Many of us have seen dogs and cats as they prepare to fight, usually over the last bit of food in the bowl! Observation will reveal that animals give off behavioral and postural clues when they're planning to become aggressive. Here's a surprise.... humans do too! By being able to spot these "telegraphed" signs in an individual during a heated verbal exchange, we can avoid being caught off-guard if they decide to launch a physical attack. Here's a few of the classic human behaviors:
1. Weight Shifting: Here, an opponent shifts his bodyweight back and forth, rocking on his feet. Primitively, what he is doing is ensuring that he has good traction to launch his body forward. Once he is sure he has good footing, that's a check-mark on his pre-flight list. Those who read the "process" in the Simple Tips thread here will understand that our backward spiraling movement can negate an opponent's ability to "get set" to attack. Instead, he follows you around in an arc, where he cannot generate linear force as easily.
2. Grooming Behavior: Here, an opponent will stroke his beard, run his fingers through his hair, etc. while preparing to fight. What he's actually doing is trying to get his hand(s) into a more advantageous position, closer to your head and less likely to be intercepted by your arms. Of course, our use of the fence stymies this tactic fairly well, and our movement makes it almost useless for him.
3. Target Glancing: Here, an opponent looks around his periphery while he's facing off with you. He shifts his glance back & forth. This is an attempt to achieve two things: see who is watching (witnesses?) and also to lure you into inattention. A variation is "Hey, man. Can you tell me what time it is?" I cannot tell you how many people have been jumped while looking down at their watch. Once again, our pre-rehearsed process defuses almost all of this. Once we "flip the switch" and turn on our "stranger-handling process", we should have a singular focus that does not waver until the threat is gone.
So, it becomes a bit of a game of chess: tactics vs. tactics. Criminals have pretty set patterns of assault behavior, with a pre-constructed "video" of their attack running in their head as they approach you. By upsetting their game plan, we cause the bad guy to attempt to re-write his "attack script" while he is exposed and at risk. Often, he chooses to look for an easier victim and leaves you alone. Criminals are NOT looking for a challenge. They are looking for an easy, predictable score from one of the many "sheep" they consider as victims.
You can see now that the early verbal exchange between the bad guy and you is actually an "interview" for the role of his victim. Our job is to give him a terrible interview, so that he decides to choose somebody else for the part. His interview tests us for our fear levels, our compliance with strangers, and how close we will let him get to us without some sort of intercepting action. Note that the "process" we built in the other thread flunks us in his interview on all levels.
I hope each of you will consider how our behavior in public, and that of approaching strangers, is a powerful force in predicting violent confrontation.
Thanks,
Lee
1. Weight Shifting: Here, an opponent shifts his bodyweight back and forth, rocking on his feet. Primitively, what he is doing is ensuring that he has good traction to launch his body forward. Once he is sure he has good footing, that's a check-mark on his pre-flight list. Those who read the "process" in the Simple Tips thread here will understand that our backward spiraling movement can negate an opponent's ability to "get set" to attack. Instead, he follows you around in an arc, where he cannot generate linear force as easily.
2. Grooming Behavior: Here, an opponent will stroke his beard, run his fingers through his hair, etc. while preparing to fight. What he's actually doing is trying to get his hand(s) into a more advantageous position, closer to your head and less likely to be intercepted by your arms. Of course, our use of the fence stymies this tactic fairly well, and our movement makes it almost useless for him.
3. Target Glancing: Here, an opponent looks around his periphery while he's facing off with you. He shifts his glance back & forth. This is an attempt to achieve two things: see who is watching (witnesses?) and also to lure you into inattention. A variation is "Hey, man. Can you tell me what time it is?" I cannot tell you how many people have been jumped while looking down at their watch. Once again, our pre-rehearsed process defuses almost all of this. Once we "flip the switch" and turn on our "stranger-handling process", we should have a singular focus that does not waver until the threat is gone.
So, it becomes a bit of a game of chess: tactics vs. tactics. Criminals have pretty set patterns of assault behavior, with a pre-constructed "video" of their attack running in their head as they approach you. By upsetting their game plan, we cause the bad guy to attempt to re-write his "attack script" while he is exposed and at risk. Often, he chooses to look for an easier victim and leaves you alone. Criminals are NOT looking for a challenge. They are looking for an easy, predictable score from one of the many "sheep" they consider as victims.
You can see now that the early verbal exchange between the bad guy and you is actually an "interview" for the role of his victim. Our job is to give him a terrible interview, so that he decides to choose somebody else for the part. His interview tests us for our fear levels, our compliance with strangers, and how close we will let him get to us without some sort of intercepting action. Note that the "process" we built in the other thread flunks us in his interview on all levels.
I hope each of you will consider how our behavior in public, and that of approaching strangers, is a powerful force in predicting violent confrontation.
Thanks,
Lee
