Do you have an attacking mindset?
What do I mean by that? I certainly don’t mean do you go around attacking people? Quite the contrary, that’s against the law and goes against everything I teach. So what do I mean?
Scenario… You’re on your way home and suddenly you’re confronted by an aggressive attacker wanting to cause you harm. You are cornered with no escape options available, attempts to reason with the attacker have failed, what do you do?
I’ll start by saying the chances of this happening are pretty slim and that most people go about their daily lives without ever encountering physical conflict. However, with that said, I believe that an attacking mindset is required to survive such a confrontation should it happen. If you find yourself in this situation it means that the previous stages of self-protection tactics, awareness/avoidance, escape and de-escalation have been missed or have failed, and as such you must catch up with the attacker’s mindset and do it quickly!
Remember: the attacker has had time to mentally prepare which is a luxury you won’t have and therefore you must be able to flick the switch and protect yourself.
Back to the scenario and the imminent attack that is about to take place. Here’s the mindset that works for me personally – I hope you find it useful…
“Aim to invade and control the opponent’s space with full intent, speed, and power, breaking their timing and posture with the mindset of attack and destroy until the threat is over!”
Please remember, physical self-protection techniques should only be used as a last resort when, as stated above, the previous (non-violent) stages of self-protection have been missed or have failed. I would also advise that anyone interested in self-protection does their own research on the subject especially in relation to the law surrounding it.
Nb to the reader: You may have noticed I used the term self-protection rather than self-defense – why is that? Ultimately they are just words that come to a similar conclusion, however, from a mindset point of view I feel ‘self-defense’ invokes a more reactive thought process (I will defend myself from a physical attack that has already started) whereas ‘self-protection’ is more proactive (I will take proactive steps to protect myself before the attack starts). Without going too far off track and delving into the laws of self-defense/self-protection, please remember that in England you are able to use reasonable force in relation to the perceived threat as long as you are able to justify your actions and your actions would seem reasonable in a court of law.
Thanks for reading
David Shaw – Sheffield Karate Club