life. I am not suggesting that we should all be barring arms and take the law into our own hands. However, being aware of a problem is the first step to avoiding it.

I have had many conversations with people not wanting to take part or parents not wanting to put children into any form of self defense because they were brought up with the view that fighting was wrong and violent. It is – defending yourself is not. Parents often forget to inform their children about this important piece of knowledge.

Often if their children were to take part in a form of self defense they would become very respectful of their fellow human, mainly because they soon discover that they can be hurt quite quickly and efficiently. People tend to be more polite and tolerant when they learn this.

This is one of the important lessons learned on how to avoid violence, cause and effect.

Many people rely on the adage, “turn the other cheek” or may choose to develop a false sense of security and rely on it. By doing this they hope violence will never affect them. The only thing that they can rely on is anything may happen.

 

To answer the opening question “is there a need for self defense?” I would say that there most definitely is. The more you understand how fragile life really is, the more you appreciate it and will try to avoid violence (the best defense) or at least have the ability to defend yourself and loved ones.

 

 

To be aware of an action helps to understand or make sense of an action. Once you understand something you can better control it.

If you understand the precursors to a violent response from an individual you can avert it. This includes the times of day, the places you may find yourself, even the types of clothing you are wearing. These all have a part to play in whether or not the possibility of an altercation may occur.

Consider that we were designed to swing in the trees and walk on all fours (I hope that I haven’t offended anybody, but I tend to follow Darwin’s theory); we haven’t changed that much, we just dress a little better. Our programming for survival, for gathering food, searching for shelter, for a mate and protection of our family is still the same, admittedly a bit more complex but still the same. If we perceive that any of these are challenged, in one form or another we tend to try and protect our source, escalating or deescalating the situation to facilitate our needs.

 

Sun Tzu (a Philosophical tactician from China 2,300 years ago) noted “ If you do not know yourself or your enemy you will lose a hundred battles, if you know yourself and not your enemy you will lose fifty battles out of a hundred, but if you know yourself and know your enemy, you will be victorious every time”.

 

How do we gather information on a subject without knowing what the parameters are?

We can’t. We will have to be able to be flexible and ready for the eventuality an altercation may happen. In times of stress we revert back on our pre-programmed skills. If you have not developed any skills to fall back on, you may not be able to deal with the situation.

All we can do is train the principles and be aware of the possible vantage points or opportunities of an attacker.

 

This means muscle memory, knowledge of our physiology, environment and scenarios. One good way that works for me of deescalating a situation, as I said earlier, is to be aware of the possibilities or the opportunities for an act of aggression to occur.   Unfortunately these seem to be magnified when alcohol is involved. 

I have spent several years in the UK working in the nightclub scene and learnt a tremendous amount about people’s behavioral patterns. 

I know how to confront people and divert there emotional angst and physical energy

I have also come across other good advice by way of one of my mentors Charles Ennis (a great friend and veteran Vancouver Peace Officer) who recommended the book “Street Survival”. Here is part of the information gathered by a study group in the seventy’s from this book (they identified four components in violent incidents):

 

In the many violent incidents that I have dealt with, I was fortunate to work with a good team and only had to resort to physical restraint of an individual on several occasions mainly because I de-escalated the situation before it could get violent. I had my training to back me up and only used it to parry or divert force.

Most people, when drunk and emotional aren’t upset with you; you are just their focus to vent their perceived wrong doing. Informing the “reality challenged” individual of this fact doesn’t always work but allowing them an escape route will (most times). They will either try to intimidate/challenge you verbally or physically.

 

Being aware of how people challenge you (staring, verbally provoking or gesturing) will enable you to remove yourself from the situation. Choosing to stay may be an option – your experience will determine this. Perspective is all – do you really want to fight over an insult?  Do you want to loose the rights you have? Ask yourself “Do I really want to fight over a trivial thing such as this, do I want to go to prison and lose my freedom”? Protecting yourself or a person you care for is paramount. So move them or your self away from the problem in a discreet manner. If you can not move away try to de-escalate the situation by giving the antagonist a way out. Allow the aggressor to save face.

This has two advantages:

 

 

I began with the advice of Sun Tzu, “Know yourself and know your enemy”. The antagonist wants an easy victory or to prove that they are better than you, this is why you have been chosen. Give the individual the gratification in proving themselves correct, if the situation escalates you are in a better position than they, you are now of no consequence in their eyes, and underestimated in the game. If you have done everything to avoid a confrontation and the situation has not changed the only option left is to defend yourself.

 

Not all confrontations are in a bar or nightclub, perhaps you are just walking down the street. You are confronted by an individual you perceive to be an aggressor. Could you have avoided the situation before you were confronted? Most times yes - by using constant awareness drills. If you are a driver you already possess this skill; you are constantly scanning the road ahead. So scan the road ahead (the street, public room etc), beside and behind you (use reflections in windows for example). I don’t mean that you should become paranoid, just develop these techniques and you will develop a great awareness of your surrounding and will not have as many surprises. 

 

 

When you have been caught off guard and find yourself face to face and in conversation with an individual there are other important precursors to be considered, those of behavioral. As I mentioned earlier, the needful things are what drives us one way or another and if your “reality challenged” antagonist perceives you to be an obstacle/justifiable target for whatever reason, they may display some or all of these following indicators. If they are under the influence of alcohol, drugs or they are goal orientated, a situation may be hard to de-escalate.

 

 

·        Pacing or restlessness

·        Rapid breathing

·        Grinding of teeth

·        Clenched fists

·        Sudden immobility or coiled postures indicating a readiness to strike

·        Dilated pupils

·        Sweating (especially if the individual’s level of recent activity or the temperature make perspiration unlikely)

·        Trembling of the hands and extremities

·        Intent starring. The antagonists gaze may even indicate the intended target.

·        Bobbing and dipping movements. If the individual begins to shift position and transfer weight they may be adjusting posture to grab or strike

·        Rapid mood swings

·        Loud speech threatening behavior

·        Bizarre behavior. Body language that differs from the verbal message

 

You may feel anxiety. This is a good thing. It means that you are aware to the fact that something is not right and that you perceive yourself to be in a dangerous situation. So your defensive part of your brain responsible for the fight or flight called the amygdala steps in (momentarily) and flicks the switch for a chemical boost - adrenalin. You may display some of the pre-assultive symptoms of your aggressor, such as twitching of the extremities (trembling hands), pupil dilation; facial coloring may change to either white or red.

Desmond Morris, who wrote the book “The Naked Ape”, suggests that when you see an aggressor with a red face it means that they have had the go signal to fight but due to social or emotional restraints the individual chooses not to and is in conflict. The white face means that the individual is about to go and blow his top, the worst one of all is when there is no facial coloring change as this is a person who has no conflict or anger, has decided and is in control of what they are about to do. (In reality, trying to figure what facial pigmentation they have is almost impossible as you will have to react fast to a situation).

 

These physiological changes prepare you for flight or fight, “Survival mode” (I have loosely coined this phrase). Basically, the Survival mode is the reaction your physiological energy system has on your body when you are introduced to sudden stimuli. The body’s energy system is made up of two parts. The Aerobic and Anaerobic. The Anaerobic breaks down into two parts again, lactic system and creatine phosphate. The part I am referring to mainly is the creatine phosphate system which supplies about 10 seconds of energy without breath. After this, your lactic acid system takes over and start’s to brake down carb’s without the use of oxygen (the by-product of this is lactic acid, hence the name) and supplies about 40 seconds of energy (this why we get that burning feeling in our muscles-they are exhausted and full of waste product) Your body will undertake a rapid upgrade, for example:

 

·        your heart will pump faster (from 1 gallon a minute to approximately 5 in some cases) to supply more energy to the skeletal muscles,

·        your body may sweat,

·        start breathing quickly/ shortness of breath

·        May develop a choking sensation

·        Nausea/butterflies

·        Dizziness/light headiness

·        Tingling/numbness or hot and cold flushes.

 

This is because your body dumps lots of chemicals into your system to deal with the clear and present danger; the main chemicals are adrenaline and endorphin.

After the situation has occurred you may feel a number of emotions ranging from remorse to euphoria. You may also have a desire to speak and explain or gabble incoherently. Be aware of these responses and you will deal with them better.