RUN-HIDE-FIGHT

[Van Canna]

Good post Jason and all so true.

What did you guys come up with?

It is basically what you load your 'mushin' with that makes a difference when the time comes to use what we think we know.

Most martial arts practitioners have a tendency to believe that just practicing kata, kumite, conditioning and bunkai_ is all they will ever need when dealing with street violence.

Rory offers the following

You'll need a basic understanding of Violence Dynamics, which is just a fancy way of saying you know about different kinds of bad guys and how they attack.

This is taken for granted for the most part.

Understanding the self

What is your personal threat profile? How does it change over time and circumstances? A fit martial athlete is largely only going to be targeted for a Monkey Dance-- until the day he is injured and/or drunk. The elderly are targeted by resource predators more than process. Women are targeted for many different types of violence. What would a predator or an insecure monkey want from you?

Understanding the adrenaline factor

For both social and asocial, the ability to recognize the signs of adrenalization, and how to tell how experienced the threat is with adrenalized states (from adrenaline-controlling 'self-calming' behavior to the blank-eyed relaxation from someone who's skin has just paled.)

Learn about the presence of danger

For social, this is largely the ability to recognize the script. For asocial, the absence of normal social cues. Big ones for this are proxemics (there are natural and unnatural distances to stand); Orientation (how often do people asking you questions stand at your flank?); and foot placement (normal social interactions will have the power line perpendicular to you.) Signs that a weapon is involved (hand placement, clothing, tells, unequal armswing when walking....). And whether there is an audience (social).

Most of us MA practitioners...never learn any of this in class, which is understandable...but not so much when not pursued elsewhere to complete the 'self defense' picture we try to present to students seeking this from us in class.

[Van Canna]

Rory

The bad guy gets position, surprise. The bad guy prefers to have the edge in size and strength (not always-- skinny, short meth addicts need drugs too). And if there is a weapon, the bad guy will have it in play. You won't, because why the hell would he pick you if you did? The world is full of marks.

[Van Canna]

Rory

Knife-in-play blitzes (what most martial artists envision when they think of defending against an active attack) don't happen that much in my experience-- but they are a formidable tactical problem. The crazy guy attacking a crowd doesn't happen that often either. Outside of certain populations, neither does shanking-- but that is where I concentrate my training time. And I think I have the best available answer for it.

But I'm not gonna delude myself for a second into believing it's a good answer.

[Van Canna]

Rory

Self-defense is a thin list of things that might give you a chance. But just a chance. If there was something reliable, criminals would change their tactics.

Take that back-- there is something reliable. And that is victim behavior. There are exceptions (and our entire goal as SD instructors is to turn our students into those exceptions) but those exceptions are rare.

[Van Canna]

Rory

Almost all victims freeze under a flurry and their hands go up to protect their faces. Most people yanked try to pull away instead of step in. Most men (even very well-trained ones) try to instinctively use the body mechanics of a Monkey Dance fight, with the shitty base and poor body mechanics and wide open centerline that comes with that. On some level almost all humans when they perceive themselves to be under attack by another human, try to communicate. What fighting they do is (subconsciously) intended to send a message, not to eliminate a threat.

It's not conscious, but criminals know this stuff and they count on it. And it works.

But that's an aside.

[Van Canna]

Close range knife assault. Caught in a riot. Being a civilian on the receiving end of an active shooter scenario. There is stuff you can do for all of them, but there is nothing with a guaranteed outcome and sometimes the best possible outcome (the shooter only got one person--that's how you knew-- and you got him) still leaves two grievously wounded or dead people and a messy aftermath.

No good answers. Whatever you have, if you are sure about it, you are wrong. Don't get comfortable.

[Jason Rees]

On some level almost all humans when they perceive themselves to be under attack by another human, try to communicate.

That's the take-away. Would you react differently if you were under attack by a face-eating chimpanzee? How about a hungry tiger? A rabid dog?

Questions and questions, and more questions.