Street Smart....

Hey All,

I was out and about today just walking around as you do on the weekend and noticed so many people walking around in almost a dazed state. Almost oblivious to the world and wonder around them. My friends say I get paranoid walking around but any person training self defence of any kind practices awareness do they not? I play a game with my children where they give me a running commentary at times when walking around with me. My friends think I am nuts but after a while they start to pick out things which grown adults dont see. maybe that a man has his hair blue at 200 yards, silly little things yet significant in developing their skills for the better. I say adults dont notice because 9 times out of 10 they are walking around on phones, chatting to friends and not looking where they are going or looking at the ground or listening to their ipods or equivalent.

You will find it very hard to fight, that which you do not see coming. You should be aware of what is around you all of the time, i know i know we are only human and we make mistakes. But practice makes perfect in time you can develop the ability to pick out situations and people which before you may have not noticed.

Prevention is better than cure after all. so just a few tips to start the ball rolling on some things I do just to make sure I can stay a little safer out in that world of ours.

Code up, there are 4 colours, white, yellow, orange and red.
White = Oblivious to everything

Yellow = Being " Switched On "Paying attention to people objects, and sounds etc around you.

Orange = " Threat Evaluation " Assuming you have been in code yellow this should enable you to see a potential threat from a distance and avoid it ( ie two rowdy drunks from 100 years on your side of the street ). gives you time to cross the road or take a different approach while monitoring their actions.

Red = " Threat Avoidance Or fight Or Flight " the situation would have been evaluated in code orange and if there is a threat this is where you would prepare to fight or run. If no threat presents itself, drop back to orange, keep monitoring then when safe back to yellow and stay switched on.

Dont walk around with headphones in, blaring cheesy 80's music into each ear as loud as a jumbo jet taking off as this takes away one of your senses, ( your hearing, obvious I know ). but means you cannot hear someone approaching who you cannot see from behind or maybe from the side if it is dark and he or she is coming from an alleyway.

When standing at bus stops, public houses etc, be polite and stay coded up but if anyone asks for a cigarette or the time make sure you have noticed him or her before they notice you, dont feel the need to oblige but be polite and decline. most attacks occur for this reason just out of being polite and friendly and switched off as you are seen as easy pickings for the local yob out for a quick fix.

these are just a few of the things you can do. nothing hard, but just takes practice. and once you try it you will be surprised how much you actually notice compared to walking around pottering on with your day.

Code Up
Stay Safe

Craig

Hi Craig,

Most people are busy with their shopping lists and what to do later when they come back home. Others are occupied with the conflict with their boss or partner. They don't live in the here and now.
When I first was told to be aware I thought it meant to be vigilant and anticipate. Thing is that I didn't know what to anticipate and I soon felt tired as I saw everything as a threat. There are no 36 ninja's with uzi's going to jump over the hedge you are walking by.
With the study of zen I learned to see what was in front of me. That in combination with trusting intuition and studying people so u know what's out of line is what zanshin is about. Living in the now allows me to look at beautifull trees, the nice girls, impressive building and the small animals and birds.

Kind Regards,

Nick Engelen

im guilty of listening to the economist on my mp3 when im out, but i do try to stay aware of whats going on.

ive been attacked twice now while pushing my daughter in her buggy, not badly hurt thankfully bt never occured to me that people would attack you while pushing a bairn around.

be well,

Den.

Hi Den

Glad to see you and the Little one are ok,

Unfortunately in this day and age there are a lot of people willing to go one step further than of days of old with a " Square Go " as it were. These people who attack while out with the family are just in one mindset. To do whatever they can and damn the consequences to themselves or the people involved.

It may be that they have nothing more to do, or a show of ego in front of their friends. nothing more than cowards mate. Id Suggest keeping your mp3 if you must wear it with one ear piece in, or down low. even better wait until you get home.

Like I said before these devices can and do impair your senses quite dramatically. Keep An eye out, stay coded up.

Above all remember mate, there are NO rules when someone is going to attack you. but there are tell tale signs when you know what you are looking for. Just dont think that they wont try because you have your child, your wife or your grandmother with you.

Code up and stay safe. and listen to your mp3 player at home.

Craig

Had two youngsters come to me they'd been jumped whilst texting .Worst thing they were wearing "hoodies" and had them up.Just pulled the hood down and smacked em.BAD awareness.Totally agree with you colour codes can be really helpful.It's not being paranoid ,you switch on driving(well you should) and crossing the road thats not overreacting.Just a good habit to develop.
Karl

Hey karl

Well said mate
Bog standard awareness while driving and it becomes an unconscious mode of thought, Hoodies are the worst kind, reply to a text when you are at your destination, not while you are looking at your phone in the street where you dont notice anything at all....

We live and learn, some people learn the hard way, lets hope they learned their lesson from now on and they are a little safer.

Craig

Hiya, this is a pretty interestig on awareness, should prove quite helpful

Sometimes when I am approaching certain people, such as hoodies etc, I dont know why, but my head automatically goes down and looks away from them. I beleive this is showing I am nervouse of their pressence, can anyone suggest ways I can get over this habbit?

Thanks

Hi mark

Sounds to me like low confidence, or self esteem,
I have met and trained with many people who had this same issue.
guys who have trained and ones who have not. it just came down to their belief in themselves.

The problem with this is that, anyone can and probably would see you as easy pickings. how can you be aware of what is going on with your head facing towards the other way. this shows you are intimidated by them.

I would gues that even though you have had some training, all be it very little from what I know of you, would it be fair to say you are not confident in what you know?

Or would not know how to deal with the situation should one occur?

Body language is a fantastic tool. Walking confidently, upright, and looking where you are going is a great start. dont let your posture give it away that you are intimidated even though you may feel it. walk with confidence, head held high, and personally mate id suggest some training. not just physical, but probably drills to boost confidence also.

Boxing? Judo? something where you face adversity each class.

above all, work on your self mate. its something that comes from the inside and shines through.

Stay Positive

Craig

Craig is on the mark there ,by walking upright with CONFIDENCE and awarness but not like John Travolta in Saturday night fever please You present yourself as a hard target
Lets use the animal kingdom as an analogy, preadators often go for the weak ,sick and old .Then never fancy having a go at the fit ,healthy ones.
I know there's a lot more to it than this and I don't want to over simplify but you can see what I mean.
I little trick I find helps is to look them in the eye and say something "awright lads" kind of lets them know that I've clocked them .Now I'm not saying you should do this.But it works for me(5" 10 / 16 stone usually with a #1 haircut).
Hope you keep training and good luck
Karl

Just as a side note Bob Spour teaches NLP and I know this had good results in helping people with their confidence.You ask him on this site

I had a situation once where a couple of guys were checking me out from across the road. I don't know what came over me but I began to sing, "I'm sticking with you", in a high pitched falsetto voice and they lost interest quite quickly. Must.ve been my singing... I think they thought I was completely nuts, but it worked.

LOL,

Al, no offence mate, but I know you and if I saw you singing that id move sharpish also lol.

but way to go.

Karl

Nice call on NLP mate
and erm I didnt mean like John Travolta lol its late gimme a break lol
however a white suit, singing night fever with false bling and dancing may make them lose interest, after all if alan can do it singing falsetto, imagine what dancing like john travolta would do while singing like a BEE GEE.

Craig

Right on I'd probably make like a shepherd and get the flock out of there too

hahaha, mite give that a try.lol, though I think if I tried to sing, I'd break a few windows in the street.lol

An probably get arrestedfor causing noise polution haha

karma wrote:Just as a side note Bob Spour teaches NLP and I know this had good results in helping people with their confidence.You ask him on this site

hey guys
i did a NLP practicioner course with Bob last year and it was amazing
Bob's NLP is on a par with his muay thai.....so give him a shout.....cannot recomend it highly enough!!
on a side note re; the colour codes
check out www.Mnkali.com
articles by Diana Rathbone on the ooda loop
Di's an amazing martial artist and person and her work with the police and military is a real eye opener!
They have some top level guys training with the kali group so they are well worth checking out
mick x

Cheers mick

More quality info....

Hi Mick,

Was looking for the article about the OODA loop, can't find it. Can you point me in the right direction?

I saw Marcus Wynne mentioned. He is a great writer and a great instructor. I had the honor of training with him when he was doing a Neural Based Instructor course in Liverpool in 2006.

Kind Regards,

Nick Engelen

I've always seemed to have had this natural awareness and attention to detail. Going out with the mrs gets me stressed out fast as she's so totally oblivious to her surroundings. My mrs is filipino (so naturally small) so any average joe that bumps into her can send her flying. The amount of times she's nearly got herself run over. I'm teaching her daughter about awareness by using the commentary technique. Think i'll try it with the mrs. Maybe i'll retain more of my hair that way!?

You should try the running commentary with 4 kids mate.
just dont do it all at the same time as you get a surround sound headache. while trying to be aware is an awareness drill in itself believe me.

However having girls aged 6 some of the commentary they come out with is very funny and makes my day.

Craig

I'm by no means jealous. One kid is enough (with the added advantage i can give her back, haha) Thankfully none of my own. The mrs daughter is 5 in october but some of the things she comes out with crease me up. Walking through the town centre she saw a "fat police man". She then went up to the police man to tell him he was fat!!!!! Can't type some of the colourful phrases due to the forum rules!

I know what your saying mate believe me.
Some priceless moments and ones which make your day just that little bit more entertaining.