Martial Arts: Awareness

Some people think that the martial arts are all about hitting each other. As someone who has trained for an excess of 15 years, I have to tell you that this is not true. Awareness and generally being aware of one's environment is a major part of any martial arts training program. Whenever I am running it seems that a few times I night I come up behind people walking on the street. I do the normal thing and tell them that I am on their left and say excuse me as I pass them. A few times a week someone will jump out of their skin as I pass by them. The reason being is that they did not know I was behind them until I spoke to them and this scared/ startled them. There is no demographic determiner for this behavior: men, women, young, old and in between have all done the jumping.

I am usually amused by this behavior as I am not a quiet runner, especially with this flu I have been nursing for the past week. I think I breathe a bit loud and I am not trying to be quiet in the least bit. However, most of these folks don't know I am there until I am within a foot of them. This really is clearly a case of people not paying attention to their surroundings. In life you may be a victim by doing everything right, but it is less likely than when you act like a victim. If you pay attention to you surroundings you will increase your likelihood of being a victim.

First, keep your head up and look around. You can't avoid potentially dangerous situations if you don't recognize them. I think this is really the reason that most of these people jumped through their skin. They were not being active with their environment. We are all busy and have a million things going through our heads. However, if you can cut the chatter down to a dull roar and pay attention to what is happening in the moment you can avoid situations before there is a situation. If the lights are all out on a street perhaps a different route might me in order. I can give a bunch of scenarios but I think the point is made. Keep your head up and analyze. Does something have the feel of danger? Being safe is not paranoia, reduce your risks and you will reduce your chance of being a victim. It will never eliminate but it will reduce it.

In my normal situation, if these people had been paying attention they would have noticed a guy running at them in a bright yellow top. I look like a guy out for a run. The danger evaluation should come out pretty low on this analysis. It is possible that someone dressed like a runner might attack you, but I think the chances are small.

There are a number of other things you can do to actively reduce your chances of being a victim. I really wanted to touch on awareness but a short list (look into your car before entering, carry keys in your hand on your way to your car, always park in a lighted area, carry change in your pocket (you only need a second in most cases this could be a valuable distraction), practice the buddy system (when it is late don't go out alone) there are others but these are a few. I am sure if you think on it you may come up with your own.