Whether it’s your morning or evening run or the journey to or from work or the gym, the chances are over the next few months you will be doing it in the dark. Murray Bruton, an expert in the psychology and art of self defence, tells us how to stay safe.
Personal safety is all about prevention, noticing tell tale signs of potential attack (risk assessment) and taking action to reduce the likelihood of something happening. My mantra when it comes to self defence is “if it goes physical you have already missed a myriad of opportunities to stop it in its tracks”.
Most Self Defence courses are only marginally better than nothing at all, but as all Sportsisters will know, if you don’t keep your particular form of training up regularly, you quickly lose the skill. It’s no different with Self Defence, so unless you can devote regular time to a good class then you need to adopt a different approach.
The simple answer is “find those activities within your current athletic/exercise training regime that can be harnessed to good effect if the need ever comes.”
Here’s 6 Top Tips to get you thinking
- The experts talk of the human fight, flight or freeze response. You already have a lot of first hand experience of this – your pre competition nerves! The stomach churning, heart pounding, dry mouth etc are all the result of adrenalin. If you freeze on the big day you get a poor result whereas in an Self Defence situation, to freeze is to become a victim – you have to overcome the ‘freeze’. Learn to harness adrenalin by getting to know with how your body changes with it. If you are expecting these changes you won’t get into the adrenalin – panic – more adrenalin loop.
- The single biggest problem for any would-be attacker is getting close enough to you to threaten/make a grab. Never let anyone that close, unless you know and completely trust them. Utilize your sports peripheral vision and see where the spaces are to keep away from them.
- Be consistently inconsistent. Change your training route often and without any discernable pattern. Whether you are running, cycling, walking or arriving at the gym, habit is an exploitable weakness. Alter your training times if you can, arrive early at the gym, start your run at odd times… the quarter hour markers are so predictable!
- Run away. Developing your sprints in your interval sessions is good. The bad guys rarely have the discipline to be athletic and a sprint burst followed by a high pace endurance run will often put you beyond danger. If he gives chase, aim to put him into his anaerobic zone fast by putting in your PB in a series of “Tabata” style 20 second burst 10 second paced intervals until he folds in pain.
- Movement is important; employ your sports’ footwork to avoid being grabbed. Natural patterns learned and practised over many years will be reliable under duress… and besides your mind will be busy concentrating on other things.
- Take a look at your individual sport/discipline and think of ways to replicate its power action in your self-defence. A tennis serve, hammer release, javelin throw, netball push throw, kicking a football, a squash forehand, a cyclist’s knee. Those natural sporting patterns of power and speed can be harnessed to good effect with a little imagination.
When it comes to self protection don’t be paranoid but don’t be complacent either …… enjoy your training but pay attention to your environment. The dark nights make vigilance that little bit more important and remember, victims often choose themselves because their attacker can tell they are distracted or simply not paying attention.
I know I may be going against the grain…but one more tip… running or walking plugged into music doesn’t help your awareness of potential danger therefore I’d recommend you give your self a chance and only use one ear plug if at all.
Be aware and keep safe this winter.
Murray Bruton, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
Murray Bruton is a Martial Arts Instructor with 30 years experience. He is also a first aid/conflict management/SIA door supervisor trainer with additional skills in close protection and security psychology. He runs a small dojo (studio) for adults only in Gloucester and has throughout his career successfully taught many hundreds of people the art and psychology of self defence. To find out more or to book a class or one to one personal session please contact Murray on 07973740295 or visit www.seishindojo.co.uk
