4. Develop your verbal skills. There’s normally some verbal preamble to most confrontations so practice accordingly – for example, to handle a knife attacker shouting at you practice a self-defence style like Krav Maga which teaches this specifically. In general it’s good to have some phrases in the arsenal which break an assailant’s script “you looking at me you ****? You can break the script by asking something absurd such as “what’s your favourite form of sherry, dry or sweet?” in the split second this gives you can hit them with a pre-emptive strike and run away or begin to make good your escape straight away. (Re pre-emptive strikes, this document is not about techniques but one doing so will follow soon) Have replies ready to questions such as “what are you looking at” which won’t escalate the situation. Something like “I’m sorry I though I was just staring into space, Apologies if I caught your eye” delivered with a firm confident voice can help. If the guy still wants to fight he’ll carry on, here you need to get into the “fence” stance which I will talk about in the next document and is now quite a large part of what I teach. Back to top The following points are very important: * Carry a spare mobile and/or a working ‘phone card, next to your skin if possible, (not in a handbag if you’re a lady) * Memorise the number of a local trusted cab firm and if you’re away from home, make sure you pick up the local firm’s number and keep it close to your skin. (not in a handbag if you’re a lady) * Make sure that at least one contactable person knows where you are going and knows when to raise the alarm if you’re not back by a certain time. In the real world not all of us are wholly honest with people around us re what we’re doing – this can be dangerous, make sure at least one trusted person knows where you are and when you’re supposed to be back. People often get in real trouble if they become isolated for any reason and vulnerable to all kinds of dangerous people – make sure you have an escape route. This applies particularly to women who have had their handbag stolen, hence the emphasis above on keeping spare communication devices next to your skin. Buy a travellers money belt and store spare cash and communication devices in there; I travelled a lot in South and Central America a few years ago and learned to love my money belt. Back to top
Attackers often have a certain verbal scenario in their head such as:
you want a ******* photo?
I’m going to ******* do you …”
5. Don’t be left incommunicado or isolated.
6. Have a Password.
Sounds dramatic but if you’re in an extreme position and are not able to speak freely if somebody contacts you, have a password or phrase such as “my knee still hurts” which alerts that person that something is wrong. May sound a bit like the movies but no harm in having one as grim things do happen and not just to other people.
7. Cash points.
Take your cash out during the day when it’s nice and busy around the cash point. Try and avoid using cash points in dangerous areas, pay for your round by card if you need to. If you must use them, check the surrounding area before you go to them, have your everyday object weapon ready (see below) and get in and out very quickly. Best to have spare cash always available next to your skin.