Firm ground

 Okay, this fill be the final post (think of it as a het-trick) on the role of awareness and alertness in the grand scheme of personal protection...for now at least. The previous two articles touched upon some of the basic tenets of what is desirable and what is not in that regard. This time I'd like to point you to a great source for further study.

David W I Wilson's work From The Base Up! is a fairly recent book, and a pretty damn good one if I may say! From the very beginning, it is absolutely thrilling to see aa book whose cover page lets you know exactly what to expect. Specifically, taken together its title and subtitle - Building foundational skills for situational awareness, strategy, and self-defense - very aptly describe what the content is all about.

The aspect of this piece of work that makes me like it so much is that the author gives a very comprehensive, yet practical overview of what is a rather complex subject. He approaches the presentation from several angles, addressing the building elements of situational awareness, strategy and goals, willpower, context, tactics, force matrix, intent, structure, breathing, efficiency of motion, effectiveness, as well as practical application beyond combat. As you can see, it is an integrative approach that includes both "software" and "hardware" skills and discusses how they work together in striving for the optimal outcome. 

Remember how I said it was practical? Well, that is possible the strongest feature of Wilson's book. Whereas most other works on this topic tend to stay in the predominantly theoretical domain, spanning from the unnecessarily burdened neuropsychological treatises to cheap lip service pamphlets that boil down to "trust your gut" level of advice, From The Base Up actually deliver a well laid out progression of explanations, accompanied by actionable steps. It means the reader is given concrete advice and various exercises to better absorb the content, i.e. make the material useful in the real life. 

Now, be aware (excuse teh pun) that it is still not what most people would consider a handbook, because the subject matter is highly intangible and dependent on the user's individual circumstances and needs. However, it is exactly this that makes Wilson's book impressive - to my mind he hits the sweet spot between the education (underlying theoretical principles) and instruction (the practical drills/exercises), so that the readers who take it seriously could reap benefits that reach beyond instant solutions to problems they may not even have. 

Ultimately, a good understanding and "embodiment" of the material presented should make one much better equipped to recognize, prevent, avoid and/or manage all kinds of conflict situations in such a way to also prevent and avoid as many of the negative consequences (psychological, physical, social, legal...) as possible. 

With that in mind, it is hard to imagine a better investment in one's personal safety. 

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.