Soft Self-Defense Skills that can Save Your Life

Each year, many women register themselves for a self-defense course. Typically, a martial arts instructor spends a couple of hours teaching striking techniques like punches, palm strikes, elbows, knees, etc. At the end of the seminar, someone usually comes out in a “Red Suit” and comes at you as you pepper them with full-strength strikes and kicks. Everyone leaves smiling, a little sweaty, confident that they can fend off an assault. These techniques are what is known in the protection industry as “hard skills”. Equally important – perhaps even more so to your survival are “soft skills”. Learning these concepts now can drastically decrease your chances of ever having to use the hard skills. About 90% of what you should learn for a quality self-defense program should be these soft skills, which will decrease your chances of being a victim of a sexual assault by 50-60%. Here are three important areas of soft skill development that you can start putting to use right now.

Self Defense during the Daily Commute

Americans spend on average, 8 or more hours in their automobile per week. Incidents of road rage have become increasingly more common. Two soft skill habits that you should start to employ immediately are: always keeping your gas tank half full, and always coming to stop with distance between yourself and the next car in traffic. By keeping your gas tank around half full or better, you give yourself ample time and distance, if needed to get yourself to a safe area (police stations, hospitals, etc.) if being chased by someone in another car. Never let your gas drop below ¼ of a tank. Next, when driving in traffic and approaching a red light or stopped vehicle, come to a stop with enough room between you and the car ahead that you can see their rear wheels touching the pavement. Using this easy distance gauge gives you enough space to crank the wheel hard to the side. hit the accelerator and get around them if you need to move due to a threat. As described by Nick Hughes in his book, How to Be Your Own Bodyguard, most anyone in the client protection profession knows this little trick for getting out of bad situations in traffic. Now you can use this pro tip for yourself!

Awareness is Key

Well, what about walking to your car? Did you know that parking lots are typically the scene of the crime for robberies, abductions, panhandling, and assaults? When walking in parking lots or anywhere for that matter, be aware of who is around you and what they are doing. Do not let yourself get lost in your smartphone, otherwise known as task fixation. This leaves you unaware and blind to the bad intentions that someone may have. Instead, keep your head up, scanning your area, and identifying others that are in it. Instead of carrying all your bags to the car and weighing down your arms, use a cart and keep your hands free, should the need to employ those hard skills present itself.

Gut Feelings are Legit

Ever get a strange feeling about a person, situation, or place? Did it make the hair on your neck stand up, goosebumps, or just an unsettling feeling? That is your inner conscience trying to send you a signal, and it should make you stop and assess your surroundings. Start listening to that inner voice, even if it makes you worry that you aren’t being politically correct or sensitive. Often this feeling is your mind and body’s sub-conscience response to the subtle warnings of an impending assault or dangerous situation. In the 2014 book, Left of Bang, Ian Riley and Patrick Van Horne describe how many terrorist attacks, military strikes, and ambushes often follow a period where things get quiet, locals avoid the area, and people get an eerie sense that something is wrong. Listening to your inner voice can help you identify and avoid areas or people that may wish harm to you.

Many of us are fortunate enough to navigate life without ever having to fight our way out of a bad spot. However, as Louis Pasteur said, “Fortune favors the prepared mind”. In the case of self-defense and protection, being prepared means to prepare your body by staying in shape and training the hard skills, while preparing the mind includes learning soft skills like the ones described.