Basic Safety Tips

[KarateKen]

What are some basic safety precautions that you share with your students, or your sensei has shared with you?  There are some things you can do to protect yourself that do not require any martial arts training.  These kinds of things are also taught in some women's self-defense.  Here are a few that I have come across.

Awareness.  Being aware of your surroundings is huge.  If you are looking at your phone or daydreaming while you are out walking around, and a bad guy sees you, then you become an easy target.  Most bad guys are looking for a vulnerable target, and a quick getaway so be aware of what is going on around you. Never give up your back, meaning if someone is a threat keep them in front of you.  Trust your instincts, if a situation doesn't feel safe, get out of there as quickly as you can. 

Safety in numbers.  Being out with a group, or even just one person, can make you much safer.  Say you are at an ATM machine...it can be tough to keep awareness while punching in the numbers on the machine, so having someone you trust standing there with you and looking out can reduce your chances of being mugged. 

Sometimes it is best to not get involved.  While it might be tempting to stand up to injustice, keep in mind that if you do that you are putting yourself both a physical risk, and legal risk.  Just because you are morally in the right doesn't mean you are legally in the right.  Believe me when I tell you how fed up I get when I see shoplifting at the supermarket, and the store employees ignore it.  I want to go up and knock that crook over and bring the bag of stolen goods back into the store, but if I do that, then it would be me spending the night in jail.  

And this final one is if you are approached while inside your car.  Some people have been at stop lights and had a dangerous person approach their vehicle.  Do not get out of the car.  The car helps protect you.  Be sure that your doors are locked and your windows are all the way up.  Drive out of there ASAP.  

 

There are probably others that you know of, I wanted to get the ball rolling on this.  You never know who might be reading the forum, a new member or a guest, who could benefit from basic tips.

[bushido_man96]

Those are all great.  The one I've really focused on is self-awareness.  Another thing I preach about is being able to articulate the actions you took to law enforcement after the incident.  Saying the right things are tantamount to keeping yourself out of more trouble.

[JazzKicker]

Pay attention to your "spidey sense", when you get the vibe things are about to go bad.

Watch out for people approaching you on the street trying to distract you. (I had this with attempted pickpockets in Europe)

Don't get into it with road rage. There's no way of knowing why or what you're up against. When you're stopped, leave space between the car in front of you, to be able to pull away.

Remember there are cameras everywhere these days. They won't stop trouble, but they might get you IN trouble.