“Self Defense is recovery from stupidity or bad luck.” SGT Rory Miller
We in the USKMA preach to avoid bad situations…don’t go to stupid places with stupid people to do stupid things. Next we tell people to run when they see a violent situation. Thirdly, pick up something to use as a weapon and strike first if that’s what it takes. Finally…use your Krav Maga. You can see how far down the list actually using what we teach is. If you get to that point you missed some things!
In our instructor training, as well as our law enforcement training, we show a dash cam video of a law enforcement officer in a deadly force scenario with a big, belligerent man who tries to knife him. The scenario plays out and the cop ends up getting stabbed and shoots and kills the criminal. A sad ending that could have been avoided. We go through the video a second time showing the group how many signs the attacker gave that it was about to turn ugly. The officer misses five or six things that should have made him go hands on and diffuse the situation. Some are really obvious and makes you want to yell at the video!
We should be reacting as soon as we see a sign that an attack could be coming, not waiting for the actual attack. Hitting first is proactive. So is running. Waiting on the idiot to swing first is reactive and puts us behind the eight ball right off the bat.
Things the idiot in front of us will do to show his intentions (that aren’t good) would include;
-Not listening. This is an obvious one that shouldn’t be missed, but is. If a female (or anyone else) holds her hands up and says “don’t come closer” and the idiot takes another step…this is a bad sign. She should kick him in the groin right then and there. Ignoring you and continuing to close on you is a bad sign.
-The person in front of you offsets his feet, one in front of the other and bases out. Why would you get in that stance? I do that when I’m going to hit something. It’s hard to punch with my feet beside each other or close to each other.
-Face starts to flush, pulse visible and jumping in the neck, teeth clenched, forehead scrunching and fists start to ball. Any one of these should be a cue for us to do something. All at once is a sure sign that he/she’s agitated and about to go off.
-Other signs of stress and agitation including voice getting higher & louder. Fast talking, increased breathing rate, restlessness, etc.
-Grooming. This is when the person you are having words with run the back of their hand across their nose, fingers through hair, wipe their brow, etc. This is a big sign. It generally means they just came to a decision on what they are going to do…and it caused stress. On the video when the criminal is coming across a highway railing he pauses, wipes his palm across his forehead, and then resumes. That was the exact moment he decided he would attack the officer.
-Standing bladed. You hide one side of your body when you don’t want the person in front of you to see what you are doing on the other side…like accessing a knife.
-For law enforcement especially we talk about target glancing. If you are talking to someone who glances at your sidearm a few times…do something. He’s about to lunge for it. If a suspect keeps glancing past you or behind them they are looking for a good path to run from you. If any of us see someone approaching and glancing back and around…look out. They are about to strike and are checking one last time to make sure there are no witnesses.
Watching out for any and all of these things will keep us safer. Realize why the person is acting the way they are and take appropriate measures. Avoid situation where you have to use Krav Maga…that’s good advice! BE SAFE!
