Today, I want to revisit the concept of situational awareness. I first discussed it here. Not to make you paranoid or anything, but if you’re going to go to the trouble to learn self-defense, then you need to be willing to put your phone, mp3 player, or whatever else you’re carrying around as a distraction, away.
Rather than write a list of reasons you should do this, I’m going to 1) show you, and 2) give you a few links to some sites covering this topic in greater detail.
First up, the video seen ’round the world:
https://youtu.be/hUbTEprXsDw
I’m not going to comment on any of this, except to point out that if either of these people understood the concept of situational awareness, neither of them would have been there to have this fight. And, if either of them had any self-defense, or more specifically, martial arts training, they also wouldn’t have allowed this to escalate. But, I digress.
Watch this video, even if you already have, but this time, look at it from an SA perspective. If you found yourself in this bar, in this situation, what would you do? And, what would you do if you were one of the bystanders?
What’s the baseline for this environment?
How many people are around the area?
Who’s intoxicated?
If there’s an anomaly (something that stands out as “off,” what’s your plan?
Honestly, some situations are best avoided, but if you can’t avoid, then you need to tune in.
Now, here are a few additional resources:
The Art of Manliness – Don’t let the name fool you. This site is for the ladies, too. After you read the article, check out this guest post on his site.
CP Journal – Check our the Behavioral Library section. If you’re seriously interested in body language analysis, then get the free download of the Behavioral Analysis Reference List.
Joe Navarro – He’s a former FBI spy-catcher and soon-to-be Kori’s teacher. (His schedule got backed up, so now she has to wait, but if you thought I know a thing or two about self-defense and SA, you need to get to know Kori better.)
Paul Ekman Group – This man is considered by many to be THE expert when it comes to reading the face. The character from Lie To Me is loosely based on his work.
This should get you started.
Oh, yeah, remember this:
Go practice.
