Look Out: Defence Begins with Awareness
There is no defence without awareness. You must pay active attention to your surroundings.
You are not aware if you are gawping at your phone. Do not walk with a phone in your hand. Keep your phone in a pocket or pouch and only use it when stationary and safe.
Do not walk with your hands in your pockets!
Look where you are going and at the world around you.
Awareness is not just about spotting potential threats. You should be noting possible escape routes, resources or means of defence.
Awareness is more than just sight. Sounds and even scents may provide useful information. Pay more attention to these senses when visibility is restricted.
If you feel someone or something seems “off”, do not ignore this feeling. You may subconsciously be registering body language or other cues that you may be in danger.
Get Out: Defend Before Draw
If attacked, you must evade or redirect the attack before attempting to ready a weapon. Neutralise the attack, then draw and use your weapon.
If you neglect this, your enemy may have time to wound or kill you, even if you have fatally wounded them. An attacker need not be armed. They may bury their thumbs in your eyes, knock you down and fatally stomp you, or use your own weapons against you. Treat any attack as though there may be a knife, even if you cannot see it.
If you have a weapon ready, combine your attack with an evasion.
If fired on from a distance, do not stand and return fire. Get out of sight, preferably behind hard-cover, before returning fire.
British troops were once taught the chant “Down-Crawl-Observe-Sights-FIRE.”
If fired on, get out of sight. Move location, crawling if necessary. Assess the situation and locate the enemy. Return fire, or escape, or manoeuvre, as you judge best.
Strike Out: Hit the Nearest Body Part
Several martial arts advocate “defanging the snake”: attacking the hand or arm holding a weapon.
An extension of this idea is to attack the nearest/most accessible body part.
While this seems obvious when using a weapon, this tactic may also be utilised when unarmed. Hit whatever you can.
Be aware that in addition to your hands, you have your elbows, knees, shoulders, feet and head to attack with. The nearest target may be a foot, leg, hip, shoulder, coccyx, or kidneys.
Lower targets are more easily and rapidly attacked with your feet and knees. Higher targets are better attacked with your upper body weapons. Use what is closest and fastest.
If there is a choice of targets, hit one. Hesitating while you decide which is the better target may result in your missing the opportunity to hit anything. Any attack that lands will have more effect than a more effective strike that misses.