Spectrum of Self-Defense

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The spectrum involves self-awareness, awareness, avoidance then those methods or methodologies that result in proficiency with applying impacts, drives (pushes), pulls, twists, takedowns, throws and compression to achieve your self-defense goals. It is NOT about technique training or even those physical teachings found in most self-defense martial arts programs. It also involved such things as, “Conflict communications; Emotional Intelligence; Lines/square/circle of SD, Three brains (human, monkey, lizard), JAM/AOJ and five stages, Adrenal stress (stress induced reality based), Violence (Social and Asocial), Pre-Attack indicators, Weapons, Predator process and predator resource, Force levels, Repercussions (medical, legal, civil, personal), Go-NoGo, Win-Loss Ratio, etc. (still working on the core sub-principles for this one)”Attitude, Socio-emotional, Diplomacy, Speed [get-er done fast], Redirected aggression, Dual Time Clocks, Awareness, Initiative, Permission, etc.”

Lets focus on the first part. 

Self-awareness begins with each person’s perception and perspectives of their beliefs and abilities along with a strong view of how they interact with the world at large. Self-awareness also encompasses how you see yourself and what you are willing or not willing to accept, understand and do about life’s little curves and obstacles especially when it involves conflict and violence. 

Self-awareness continues on with our being aware of our abilities and our commitments toward self-protection/defense. It is that awareness of our mind-set and mind-state from understanding the world, accepting both the good and bad and then giving ourselves the permissions necessary to do what is needed to achieve goals, i.e., stopping the threat in violence for instance. 

Self-awareness is also about knowing what we don’t know so that less and less obstacles of the mind will result in our failure to protect and defend. Being aware that there is more than just physical answers to issues, problems and obstacles in life’s ways. 

Awareness begins with the awareness spectrum that provides each and every person the tools, knowledge and abilities to embrace the path that leads to conflict, violence and violent conflict that will allow us to become aware of the danger life presents in all its forms thus allowing time and distance to come up with an appropriate response to any given situation so that one can avoid, deescalate or apply the mental and/or physical actions necessary to achieve a goal, especially in self-defense. Think environmental awareness, situational awareness, physical/body awareness (yours and your adversary’s), dynamics awareness such as attack indicators or pre-assault indicators, etc., criminal and legal awareness, danger awareness, and mindful awareness to name just a few. 

Avoidance begins with awareness and awareness is all about avoidance, avoiding conflict and violence and all the surrounding things that result in the type of repercussions that enhance the damage one might endure in any physical defense process. Avoiding the monkey in all of us so that it does not take over and drive us faster and further down that road toward physical damaging violence. Those things that allow us to choose to take the first and best exit off that highway resulting in avoiding the more damaging aspects of the self-defense spectrum. 

Then we, as a last resort, have to fully understand, be aware of and apply those various physical aspects in self-defense toward ending the violence fast and remaining within the self-defense square. No one system or style of martial self-defense is adequate by and of itself to achieve the goals of self-defense.

Developing those tactics and strategies that use the fundamental principles of martial disciplines that span a range far and above any one system or style to achieve the proficiency and application of tactics for the use of attack methodologies such as those that produce impacts, drives (pushes), pulls, twists, takedowns/throws and compression, etc. built upon one another in no specific order or need that are best for stopping a threat. Those that allow you to work a threat from a distance to mid-range to close to hands on skin-to-skin that can go to the ground and so on. Those methodologies and principles that will allow you to end it quickly and decisively while maintaining the ability to articulate your needs and actions in self-defense - remaining within the self-defense square. 

Note: I doubt I actually covered the full spectrum simply because I know there are a lot of books out there on the subject meaning the full spectrum of self-defense is actually an encyclopedia britannica set of volumes on the discipline that still don’t cover it all. So let me have my fun, k? Note II: Just check out the bibliography if you don’t believe me :-) Hey, I am still trying to work it all out for me!

Bibliography (Click the link)