Awareness Equals Survival

[Arthur Stone]

iPod wearer = Victim
In light of another of the excellent newsletters (#116 "Don't Let It
Happen In the First Place!" ) written by Lt Col Al Ridenhour
USMC, I thought I might add a point on why awareness may be paramount
to your survival.
Recently in one of our Saturday intensive self defense classes, former
NY homicide detective John Perkins explained why in no uncertain terms
you should NEVER wear headphones (Ipods, Cassette/CD players) while
jogging in the street or the park and how it detracts from your
awareness and makes you more susceptible to assault/rape.  This
came to mind the other day when I read in the paper that another woman
jogger was assaulted and raped while jogging in the park (I cannot
remember what paper I read it in or else I would include the article
in a link).  What stood out in the article was that the woman was
jogging while using an ipod at the time and did not see or hear
anything prior to the attack (who knows-- maybe if she was in our
class that day and heard GM Perkins she might not have suffered this
fate).
Criminals are doing job; you do yours
Unfortunately, crimes of this sort are all too common and are not
isolated incidents. As Col Al stated, the criminal element is out
there plotting and preparing their crimes and they are watching to
identify potential victims. So if you look at it as the criminal
element doing their job (finding easy prey to victimize) while yours
is to not be an easy victim, then you will see how awareness is key
and paramount to your survival. Believe me, criminals are out there
even though you may not see them or even be aware that they are
conducting surveillance on you and others. 
Listen to your gut
Another common element with many victims was that they failed to
follow their intuition.  They felt something wrong in advance of
the attack and for whatever reason they ignored that feeling.  We
all get that feeling from time to time that something is just not
right with a particular person or location.  Unfortunately, with
victims who were killed, we do not know how many of them ignored their
intuition but I suspect a significant number of them would affirm the
belief that "you ignore your intuition at your own peril."
Another point about why you need realistic self defense training to
back up your awareness skills is that, as Col AL stated, "sometimes
you just find yourself in unfortunate situations."  In a recent
New York Daily News story a brave young woman who was on a New York
City subway (at 2 am with her headphones on) found herself in a subway
car alone with her attacker.  She bolted from the train only to
be followed by her attacker who caught up with her. She started
screaming and made eye contact with one of the subway clerks on duty
who DID NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING to assist her; his only action was
to push a panic button inside of the booth.
The cavalry is not coming to save you
It is because of situations like this that people have to realize that
in many instances you and only you are responsible for your own safety
and survival.  The cavalry is not coming to save you. 
Awareness training in conjunction with realistic self defense training
may be the only things that stand between you being a victim versus
being a survivor.  You will never know how many attacks on
yourself never happened because of your heightened state of awareness
or the aura you give off of not being an easy victim that the thug can
perceive and thus left you alone to find easier prey. 
So if you join a self defense program that ignores awareness
altogether or doesn't touch on the subject repeatedly during your
training then run-- don't walk away-- to ATTACKPROOF or some other
program that recognizes reality versus how we hope the world is. 
Pass this information on to friends and loved ones even if you don't
think they will follow your advice.

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