This week’s scenario will be…
Developing Your “When”:
Combatives for Preemptive Self-Defense
Check out this post for more details.
Saturday, 11/3, 8:30AM
Post requests for future scenarios to the comments below!
The Five Stages of Violent Crime and the AOI Triangle
“An overwhelming majority of violence comes with instructions on how to avoid it.”
Here is yet another excellent article from Marc MacYoung of No Nonsense Self-Defense:
Here’s a summary:
The Five Stages of Violent Crime
- Intent – A person is mentally prepared to commit a violent crime.
- Interview – The criminal decides if the target is safe to attack.
- Positioning – The criminal puts himself in a place where he can successfully attack you.
- Attack – The criminal commits to using force or the threat of force.
- Reaction – How the criminal feels about what he has done, i.e., how the criminal might further escalate the attack if his initial goals (e.g. robbery, empowerment) are or are not met.
A related concept:
The AOI Triangle
- Ability – Does the person have the ability to attack you?
- Opportunity – Does this person have the opportunity to attack you?
- Intent – Is he in a mental place where using violence to get what he wants makes sense to him?
“The fastest way to figure out if you are in potential danger is to look for these three elements.”
Also read the counter to the Five Stages, the Pyramid of Personal Safety.
Marc and Dianna MacYoung seem much more rooted in reality than most every other self-proclaimed expert on violence. They are not alarmist reactionaries intent on making you feel like everyone in the world has the potential to rob and murder you. What I really like in particular about their writing is that any discussion of self-defense always returns to use of force considerations and the legal and psychological repercussions of resorting to violence.
Darren Laur’s “Ritualized Combative Signs”
There’s a very informative article by Victoria City Police Staff Sergeant Darren Laur titled “Ritualized Combat” that’s been reprinted in various places around the ‘net. It lists common physical attributes displayed by people along a spectrum of imminence of assault.
Assuming you cannot avoid a confrontation entirely, being able to read these precursors and developing your “when” are at the core of our self-defense training.
More good articles here.
Two Excellent Sam Harris Essays on Self-Defense
I recently read these two essays and wanted to share because they relate so well to the principles of Krav Maga.
Krav Maga is not specifically mentioned, but the first essay most certainly draws from the same playbook.
“The Truth about Violence: 3 Principles of Self-Defense”
The second essay is apropos of all the groundfighting we’ve been training these past few weeks.
“The Pleasures of Drowning”
Related Posts:
- Developing Your “When”
- 27 Ninjas Questions
- The Repetitive Nature of Training Is *Not* Killing Me
- “All’s you have to do is _____.”
- Some Reading
- Hick’s Law and Krav Maga
- The Importance of Aggression
On being mentally prepared
I wrote about a few good books a while ago that focused on self-defense and reaction. Rory Miller, in his book Meditations on Violence, had a good suggestion that I’d like to present to our community. We train physically in self-defense and fighting and aggression, but what about our mental training? One key element in the mental preparation is knowing when. At what point to you decide to engage physically? At what point do you decide that the “Hey man, calm down” isn’t working, or giving someone your keys and wallet isn’t enough?
One thing to do now, when you are in a safe place and can think about it, is to make a list of what scenarios might happen in which you will fight or intervene. Now, I’m not talking about the mugger who just wants your cell phone and wallet and will walk away when he gets those. In those situations, hand over what they want and hope they walk away. But what happens if they don’t just walk away?
Here is my list:
- When I feel my life is being threatened (yes, this is broad and can be very individual and interpreted in several ways)
- When a mugger wants to move me to a different place
- When a loved one is being threatened
- When I see a child is being threatened
Please feel free to add yours in the comments.
