I was at a little gathering smoking cigars and drinking diet coke (Wine was available but I was armed so I stuck with soft drinks). The fact I was a PI came out and that led to a discussion of firearms. As the conversation dwindled, after a couple of hours debating the merits of various guns, I was talking to a single person about the mental part of self defense.
It seems that most people think they are dangerous just because they have a pistol or other firearm. And that's true to a certain extent, but not as much as most people think. Just because you have a gun, doesn't mean your safe.
Self defense is not a single layer thing like just having a gun. It's multilayered, and the first and most important foundation of self defense is awareness. It doesn't matter who you are, what kind of gun you have, or what kind of combat skills you possess, if you aren't aware of an attack coming at you, you're screwed.
Amongst the gun gurus, the concept of awareness is stated in the color code system, now made famous by the Homeland Security folks. In the gun world, Condition White means someone is oblivious to the world around them. Condition Yellow means they are maintaining awareness, Condition Orange means a threat is likely, but not identified, and Condition Red is when the threat has been identified and you move to neutralize the situation.
To illustrate the system, think of the news stories about joggers, wearing headphones and zoning out while running that step in front of a moving car. That's Condition White.
When you look both ways before you cross the street, you are in Condition Yellow. You are actively aware of your surroundings.
If you hear what sounds like a window breaking downstairs in the middle of the night, but haven't detected a person yet, you are in Condition Orange as you move to investigate the strange noise.
If you were to find a burglar in your house, then you are in Condition Red, because the threat has been identified.
Of these four mental states, Condition Yellow is the most important one. If you are in Condition White, all you have going for you is dumb luck or Divine Providence, because your brain ain't in the game at all.
If you get surprised, for all intents and purposes, you move from White to Red instantly. This is called the startle reflex. Conditions Yellow and Orange prepare you for Condition Red. So without them, you are unprepared when the crap starts flying and your opponent, assuming he's been paying attention, has got the jump on you. If you get startled, the time it will take you to deploy your weapon is probably doubled, since you have to process the event through a series of mental stages called the OODA loop. (I will explain that later.)
Time is your best friend before a fight, and your worst enemy during a fight. If you have time to prepare, you can avoid the startle reflex and maybe get the jump on the bad guy. If you spot the trouble before trouble spots you, you can deploy your firearm and at least be in the fight instead of being a dumbstruck target.
Time is your worst enemy in a fight, because the longer a fight goes, the greater the odds are you will lose. Self defense problems should be solved in the minimum amount of time possible.
One of things I told the person I was talking to is, "I don't fight."
And I don't fight, I solve problems. I try to solve those problems as quickly as possible. The speed at which I solve the problem is directly proportionate to the odds I'm going home to the wife and kids.
Okay, what is an OODA loop? OODA is an anacronym for Observation, Orientation, Decision and Action. It was a concept that came from the Korean War when a study was done to see why American Pilots were beating the Communists pilots so badly. First, the planes the Americans were flying had a bubble cockpit, which gave the pilot an excellent field of view. This allowed them to spot the enemy plans first.
The second stage of the mental combat process is Orientation. The brain constructs a mental map showing where all the players are and what is around them that might effect the combat.
The third stage is the decision making stage. Once the brain has its map, it can make a choice as to the proper action. American pilots had better training than the Communist pilots, so they made the right decison more often.
Finally there is action, The American Sabre jets had great controls and the planes could really fly and they responded quickly to the pilots commands, thus implementing the decision (almost)instantly.
You have to go through these four mental stages, there really isn't a way to get around them. If you are in Condition White, and a bad guy who decides to victimize you is in Yellow and spots you first, he may well orientate, make a decision, and act upon that decision before you even see him. This is what is called being inside someone's OODA loop.
So, being observant is the foremost part of self-defense. If someone gets inside your OODA loop, you are in a really sucky place. Develop good habits, just like you did as kid when you learned to cross the street, and look around and who's watching you or following you in a store. Watch for people following you out of store. Look for people who movements match yours or they are setting up an intercpt course. If you know they are there, they can't startle you and you can be ready for them.
In part 2, I'll discuss some more layers you need to have in place to maximize your personal safety.
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