Lets talk about protection. Self protection. The world is overall fairly safe but it only takes one situation to possibly change your life in a bad way. Think about that. You could live your whole life and it only takes one event, which could last seconds, and it's over. I receive violent crime intelligence bulletins and even places that people consider "nice" have plenty of violent crime. Whether that means a simple hold up for money, simple assault, sexual assault, etc. Most victims of random crime thought nothing would ever happen to them. Then it happened.
That all said we shouldn't live in fear. We should take small (or big) steps to mitigate the risk of being a victim of violent crime. I have spoken with many violent criminals and hold up men. One common thread for most of them is that they are not out looking for a fight. They're looking for the path of least resistance and the easiest person to victimize. When they detect signs of resistance they may be deterred.
In my opinion, we should start with situational awareness. There has been an increase of people walking around looking at their phone with earbuds in. Thugs have taken advantage of this. Always be aware of your surroundings and make mental notes of who is around you and what they're doing. A common tactic for hold up men is a group of two will be heading your direction. One will break off and go a different direction while the other continues to approach you directly. The point is the one that broke off will attack you while you're focused on the other one. This tactic works really well on most people.
Second, adopt an "aggressive" mindset. This doesn't mean look for fights, but actually quite the opposite. Be quick to signal that you're aware of the thugs and that you're willing to escalate force if necessary. This means using subtle body language that the thug will recognize. Adopting a slight defensive/fighting stance, beginning to reach for defensive tools, etc.
The defensive/fighting stance is simple and similar to a boxer's stance. Feet shoulder width apart, toes generally pointed forward, non dominant foot slightly forward of dominant, hands up, elbows slightly out, shoulders tensed up, bent slightly at the knees, bent slightly at the waist. Nothing crazy or dramatic.
For defensive tools, I would recommend a good can of OC. It works on the vast majority of the population. It is simple oloresin capsain, a food product. Get a MK3 or MK4 stream model. Top Cop, Fox Labs, Defense Technologies. Remember to shake the can to agitate it. In many cases, the simple act of drawing the OC and shaking it will deter many thugs. If you determine that deployment of the OC is necessary, shake the OC, hit them in the eyes with the stream for about 2 seconds, and at the same time side step to your left or right. That way even if they decide to charge you they will likely miss.
That's all for now. I was just board and thinking about this stuff.
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