With a little informed awareness, you can see the future We need physical techniques to prevail over our attackers, but it may even be more important to have informed awareness skills to perceive a threat before an assault even begins. You need to understand how the offense works. You need to know the typical methods a violent criminal uses in preparing for an assault. You also need to be able to read the behavioral and physiological cues that manifest in any individual who is planning to attack you. Knowing these things will improve your situational awareness and allow you to make a plan of action before the attack comes. The Criminal Approach There is a process most criminals go through prior to assaulting their victims. If you recognize this process you can act before you become the victim. Most criminals simply want to get paid. They do not want to be injured in the process. When they are looking for a target, they go through a selection process. They want something that pays well, but also has low risk. If you are selected as a potential target, the criminal may approach you in an effort to further evaluate your potential as a victim and assault you. This may include engaging you in an attempt to get closer, distract you or size up your willingness and ability to resist. The approach may vary, but it still comes down to the criminal getting closer to you. His approach can range from asking for money, a cigarette, or directions to offering help. He will prey on your conditioning to be polite and follow social norms in order to put you in a position of disadvantage or simply to get close enough to act. He could be trying to corner you in the parking lot, distract you while an accomplice approaches you from behind or lure you away from the vision of witnesses. He does not want to be caught, so even when armed, he will likely need to get very close to you so he can act more discreetly. You may not have the opportunity to see every criminal approach you, but if you are aware, you should notice when people you do not know approach you. I can not count how many times I have been approached at a gas station by people wanting money, help or who knows what. It’s a very common location and method criminals use to get close to victims. You need to expect and look out for these situations. On a recent trip to the Caribbean, a man stepped in front of my truck, while I was driving in an attempt to “help" me. He told me I was going towards a dead end, and if I would roll down the window and get out my map, he would help point me the right way. Normal people, of any culture, do not jump in front of your vehicle to help you. That was a clear red flag and my cue to get away from him. You need to recognize when anyone unknown to you is attempting to get closer to you, and you need to be prepared to evaluate and deal with that situation. You need to have a plan for managing potential threats or, as Craig Douglas calls them, unknown contacts. The person approaching may be someone looking to mug you. It may be someone who is emotionally disturbed and unpredictable. Or it could simply be someone who intends no harm and really just needs help. You have to be prepared to stop them from approaching with verbal requests or commands and quickly disengage. You will have to risk being rude to those who are not actually threats, but who behave in a manner that makes you suspect them. Recognizing the approach and the potential pitfalls of your position will help you spot an attack before it happens. The Gut Feeling and Pre-attack Cues Sometimes we get a “gut feeling" that something is wrong. It is feels like one part emotion and one part stomachache. When it happens, it is often hard to determine why, but you clearly feel like something bad is about to happen. When you get this gut feeling, do you trust it? You should. The gut feeling is created when your mind subconsciously recognizes cues that indicate danger is coming soon. These cues are called pre-incident indicators or in the context of a violent encounter, pre-attack cues. Your subconscious mind draws on all your relevant experiences to quickly assess a situation. When enough cues are present, your mind will warn you by creating the feeling that something is wrong. This is a survival mechanism that you should embrace, rather than ignore. Often, we rationalize why our gut feelings can’t be right. This is bad. The dialogue may be something like this: "Surely this person would not do anything wrong." “Nothing will happen in this neighborhood." "Nobody would do that in front of all these people." We decide to ignore our gut feelings to prevent looking foolish by taking action before there is evidence to confirm the feeling. Or maybe we just trust people too much. Besides, "he seems like a nice guy.” You should learn to recognize your gut feeling and start paying attention immediately. You may see something that confirms your feeling is correct. Listening to your gut is important, but there is more you can do than just wait for that bad feeling to guide you. If you learn to recognize pre-attack cues consciously, then you will be able to plan and take action sooner. Pre-attack cues indicate that something is about to happen. You can see them in the attacker’s behavior and in his speech. Some cues may simply indicate he is about to do something violent, others can give you more indication as to what his intent really is. Learning to understand and recognize these cues can give you precious time. Many of these cues are a result of the attacker displaying anxiety prior to the execution of his attack. The attacker already has a plan to commit the attack. When he starts to mentally prepare for it, he experiences both biochemical and physical changes. As he nears the time to act, he experiences an adrenaline dump that triggers a number of processes designed to prepare him for the fight. In a fight or flight situation, the body requires more oxygen for upcoming action, so his breathing rate will increase. His body will generate more heat and perspiration as his muscles are being primed to fire. Before he is ready to take action, he may be compelled to move to burn off the extra energy that is building up from the biochemical response he is experiencing. You can watch for those signs. You may see him start sweating excessively or wipe his hands as they become sweaty. His jaw may move as he clenches his teeth. He may swallow excessively or spit because he could be experiencing a dry mouth. His hands or knees may tremble. Other cues you may notice are what is known as grooming. He may wipe his face, touch his nose, scratch his neck or stroke his hair as he tries to mask the building stress. As he ruminates on his upcoming actions, you may see him begin to stare as if he is looking through you. In law enforcement, this is known and the 1000 mile stare and it is a strong indication that the person has mentally committed to attack. He also may shake his head as his internal dialogue angers or frustrates him. Some of his actions may simply be a manifestation of his plan. If you learn to recognize these cues, you will find that his intentions can become evident in his behavior. He may scan for witnesses, blade his body into a ready position or shift his weight back and drop his shoulder to load for a punch. He may move to your side in attempt to flank you for a better position. You may see him remove his hat or glasses in an act to prevent them from being damaged in his attack. You may see him glancing at your jaw or other target repeatedly as he considers his options for attacking. Verbal cues will also give you an indication that he is nearing an attack. His speech may become louder and faster and include more profanity. He may use humor out of context as it relates to the future he sees coming soon. Of course, he could also be very upfront and directly tell you he is going to kill you. That is definitely a cue. Conclusion With study and proper training you can develop the skills to recognize a potential threat. If you study criminal behavior, you will gain insight into the offense that you are trying to fight. By becoming familiar with typical patterns, you will be able to recognize them early. By learning the cues an attacker may display just prior to an assault, you will have more time to act. This approach will result in a better chance of you prevailing. You can train to recognize the patterns and cues through self defense scenario training. You can memorize them by reading and watching video, but after that, you should commit them to memory through experience. When you participate in a scenario, you create memories through a more rich experience. Because of this experience, you cement those memories in your database of cues. Also, the experience will have a context. The addition of emotional pressure created in a scenario will help you store these cues as relevant memories. Because of this, you are more likely to access them when you need them most - in a self defense situation.

You can’t just hope you will be ready, you have to train your mind to be ready. One of the keys to successful performance of a self defense technique is repetition, but you can practice a technique a million times, and it will never work if you do not recognize when to apply it.  Your 10,000 hours hitting a target, sparring with a training partner, or pulling a trigger will fail to be enough.  You can have all the physical skills you need, but if you are not aware of your surroundings and mentally ready to act or react, they will not be accessible in time. If you hope to successfully respond to a threat, you must be aware of your surroundings. You need to know what is around you, who is around you and what they are doing.  This is known as situational awareness, and it is something you can develop. You also must be in a ready mental state prior to the encounter with a threat.   Situational awareness and a ready mental state are critical skills that you must have. In this article, I will give you some tools to get you there. What happens when you are not ready and aware? If you don’t know what is going on around you, then you are going to be caught off-guard when something happens that requires you to respond immediately.  You will be off-guard simply because you will be surprised.  You will be surprised because you saw nothing to indicate that something bad may happen soon.  You did not see the car coming.  You did not see that person in the corner.   You did not see those things because you were not looking for them.  According to expert Tom Givens, “He came out of nowhere” is the common refrain recorded in police reports from victims who were unaware of their surroundings when they were assaulted.  He did not come "out of nowhere."  He made his approach when they were not paying attention.    If you are not aware when a threat appears, you will be off-guard because you will not have a context for the immediate situation you find yourself in.  You will not have enough information to make a quick decision and take action.   If you are caught like this, then you will not be in the right mindset to respond.  You will be playing mental catch up when you need to be taking action.    If you are not in the right mindset, then a surprise will likely put you into a panic.  Even if it is only momentary, this state of panic will delay your physical response (if any) until it is too late.   You may freeze while your mind tries to catch up with the changing situation or you may overreact in a way that does not solve your problem and will probably make it worse.   Imagine looking up after adjusting your truck stereo to see that the car right in front of you has just slammed on the brakes.  You may only be able to yell your favorite four letter word while ramming into the back of the car.  Or, you may immediately pull the wheel and turn into oncoming traffic.  Neither of these have good outcomes. What is the solution? In 2008, a United Kingdom based phone directory service completed a study of accidents in London that were occurring more and more frequently among people who were texting and walking at the same time.  In 2007, 68,000 people in the UK were hurt while chatting or texting on their mobile phones.   The study results ultimately determined that people are idiots.  Many people were walking into light posts and suffering head injuries because they were not paying attention.  Part of the study included a survey.  1 in 10 of the people who participated in the survey reported that they had been injured while texting.  Two thirds of them stated that they lost peripheral vision while texting.  Well, yeah. What was the solution to this problem?  Many of those surveyed asked for special routes marked with lines on the sidewalk that they could follow while looking down and texting.  Ultimately, the company decided to put padding on light posts all over busy areas of London.  They decided that since people are idiots, we have to idiot-proof the city.  Ridiculous.  Unless you plan to lock yourself in a padded room, the real solution to this problem and yours is to develop situational awareness and change the risky behavior.  I hope you will take responsibility for your safety and follow my suggestions below. How to develop situational awareness and a ready mindset for self defense: 1. Study violent crimes First, you should start studying actual crimes.  Read news reports about violent crimes.  Read about the crimes themselves and study how they happen.  Watch videos that show violent encounters.  Read articles from experts that analyze the incidents.  You need to understand the threat and learn to recognize the patterns or cues that lead up to the attack.  Common themes and situations occur over and over. If you learn to recognize a bad situation early, you will have more time to plan a response. Through your study of crimes and the situations in which they often occur, you will have a reference for what the potential weaknesses are in your current situation and what a potential threat may do. Having this reference will allow you to focus more precisely on what to look for in a similar situation or environment.  You may already know what you need to do to survive.  This will save you time and allow you to respond sooner.   2. Learn to be in the right mindset at the right time In addition to knowing about the threat, you must also be in the right state of mental readiness when a violent encounter occurs.  This is mindset and it is a matter of attitude.  If you have the proper attitude, then you have a much better chance for success.  This is true of all things and so of self-defense too. If you leave the house thinking, “It will never happen to me,” then you will be less likely to respond optimally under stress than if you leave thinking, “Something could happen today, and I am ready.”   With your training and physical skills being the same in each example, the difference in outcomes between these two attitudes in a violent encounter could be huge.  It could be the difference between living and dying. Different circumstances allow for different states of readiness.  If you learn to adjust your state of mental readiness based on your situation, you will have much more of a fighting chance when you need it, yet still get the rest you need during times that threats are unlikely. You need to use a system that allows you to assess your situation and adjust your state of awareness accordingly.  There are several options for this including Jeff Cooper’s famous Color Code and the NRA’s system of situational awareness.  I personally like the NRA’s system because it is easy to understand and remember.  It includes the following 4 states: 4 States of Awareness and Mental Readiness Unaware Aware Alert Alarm Each state has a time and a place and can help guide you to take actions that would help better prepare you before a violent attack occurs.  You will find it much easier to respond to a threat if you have progressed through each state before you must react.  If you have to go from being unaware directly to taking action, then you will be way behind.  However, if you first have gone from being aware of your surroundings, then becoming alert by focusing on a potential threat, and then proactively taking action, you will be much better off.  Pick a system, learn it, and practice identifying when you should be in each. 3. Practice recognizing potential threats and practice making decisions under pressure. Imagine scenarios You cannot simply will yourself to have more situational awareness, you need to train it like any other skill.  One of the easiest drills you can immediately start doing is to play a what-if game wherein you imagine different scenarios based on your current location and think through decisions based on those imagined scenarios.   For example, if you are walking out of a convenience store with a gallon of milk in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other, you could ask yourself what you would do if someone approached you and asked you for change.   Would you stop and talk to him?  Would you go back inside?  Would you shift your bag to free your weapon hand?  You do not physically act on this, you just think through the options while you walk to the car.   Run this drill during your everyday activities.  You may pull up to the pump at the gas station and see someone standing outside the store.  Time to start the drill.  You imagine what you would do if he walked right up to you while you were filling up your truck.  You could then imagine and think through your actions, adding additional what-if’s and responses to the scenario.  Incorporate ideas from your study of crime and assaults.  Imagine scenarios based on what happened to others in those reports.    By doing this drill regularly, you will develop your situational awareness.  You will be able to maintain the aware state, and it will become a habit.  You will build experience in making a plan before an assault even starts. If you do this drill in all the different environments you often find yourself in, then you will be better prepared each time you return to that same environment.   Use scenario training and force-on-force training drills In addition to training your physical techniques, you can train your ability to make decisions under stress. By role playing scenarios with training partners, you can develop your ability to observe, decide and act.  You will improve your ability to analyze a situation by trying to figure out what the role players are doing.  You can learn to recognize pre attack cues by having role players integrate them into their acting.  You can set up situations that resemble the actual crimes you have heard about.  You can then create several variations on each one.  Not all training scenarios should end up in a violent situation or be the worst case scenario.  You may recognize the situation, but the role players should vary their actions to keep you engaged.  You don’t get to kill everyone in every scenario. By training in scenarios, you can create a series of memories of “wins” that, though they are only fictional, can be powerful.  Under stress, your mind searches for experiences to guide your responses during a split second decision.  These fictional experiences qualify and they can lead to more informed choices and quicker decision making.  Unlike real life, you can repeat a scenario if you are not happy with your decisions.  You can drill them until you get a “win."  This becomes a way to better ensure you will react the way you want if something similar really happens. Scenarios range from low intensity with little or no contact to moderate or high intensity with the use of force-on-force drills.  You can drill short scenarios or crucial portions of scenarios using force-on-force drills wherein tactics and techniques are applied under intensity.  Using protective gear and training weapons, you can test your skills as they apply to a larger context than what is usually provided when doing techniques alone. Setup force-on-force drills specifically to apply to a particular situation.  Force-on-force drills should involve role players following guidelines relative to the situation and/ or scenario.     Force-on-force drills can become a bridge to test both your physical skills and your mental skills together.  Different from sparring drills, wherein the participants compete to best each other, force-on-force drills are designed to add stress and challenge to students learning to apply both their decision making skills and physical skills in a particular context.  If done properly, this can be a very powerful training tool. Conclusion As always, the solution to our problems is a combination of education, training and experience.  Using the drills above, you can get both training and useful experience.  Get started training right away so you can be better prepared to defend yourself and defend your family.

With the open carry of handguns becoming a reality in Texas soon, it’s time we all start thinking of what that means.  Yes, we will no longer have to worry about accidentally “printing" our concealed firearms when reaching up to a high shelf in the store, leaning over to pick something up off the ground or just getting out of the truck.  We may not see as many untucked shirts or, so many Hawaiian prints.  5.11 and Thunderwear may lose some business.  We can just go out in a t-shirt and shorts, practically a uniform for Austinites, when it is hot outside.  No need for layering to hide any unsightly bulges.   Open carry being legal will have several benefits.  Open carry will make it easier to carry a larger frame gun.  It will be more comfortable to wear and easier to access.  It may immediately remove you from the victim list of many criminals.  The downside is that you are no longer the only one who knows you are carrying.  Everyone at Walmart will know too.  Everyone you meet, everyone you see, and some you don’t see, will know. Having your weapon visible may make you the first target of an active shooter or the target of someone who wants your gun.  I personally prefer to keep my gun concealed, unless I’m at the range or on private property, but I thought I would share a few thoughts about how to be prepared if you decide to open carry. An average of 50 police officers die per year with their own guns.  Police officers carry their handguns openly.  This could very well be you if you are not prepared. If you decide to carry your handgun openly, then you need two things right now- a good retention holster and handgun retention skills. A Good Retention Holster A good holster whether it is concealed or not is a must.  But with open carry, you must have a holster that is both good - durable, fits well, is comfortable to wear, holds the gun securely when you move around, run, etc, is easy for you to access and that also offers additional retention to prevent someone from simply pulling it out.  This added element of retention is very important. It is simply too easy for someone to grab your weapon and pull it out if you do not have a locking / retention system in your holster design. I spent many years assisting my teacher and mentor, Lt. Erwin Ballarta with defensive tactics programs at the Texas Department of Public Safety Training Academy.  Erwin was the defensive tactics coordinator for the entire state of Texas.  In every training school, he would regularly have the recruits wrestle and attempt to retain their own handgun against someone determined to get it.   Each year. hundreds of recruits wearing their duty belts, off duty holsters, etc. would fight for the gun in training, so they could stay alive once in the field.  In addition to training the recruits to retain their guns, Erwin tested a lot of gear in these sessions.   Unfortunately, our favorite low profile, inside the waistband, kydex holsters are not going to cut it.  They will rip apart immediately.  Leather and metal holsters faired the best, but even some of the level 3 (highest level of retention) holsters simply tore apart during these sessions.  I remember seeing one holster wherein the metal armature inside the holster failed, literally tearing through the metal.  You may not need the highest level of retention for your purposes, but you need something that can’t simply be pulled off your belt.  It’s a balance between easy and quick for you to draw and hard for someone else to get out.  Although I have a bin full of holsters that didn’t work out for me, I do not have a lot of experience with retention holsters.  Based on my observation and the advice of Erwin, I have 2 Safariland retention holsters. Safariland is recognized as a very good brand and is the standard for most police departments.  They have been manufacturing products for law enforcement for many years and have worked through these issues getting feedback from trainers like Erwin.  Safariland offers a number of retention holsters that would be appropriate for a private citizen to use for open carry.  I have personally used one with their ALS retention system.  The ALS (Automatic Locking System) is fairly easy and quick to manipulate.  When you seat your gun in the holster, it automatically locks in place via the ejection port.  The release is effected by your thumb pressing a lever in the course of gripping your gun.  It is fairly intuitive and, with training, has the potential to be quick.  I would certainly recommend something with that system that would be comfortable to carry and is securely attached to your belt.  This would offer you level 2 retention, which means there are two devices or methods retaining the gun. If you prefer level 3 retention, you can get a holster with ALS and a swinging hood that acts like a retention strap and restricts the hand from getting a good grip on the gun. It requires a little more manipulation when drawing, but it is not too bad.  Just remember your draw stroke will be slower. No matter what holster you choose, do your research on the brand and design.  Try it out if you can.  Otherwise, be prepared to add it to the “no" bin of holsters you probably have too.  Once you have found a good holster that fits you and retains your gun, you will need to train how to operate the retention device on the holster and how to retain your gun once it comes out of the holster. Handgun Retention Skills Assuming you are a law abiding citizen, there is no good reason for someone to forcibly take your gun away from you.  If someone is fighting to get your gun away from you, what do you think they will do with it?  Right.  So you are likely fighting for your life.  Be prepared by getting proper instruction and good training.  Unfortunately, at close distance, there is no stance you can use that prevents someone from reaching your gun.  Angling so that your weapon side is back away from your opponent makes your weapon a little easier to defend, but the weapon is by no means out of reach. Handgun retention starts with keeping the gun in your holster when you are not ready for it to come out.  If someone gets a hand on your gun while it is still in your holster, you need to keep it in the holster.  A proper holster will cover the trigger of your gun.  As long as your weapon stays seated in your holster, you can fight to get your opponent’s hands off the gun without getting shot. Once the weapon comes out of your holster, you need to be prepared to keep it in your hand if you are the one gripping it, or you need to be able to disarm your attacker if it is in his hand.  Retention skills and disarming skills complement each other and proper training will address both.  At the very least, you must understand how disarming works to prevent it from happening to you.  This is a principle we always consider in our training: Knowing the offense is the best way to develop a good defense. In general, the closer your gun is to the center of your chest, the better chance you have of keeping it.  Once your arms are extended, you lose leverage and your weapon is more available to your attacker.  We saw this time and time again with the DPS recruits.  Those that pulled the weapon flat against their chest usually held onto it.  The further out from the chest it was, the more likely they were to lose it. Aside from understanding the principles mentioned above, you must also have good technique.  Good technique is designed to address the possibility of a round discharging during the course of application.  If your weapon discharged, would the the round hit you or someone you do not want it to hit?  It is very easy to sweep your hands, arms and your legs when fighting to keep the gun.  You must use your hands, footwork and your overall positioning for the best chances of survival.  Good technique uses leverage and body mechanics to maximize your ability to perform it successfully.  You cannot rely on force or speed alone. In addition to standing technique, your training also needs to address retention while you are on the ground. It is too easy to be knocked down, to trip or simply fall during a struggle.  The way you position your body alone can help you retain your gun when fighting on the ground.  A complete program will give you some options for retention, disarming and shooting from the ground.   To open carry safely, you need a good retention holster suited for open carry, and you need handgun retention skills.  Combine those with good situational awareness, and you will have a better fighting chance.  Thanks to House Bill 910, licensed open carry of firearms in Texas will begin on January 1st, 2016.  Do you plan to open carry?  If you do, be ready and stay safe.

You may feel like punching him will solve the problem, but it could end up killing you.   In our self defense systems, we avoid punching for two reasons.One reason is that it is really easy to break your hand by punching someone.  It is pretty common for boxers to break their hands, even when they are wearing gloves and have been trained to punch properly.  You are likely to hurt your hand or wrist if you punch someone without any hand protection.  Most people focus on training to punch the head, especially the face.  The problem is the human skull is really hard.  While punching a softer part of the body may be ok, the head is problematic.  If you break your hand, you may not be able to strike again, control your attacker, hold a weapon or pull a trigger.  You may be able to fight through the pain and continue to use your broken hand, but it simply may not function depending on the injury.  What if there is more than one attacker?  You can’t afford to injure yourself in that way, even if you do stop the first attacker.The second reason is even more serious.  You may kill yourself.  If you punch someone in the face, you could easily cut your knuckles on your attacker’s teeth.  You may draw back a bloody hand and a blood born pathogen.  In my younger days, I’ve seen shirtless rednecks fight multiple attackers, flooring some of them with only a single punch.  They were revered because of their punching prowess and knocking power.  Many of them had scars on their knuckles where their opponent’s teeth had been embedded.  Though the one hit knockout is great, it’s not worth becoming blood brothers with your enemies and dying from their diseases.Though a punch can be used to effectively stun someone, we prefer using elbow strikes, hacks, slaps and gouging techniques instead.  With these strikes, we are less likely to injure our hands so badly that they will be out of the fight, and we can keep our blood tests clean.  Stay safe.

Recently, our level 1 Pekiti Tirsia students have been working on the Four Walls method (a.k.a Quatro Cantos and Apat na Paligid). Progress is good so far, but the key will be in their understanding. We started the training with basic coordination and body mechanics. We then developed timing and proprioception through repetition of the entries. We added combinations to the entries and developed more dynamic movement - removing hesitation and artificial pauses. Once the coordination was right, we added reaction training to embed the skills in the student. I have found that though very simple, the Four Walls techniques are often misunderstood. The misunderstanding often lies in the perception of how the technique will be applied. If you want to be successful, you must really understand the technique you are training. Any misconception in training will lead you to fail in application. As an instructor, it is my job to protect my students from this pitfall. The Four Walls are counter-offensive techniques that apply a classic tactic of the Filipino Martial Arts - when the opponent strikes at you, hit his hand. Because we practice the technique most often by making impact with the stick (instead of the hand) as a safety measure, students sometimes begin to think of it as a blocking technique. This misunderstanding can lead to improper training. It can corrupt every practice session and ultimately derail the effectiveness of an otherwise very useful technique. Students will begin to reach out to meet the incoming strike, rather than focus on striking into it. Footwork will go askew when the student attempts to make contact with the partner's extended weapon far away from the partner's hand rather than come in close and hit just next to it. The proper technique requires you reach with your footwork, not your hands. You attack into the attack. Don't try to stop it. If your timing is bad or your accuracy fails you, then your attempt to hit the hand may become a deflection of the weapon (in fact, this is your backup) but the intent of the technique is to hit the hand. This intent is what qualifies it as a counter-offensive method when it is applied in response to the opponent's attack. A block or deflection of the weapon by itself is technically defensive and leaves more time for the opponent to recounter. Every drill should be structured so as to be a reminder that you are hitting, not receiving. Proper mindset and an understanding of your tools are critical to making your techniques work. Kali - this is not just a simple study of how to hit someone, we are training tactical skills. The tactics related to each technique support it's application. Understanding the nuances of each is a must for your success.