The Most Important Skill For Self Defense

And How to Develop It

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Self-defense requires many skills. Of those, situational awareness is without a doubt the most important. After all, you could be a badass expert fighter, but if you can’t perceive an attack, you’re no good.

What is situational awareness? It is simply the ability to detect threats around you. It is being focused on your surrounding in a state of alert. Sadly, very few martial arts schools teach anything about situational awareness much less acknowledge its existence. Let's go over some ways how to develop it.

Scanning For Threats

The first way to improve situational awareness is to practice scanning for threats. You could be at the store or walking in the mall or whatever. As you walk around in public, look around for possible threats. Pay especially close attention to people within 10 feet of you. They are usually more of a threat than people 50 feet away. If no one is near you, look for potential ambush points as you move.

Ready For Counterattack

Another thing to practice is readying for a counterattack. Allow me to explain. If a guy walks right past you, subtly clench your right fist. Don’t be obvious about it. But be ready to throw a hard, fast right hook if he reaches for you. If he doesn’t do anything, which is 99.99% likely, then great. Just keep walking. At least you practiced being ready.

How To Watch People

For situational awareness, practice watching people with your peripheral vision. If you stare at people you'll creep them out. Also, glance and see what they are doing with their hands, especially the right hand. The more often you practice these things, the more quickly they will become habits.

It is important to watch people while looking away from them. After all, attacks usually come from the sides or the back. Not the front. So why do we train that way at martial art schools?

Check Your 6

Another situation awareness exercise I like to do in public is to check my 6. Basically, frequently glance to your sides. Use your peripheral vision to check behind you. Even when you are looking forward, try to think about what’s going on behind you. Listen to noises behind you. 

Protecting Yourself From A Rear Attack

If someone is within 6 feet behind me, I tuck my chin and duck my head a little. Keeping your head down makes it harder for someone to hit the back of your head or chin from behind. Either of which would seriously hurt/knock you out. Or I keep my gaze to the side so I can watch them in the corner of my eye. I don’t think the person is actually going to attack me, but I’m trying to build habits. Practicing little things like this is very important for self-defense training and situational awareness.

Forming Defensive Plans

Try to imagine what an attacker would do. How would the bad guy approach you? What is the most likely attack? If he's unarmed, chances are high it will be a right hook to your head. If he has a knife it will probably be a stab to the side of your abdomen with his right hand. You never know and there is no guarantees. All you can do is plan for the most likely attacks.

Think about how you could respond. Even a bad premeditated plan is usually better than no plan at all. If you don’t make a plan, you may freeze up in a real situation due to confusion.

Striking Vs. Grappling For Self Defense

Often, the best response to a surprise attack is a quick attack of your own. Something like a jab-cross or hook of your own. The more simple your response the better. Complicated self-defense techniques are 99.9% likely to fail. Grappling techniques can work but make poor initial responses. Some strikes such as spinning back fists, elbows, or headbutts are effective for hitting someone who is behind you.

Getting In And Out of Cars

In addition to planning responses, think about times when you are most vulnerable or more like to be attacked. A good time is when you are getting in and out of a vehicle. As you get in and out of your car, practice scanning your surroundings and watch the back corners. Check the rearview mirrors. Hold a can of pepper spray while getting out. What are other times when you are vulnerable? Again, formulate a plan for those times.

Consistency Is Key

Practice these things anytime you are in public. Consistency is key when learning anything. Whenever you're in public, pretend like you're a bodyguard. Make your wife or kid your VIP. Then you’ll understand the mindset you need to have for situational awareness.

Check Your 6 In The Car

Another weird thing I like to do is watch cars stopping behind me in my rearview mirror when I’m in my car stopped at a red light. Why? Because getting rear-ended can be a serious threat. I once read a book about head injuries, I wish I could recall the title.

Anyway, it mentioned a case of a woman who was sitting in her car and stopped at a stop sign. She wasn’t paying attention and BAM! A car hit her from behind going about 20MPH. Because she didn’t see it coming, she suffered a serious brain injury. As a result, she had to carry around a notepad because she forgot things for almost 2 years. Things got so bad she couldn’t keep a job! All that from a little fender bender.

My point is that threats can come at any time and can be serious. No one can be alert 100% of the time though. So try to be vigilant at key times when you’re most likely to get hurt like when you’re stopped at a red light.

Monitor Entrances and Exits

Another good practice for situational awareness is to watch entries and exits. Try to position yourself inside of the building so you can watch the doors. Practicing watching who comes in and who comes out. 

Attacking Your Friends (Yes You Read That Right)

You can help others develop situational awareness too. Next time you are at your martial art school and you see one of your buddies not paying attention, say their name to get them to look at you. As they turn towards you, quickly charge them to throw a punch, pretend knife stab, or whatever. Just don't hurt them! See if they can defend themselves. This will teach them how to react quickly to surprise threats.

Make sure it's a buddy or pal or you may piss people off. Also, do this at your own risk. Some people can overreact and accidentally hurt you so be warned. At my BJJ school, one of my friends usually carries a rubber training knife inside his gi. Sometimes he’ll cut you when you’re not expecting it. Even though I am rarely able to defend myself, I appreciate the valuable lesson. Thanks, Randy.

Meditation At Home

One final way to improve situation awareness can be done in the comfort of your own home. Set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Then just sit there. Get comfortable. Try to 100% focus on the present moment. Focus on the room you’re in. Focus on nothing going on. Don’t think about anything else. Feel the air around you.

This is surprisingly hard to do. If you feel your mind wander, thinking about errands or bills or whatever, simply return back to the present moment. Once the timer goes off, you’re done. That’s it. Basically, you’re just practicing focusing on the present and paying attention. Some people find this a great way to calm down and relieve stress too. Try to do it every day.

Situational Awareness Obstacles

Let’s finish by going over some pitfalls or things to avoid when it comes to situational awareness. First, is the cellphone. Try to avoid it when you’re out and about. This is the biggest one. Second, headphones. Being deaf is not good either for situational awareness. Third, crowds. Being jammed in a small area with dozens of people makes it impossible to detect every threat. If you’re cool with that then don’t let me stop you. Just be aware of it.

Conclusion

Hopefully, I’ve given you some good ideas on how to improve your situational awareness. You don’t need to do all these things 100% of the time. I’d be lying if I told you I did. These are just some habits I try to practice often. Don’t let it stress you. Remember, it’s just practice.

Practice scanning for threats. Pretend like your bodyguard. If a threat gets near you, ready yourself to be ready for a counterattack. Try to pay attention to what’s behind you when out in public. Practice being vigilant when getting in and out of cars. Imagine the most likely attacks and plan how you will respond. The simplest response is the best.

Also, practice monitoring entrances and exits. Attack your friends when they are not paying attention. Ask them to do the same to you. Meditate at home by focusing on the moment for 5-10 minutes daily. Avoid distractions like smartphones and headphones when out in public.

Don’t do anything dumb and get in fights. Don't harass people trying to practice situational awareness. You’re trying to avoid fights by early detection of threats. That’s what it's all about. Paying attention to what’s going on around you. If you learn how to do this, you’ll be much more ready to fight and defend yourself.