I once attended a defensive class where the instructor, assuming his best Wild Bill Hickok pose, said that he never allowed strangers to get close enough to him to touch him. I wanted to ask him how he was able to make his way down a busy city sidewalk, or function in a crowded shopping mall or sporting event. By the way, the rest of his class was a waste of time, too.
The fact is that strangers get really close to us on a regular, daily basis. That’s just the facts of life. And it is also a fact that close-range attacks are generally the most dangerous. Identifying a problem at some distance gives us a chance to select several options for dealing with it. Up close it is all happening very fast, and we don’t really have time to consider options; we just need to react and react quickly.
The problem is that the person who is crowding you may just be an honest fellow who is in a hurry. Or he might be an otherwise harmless drunk who, because of the booze, is violating your space but with no criminal intent. He also might be a violent criminal who is about to stick you with a knife or pull a gun on you. And, congratulations, you only have a split-second to make the proper response. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any training that will guarantee that you make the right decision or survive the attack. But, in no particular order, here are some things that might help harden you as a target.
When out in public, it is critical to stay alert. That means actually looking at people and continually evaluating them as a threat potential. It especially means to check their hands for weapons. We may only glance at their face, but we take a good look at their hands. If one or both hands are in their pockets this may tell you something, too. A criminal will quite possibly recognize that you are doing this and simply seek another target.
Whenever possible, we also want to stay on the edge of crowds. This makes it easier to exit the area, but it also makes it more likely that we will be near a wall, or other solid object, that we can get our back to if trouble starts. And, obviously, it minimizes the number of people who can get behind you.
If at all possible, your hands should be empty. Have you practiced using blocking maneuvers with your support hand? Have you practiced shooting one-handed while blocking with your support hand? Have you thought about carrying a walking cane in crowded situations to assist in blocking or dealing with an unarmed attack?
So instead of making ridiculous statements about never letting strangers near you, the smart move is to accept that it happens and, in the vast majority of cases, does no harm. At the same time, it is important to have a plan, actually several plans, for dealing with that close-range encounter with the criminal. Study the possibilities, evaluate your personal situation, and develop some plans that will work for a variety of cases. It’s the smart thing to do.
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