While it’s important that you be prepared to defend yourself physically if the threat of physical altercation presents itself, it’s usually much smarter and more effective to try to avoid these dangerous situations in the first place.

An attackers will often be stronger and larger than his planned target and possibly armed and/or working with an accomplice or two.   Plus, he has the element of surprise. These variable conditions make physically fighting an attacker a futile effort (not that you shouldn’t still try).

When planning an attack on the victim, the attacker has 3 factors to consider:

• Desire to attack:  Many physical altercations occur because of the escalation of tension already existing between people.  Eventually someone gets mad enough to physically attack the other party.  If you are in such a situation with escalating tensions, you should make every effort to deescalate the tension.  You must keep a cool head and not throw wood on the fire.  If you detect a verbal conflict arising, never raise your voice, never make insults, and never make rude gestures.  Be polite and get the hell out of there.  These situations are not the source of many attacks, however, such as in the case of a robbery.  Also, unprovoked rapes and murders do occur.  Yet, there is still a reason for the attack, even if it is not logical.

• Distance from victim:  In order to be the victim of an attack, the attacker needs to be close enough to you to actually harm you.  If you find yourself in a place with few people, you should keep as much distance between yourself and a suspected attacker as possible.  If you are approached by a stranger while alone, tell him to keep his distance from you.  If he refuses, this is a very bad sign and you should try to get away from this person as fast as you can.  No well-intentioned, innocent person will approach you when asked to keep a distance from you.  Essentially, if you do not let a potential attacker to get close to you, he will be unable attack you.  Also keep an eye out for spots where attackers could hide and keep a distance from them.

• Decision to attack:  In addition to having a desire to commit an attack and physical proximity to the victim, the attacker must actually decide to go through with the attack.  The attacker may make a hasty decision to attack in anger, in which all you can do is try to deescalate the situation before it gets physical.  However, when planning an attack intellectually and not just running off pure emotion, he will likely plan an attack in a way that it is most likely to succeed.  He doesn’t want to get caught if it can be avoided.  Thus, you want to appear to be an unappealing target to potential attackers.  The best way to do this is to practice being aware of your surroundings, not fiddling with your phone or iPod.  Should you spot someone acting suspiciously while walking down the street and paying close attention to your surroundings, cross the street or put some other obstacle between yourself and the potential attacker to communicate your awareness.  The potential attacker will probably wait for a target they perceive to be easier to take.

Another way you can look at these three factors is as the means, motive, and opportunity to attack.

If your gut feeling is that something is very wrong with your present situation, heed it and get the hell out of there.  If this is not possible, then you must employ physical self defense.  However, awareness of your surroundings and precaution are always the most important and effective tools you can use to protect yourself from assault.

Featured Photo by Isaac Mao

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