Awareness

Self-Defense

Many people confuse the ability to defend themselves with the ability to fight. If you believe self-defense is being able to defend yourself against an assailant, you will probably direct you efforts toward learning physical techniques. However, self-defense training should first be directed toward avoiding the need for physical techniques.

The sequence of a self-defense situation is:

• If you cannot prevent trouble, avoid it.
• If you cannot avoid it, defuse it.
• If you cannot defuse it, escape.
• If you cannot escape, then you may have to fight your way out of the situation.

The sooner you detect and recognize a threat, the more options you have to respond to it and the more successful your actions are likely to be. Awareness is the key to detection.