Essentials of Personal Protection

The Three Phases of Personal Protection

 

1.      Green Phase – Deterrence

It is of utmost importance not to appear as an easy target. Criminals are professional profilers and masters of target acquisition. Wherever you happen to be, carry yourself with a sense of confidence. Behave as if wherever you are, that is where you belong. Be sure not to put yourself into situations that make you a likely target, e.g. jogging alone at night in a secluded area, traveling through a rough neighborhood during odd hours, etc. Do not leave valuable items in plain sight in your car. Make sure your car doors are locked. If you have keyless entry make sure your interior lights are set to turn on when the door is unlocked. Make sure all family members know what to do in the event of a home intrusion. Your home should be well lit and all points of entry should be secure. An electronic security system monitored by your local police department would be optimal.

 

2.      Yellow Phase – Detection

Awareness is the key to avoiding being a victim of violent crime. Notice when you are being noticed, pay attention to any suspicious activity. Each of us intuitively knows when something is not quite right, listen to your intuition. Avoid being in a constant state of distraction e.g. fumbling with a wallet, digging in a purse, playing with your smart phone, etc. It is important to be 100% present to where you are, what you are doing, and what is happening around you.

 

3.      Red Phase –Defense

You should familiarize yourself with a handful of strategies, tactics, and techniques in the event that it becomes necessary to physically defend yourself or your family. There are a variety of self defense options ranging from lethal to non-lethal. Educate yourself concerning the legal parameters of self-defense and be mindful of them when pursuing the self defense options available to you.

Basic Strategies, Tactics, and Techiques – Red Phase

Self Defense VS Mutual Combat

In the event that physical confrontation is inevitable it is to your advantage for your adversary to have the impression that you are not going to fight back thus giving you the element of surprise and an opportunity for a pre-emptive strike. You want to avoid allowing the situation to evolve into some form of unspoken agreement that you are going to engage in mutual combat. Meaning both parties adopt a combative stance and begin fighting.

Critical Distance

Critical distance is the minimum distance between you and your adversary such that he must take one step, reach for a weapon, or both in order to do any physical harm to you. You can practice having the ability to recognize critical distance by pairing up with a partner and having him stand in front of you reaching towards you with his arms outstretched and parallel to each other. Adopt the same posture facing your partner with enough distance between you so that your fingers are barely touching.  Once this is done you can drop your hands to your sides, you have now established critical distance. Critical distance can vary for any two particular individuals. In practicing various self defense drills with multiple partners who vary in size and build we can develop the ability to recognize critical distance at a glance.

The Interview Stance

The interview stance is a posture that you adopt in order to optimize your defensive position without necessarily escalating the level of tension making physical conflict more likely.

For example

1.      Hands clasped on center line

2.      One arm/hand folded the other on your chin

3.      Hands up , palms forward

The Body As A Weapon & Anatomical Weak Points

Fist: fold the fingers down into the palm with the thumb clasped over the knuckles. The fist should be very tight and dense while the arm remains loose and relaxed. The fist should be held vertically and the strike launched along the centerline of the body, the bottom three knuckles being the point of contact. Suggested targets for the fist are the nose, tip of the chin, and the solar plexus (center of the chest at the base of the sternum)

Fingers: when using the fingers as a weapon they should be held together tightly and slightly curved so as to absorb the force of impact. The fingers can only be used against soft targets such as the eyes and throat.

Edge of the Hand: the outer edge of the hand can be used as a weapon; with the striking surface being the meaty portion between the base of the pinky and wrist. Suggested targets are the nose, throat, side of the neck, and kidneys.

Palm: the meaty portion of the palm closest to the wrist can be used as a weapon. When striking low the fingers should point down, when striking to body the fingers should be held to the side, when striking high the fingers should point up. Suggested targets are groin, kidneys, solar plexus, chin, and nose.

Elbow: the elbow is a good close quarters weapon used to strike in a circular path on the horizontal plane or downward against someone attempting to lift you off the ground. Also an upward blow to the chin utilizing the elbow can be very effective.

Shoulders & Back: Ramming the shoulder into the chest can knock the wind out of your assailant. Violently slamming your back into your opponent as he attempts to grab you from behind provide can provide an opportunity for follow up attacks or a quick escape.

Knees & Feet: the knees can be used to strike upward into the groin. A clinching knee strike is also effective; this is done by interlocking your fingers behind your opponent’s neck and bringing his head down as your knee travels upward. The heel of the foot, the side of the foot, and the front of the foot can be used as weapons. The choice of striking surface depends greatly on what type of footwear you are wearing at the time. Good targets for kicking are the shin, knees, and groin. With high kicks you risk the possibility of either losing your balance and or getting your leg grabbed. So aim low!

Improvised Weaponry

Anything can be used as a weapon; examples are keys, bags, pens, umbrellas, etc. Weapons can be broken down into three categories; clubbing/bludgeoning, stabbing/slashing, throwing/projectile. A good mental exercise is to look around the room and ask your-self, of the objects in this room which of them can be used as weapons. What categories do they fall into?

Escaping From Holds

The most important concept is “what weapons do I have free”. When you are grabbed there is always a part of your body that is free. You must quickly determine what body weapon is available and what target is available and use that information to create an opportunity to escape from the hold.