The Most Dangerous Street Attack?
Quick question for you…
Which threat do you feel is the most dangerous in a real street fight?
- Knife attack?
- Handgun?
- Baseball bat?
- Multiple attackers?
Well, there’s not a one of them that I’d like to face on a Friday night out with my family, but the “trick answer” is…
…The Attack You Don’t See!
When your brain is locked into “ultra-adrenaline” mode, one of the primary limitations you’ll experience is tunnel-vision where your senses don’t pick up on cues outside of the immediate threat you’re dealing with. Primarily I’m talking about the “pre-fight” stage where you have someone “woofing” on your or threatening you in some way.
Your brain is trying to deal with…
- “Is he going to hit me?”
- “Should I hit him?”
- “What’s he going to do?”
- “Are other people watching me?”
- “Is my wife/kid/companion safe?”
And in this stage of bewilderment and guesswork, you’re not able to see any of that signs of attack that may already be headed your way.
- The unseen hand in the coat pocket that’s feeling for a trigger.
- The unseen clenched fist that’s gearing up for a haymaker.
- The unseen thugs coming up behind you to increase your attacker’s odds.
- The unseen tire iron that was just pulled out of the trunk of the car to the side of you.
- The unseen razor blade hidden in the palm of a hand.
But How Can Your Prepare For An Attack You Can’t See?
It’s not easy. The brain isn’t easily re-programmed after eons of biological programming.
However, here’s a “self defense training exercise” to help you prepare for the “unseen” street attack…
A couple times a day, when you’re out in public and talking to someone (like a store clerk, postal worker, co-worker, etc.), make a mental note of just these 3 things:
- The number of rings on both their hands
- The activity that the person to their immediate left and right is doing
- Any activity happening immediately behind you.
It only takes a few seconds to accomplish all of these tasks and if you do it right, using your peripheral vision and conscious listening, the person you’re talking to won’t even know you’re paying attention to anything other than him or her.
Doing this exercise just a couple times a day will train you to be more aware in one-on-one contact of taking notice of what’s in someone’s hands and the activity in a 360 degree circle around you.
As a practiced skill, this is a truly powerful self defense technique because it helps you make a faster, more effective strike decision while hopefully lessening your chances of being surprised by an unseen attack.
Just being more aware of your surroundings on a constant basis or more so in certain situations can defintely give you the upper hand and prepare you for anything. I use this technique on a daily basis and am able to anticipate things in certain situations faster than most people.
That was a great piece of advice and good form of practice.
Thank you.
Nice tip Jeff. As part of the course I offer, I talk about how an attacker will purposely distract you as well to catch you off guard. For ex. When someone stops to ask for the time our brains are programmed to stop and look down at our watch allowing time for the second to attack. You are right on with trying different awareness exercises. I just completed a 60 minute video on Danger Detection Strategies. Thanks Jeff.
I agree with scott about be aware of your surroundings. I practice Ninjitsu,and that is what my instructor says. When someone approches you,you need to not let them get too close to you,and create some distance between you,and them. Three feet or more so you can move,or step off the line of attack like he tells us.If you can,try to stand betweenan object,and them. Good advice too Chris !
Thanks Carl. I also teach how being too polite also gets people into trouble. Most people feel they have to be polite. If you are uncomfortable, you have nicely asked them to back off and they don’t! Now is the time to appear what as “rude”, but in reality, you are dealing with the person in a very appropriate manner. Most attackers know that people are overly polite and they can take advantage of that.
Thank you Jeff for talking about peripheral vision.That is one thing our instuctor has recently had us practicing. spot them before they get to you! That is good! I want to hear more peoples advice! Thank you!
Thanks Chris you are RIGHT ON !I Had someone approch me close to where I worked I was in mt car,and they came near me,and I look at them ,and motioned back off!,and it worked! Thank you
Each and every time after I shoot a course of fire ( in my booth at the local shooting range or in a formal training class…unless otherwise directed), I lower my pistol to either high or low ready,take a step off line(again in my booth if @ range),and with head only, look left, look right, bring pistol to sul, look behind left, look behind right, if clear top off magazine (tactical reload to have the most rounds available in my pistol) and then and only then do a self diagnostic to check for holes, blood, etc…then simulate calling for backup(911). I check hands, face, clothes, demeanor, and if anything can be a weapon in immediate view. I have seen the lightbulb come on in many a “shooting neighbor”. I always attempted to identify their gun instead of ring count and I try to say it out loud in my head. Don’t forget your tactical breathing.
All good advice,there can be setups involving more than one attacker,and hidden weapons!Politeness is good, as a rule but you don’t want a stranger getting in close, on the street or where ever, could get your pocket picked and your eye poked.
Great post and great comments. One more thing to think of is to look up – most people never look up for threats and if you are law enforcement or a soldier you could end up dead. It is true for all of us but even more so for them.
Another neat drill that I did when certifying in Tony Blauer’s Personal Defense Readiness and Commando Krav Maga was to have your training partner put training gun/knife or fist somewhere reasonably close to you while your eyes are closed. You open eyes and react as quick as possible implementing the flinch response made famous by Mr. Blauer and then reacting to possible attack.
There is no substitute for proper instructional training, in a controlled environment. One that involves actual light physical sparring (scoring points from stikes whilst defending against your opponents), or heavy contact for the more advanced e.g. taekwondo, karate, kick boxing, boxing etc. All training and sparring takes place after a warm up and physical exercise (in short you are fatigued whilst being trained to use perfect form, or score points against your opponent, whilst defending against their strikes). After a short period of time your techniques will improve and with the aid of sparring you will see your opponents moves sometimes long before they make them! In the street this will allow you to confidently avoid confrontations, and allow you to go about your daily business being alert, but not paranoid that everyone is out to get you! If a situation arises you will already be mentally prepared, which will give you the edge in that you can look for escape routes, possible weapons etc, while the average person is still trying to come to terms with the situation in hand. Common sense however should keep you safe! Avoid known trouble areas especially if alone. If you see a group of people ahead that makes you feel uneasy, avoid them, or aim so that when you come side by side you have them all on one side of you with a suitable distance between you, and you have already a escape route planned for your other side. If one of them strays in your direction, you`ll be more alert, leave via your escape route if you can. If not keep your cool and your distance (for them to make any contact with you they have to step forward etc). ALWAYS give yourself options. By keeping your distance you are not intimidating them, and you are keeping your options open. Try to maintain that distance, remembering for them to make contact they have to come to you, but if they`re intent on physically attacking you (by now it should be obvious if that is indeed their intention) and you have no other option anything goes, just make sure it`s effective, and not excessive!
Self-defense begins before you walk out the door in the morning
Rick
By the way my old eyes are having trouble with this small print
Rick
Good advise, and nice exersize. I’m usually very aware, and I often pick up on things most people miss. I’m still going to do this to make my ability even better. Thanks Jeff!
thanks for the nice tips:)
Very much enjoy this teaching. Must agree,however, with the ‘font size’ comment.
Avoid confrontation if possible, but, if it is not, appear eager to fight …. I was 16, but I was 6′2″ and 175 lbs… A 22 yr old friend, who was 5′4′ sneaked me into a bar to see the topless dancers….A barfly who was in his mid 40’s and 200 + lbs came up to my friend and said ” I feel like whipping somebody’s A– tonight, how about it ?” My friend turned pale and scooted away… then he turns to me, and says ” Looks like your friend has chicken feathers all over his butt,…..I think I’ll just take you on instead…” I haed sized this guy up,…he outweighed me by 50 lbs, but was shorter…I had a longer reach…my body was hardened by working on a farm every day..and I had studied Jiu-Jitsu..so I figured as long as this guy didn’t get me cornered,…I had a fair chance…. Very calmly, I turned to face him and said, ” If you have made up your mind, then I’m not going to waste my breath trying to talk you out of it….but, look around the room…all those people you see are called ” potential witnesses “…and they will testify later that you brought this to me,….” His eyes got wide as he thought this over for a few moments.. then he says, ” Oh NO ! you just forget about it….I’ve been around…you ain’t gonna sucker this ole boy in !!! You’ve got a NEW gun or knife you want to try out … NOT on ME !!!”
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Great information Jeff. Thanks! Awareness training is so important but this is a specific way of learning exactly what to be aware of. I will be doing that drill myself.
thanks jeff ,for the solid read and though many day to day events take place where someone got there a– kicked . your concept of always being alert is something that must be practiced daily by all. i have gotten my a– kicked and i do mean kicked. broken nose,teeth,with ribs and skull bruised joint and ligements and other parts hurt . my neck was twisted and permentlly damaged. all for saying hi to a pretty girl. and i was just was being polite. but her boyfreind and two bothers got the wrong impression and just decided to kick my a– anyway !!! someone was rude to her earlier in the day and they thought it was me. wrong guy in the wrong place sitution. and the funny thing was that i was well trained in boxing and martial arts . and i was alert of my surroundings. and i also put up a good fight doing serious damages to them . because of my training. but their first few blows were effective enough to slow my response and they kept hitting and kicking me even after i was down
they didn’t stop until i was knocked out and they even kicked me more after that. they were well trained as well as i was .so the moral of this story is quite simple .being well prepared and in shape helps but being alert of your surroundings gave me a chance to defend myself and possibly saved my life. the damage i did to them slowed them down and weakened them to a point that their strikes at the end were not as effective as they could’ve been. and remember that i was the wrong guy in the wrong place. so this could happen to you!!!
Constantly scan your surroundings, be able to place where persons are placed and possible hideing spots. Also now where you can make a fast exit and never place yourself where you can be penned in with no escape route. Also note any possiblities for make shift weapons for your use or the possible use of an attacker. It is a natural instinct for people to flee a situation 100% of the time, we must constantly train our mental state to be calm enough to observe and engage adversarries when neacessary. Please note that it is always better to leave “IF” at all possible.
I`ve had very limited martial arts training (approx one year) training upto three times a week, but what training I`ve had has saved me on many occasions. I`ve been threatened with knives, syringes, and potential fights, not to mention splitting up many a fight, and I haven`t suffered as much as a scratch! The reason, simply because I knew exactly what was going through their minds and I was ready to respond, and they could see that, and because of that they thought better of it! The thing is when you`ve done sparring you notice subtle things like peoples chest muscles getting ready for action, the way people stand and if you imagine a triangle directly below the jaw, the movements within that triangle give the tail, tail signs of where a blow is likely to come from. I can`t speak for boxers, but I find it hard to believe that someone properly trained by a suitably qualified martial arts instructor would be a aggressor. As for being constantly alert, I think there`s a thin line there between being paranoid and safe.
This is truly valuable life-saving information with good tips. Another way to prepare oneself for “…..THE ATTACK YOU DON’T SEE” is conducting unrehearsed and unpredictable scenarios that involve this principle. Primal instinct, intensity, mental and physical conditioning, vision training, and positive self-talk must be thoroughly probed and practiced on a daily basis. Intense Imagery training for combat on adaily basis is totally unbeatable and quite beneficial for the subconscious mind. It’s imperative that we remember the fact that our minds are paramount when it comes to preservation of oneself or loved ones. Jeff, your knowledge and generosity is greatly appreciated!!!
I absolutely agree and once again it boils down to we fight the way we train. Thus if we train barefoot in nice loose pajamas on a soft mat starting out by facing our opponent THAT is how we will be comfortable fighting
Rick
Sorry Rick I don`t understand what point if any you are trying to make, perhaps you would like to elaborate?
Wear street clothes, practice in different terrains, practice defense from different angles of attack not just face to face (big sparring problem here)
Get uncomfortable in order to become comfortable
Rick
sure sparring does have its limitations, but how many people are jumped from behind for no reason? If you`re in a neighbour hood where muggings etc. take place I assume you are there because you have no other choice. Then sure you have to be very alert, aware of stores etc you can escape to if need be. There are many things you can do to avoid being a victim. As for being alert though how far do we have to go, are we worried that our co-worker is about to turn psycho and attack us, or there`s a sniper with a high powered rifle on the roof top of a house a street ahead? What I`m trying to say is sure there are times we need to be alert, but then there are times we don`t need to be so alert, it`s a question of balance.
Also when you are going to your car and ready to unlock your car. You can see who is behind you if you use the window reflection to see behind you without turning around.
Paul
Very few serious attacks are face to face. All people have to do is add a few drills or even change the way they spar
Rick
Cardinal rules in any successful anti defense. Always remain aware of your surroundings so as to minimize any potential threat vectors. Neutralize any potential threats upon detection and the odds are even. And you walk away. Godspeed SEAL.