Doesn't matter!!!

 On the track of the previous post, which dealt with the importance of situational awareness in personal safety, there is something I need to point out. In that post I mentioned OODA loop as a decision making model, and there is ONE single question you may ask yourself that could totally throw your loop off and gravely diminish your chances of an effective response in a bad situation. 

It is somewhat ironic that at issue (or the issue as it may be) is the same question I have repeatedly stressed as possibly the most important one to ask in your training - WHY?

Hmmm, how come? Well, please note in the previous paragraf that the description of the question is based on its importance in training. And there is a huge difference between training and acting in application. Namely, the process of training is meant to help in developing desirable attributes and skills that would ultimately increase one's chances of adequate performance in a moment of truths, whatever that may be for a given person (a competition match or tournament for athletes, mission for soldiers, assignment for LEOs...or responding to an assault for civilians). So, in order to ensure that our training is going in the right direction, it needs to be constantly analyzed and reviewed, with the goal of improving its effectiveness and efficiency in that regard. 

However, if or when you have to face the unfortunate situation of needing to deal with an attacker intent on inflicting you harm, the one thing you should not ask is "Why is this happening to me?". i.e. "Why is he/she/they doing it?" or any of the variations on the theme. You see, at that point, even if you found the answer to the question, it would not be helpful in any way to solving the problem. You need to act as decisively as possible, so the questions that would be more helpful are  what to do and how to do it. And hopefully, the training has already provided those answers and equipped you with proper tools for the implementation of responses. 

That said, there is the right time to ask that pesky WHY even when it comes to life threatening situation, which are best avoided (again, see my previous post), and that is either before or after the event, but certainly not during. Prior to the event is what is called preparation, in hope of getting some understanding of the phenomenon and raising the level of your readiness. Understanding violence and your place in it from this standpoint may be helped by some good works from Rory Miller (Meditations on Violence) Marc MacYoung, Varg Freeborn, Tom Sotis etc. In the aftermath of the event it is first and foremost the time to deal with any physical, legal and psychological consequences that may stem from it. Along the way you will possibly want to asking those WHYs, in order to do your best in attempt to avoid similar situations in the future or at least improving your chances of better dealing with them. 

Mind you, it is not an easy process and there are rarely completely clear and fully dependable answers, but as always...it is about increasing your odds.