Principle 4 - Change from “prey” to “predator” in the shortest possible time – defense and attack should be as close together as possible or attacks should be pre-emptive.

There are three components of and reality based self defense system: simple instinctual techniques, physical fitness and an aggressive mindset. When your heart rate hits 180 BPM (Beats per Minute) due to the effects of adrenaline, your ability to perform complex techniques disappear, and when your adrenaline wears off, whatever superhuman powers it gave you will got to; all you’re left with is your current fitness level and your aggressive mindset.

I don’t believe in the term “self-defense”, it suggests that’s what’s required of you in a violent confrontation is to do “just enough” in order to stop your assailant assaulting you. If you want to put boundaries around what you’re prepared to do to the other person then you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. If they want to pummel and kick you into oblivion and all you want to do is protect yourself and nothing more, I promise you that the outcome of the fight will see you unconscious: your predator(s) will not restrict themselves in what they do to you, even if you will to them.

Forget the movies, forget your skills and put your technical ability aside for one moment. If you have ever seen the absolute rage and violence of someone who has lost all rational thought and at that moment in time simply wants to make sure you cease to exist, you will quickly dispense with the idea that in a state of Zen Calmness you can dispatch them forthwith and teach them a lesson they’ll never forget. If you can survive the situation, get out alive, with minimal injuries you have done more than succeed. Violence is a messy and dirty affair both physically and emotionally and if you cannot bring the same level of emotional and physical commitment to the game, that your assailant does, your chances of success are close to zero…or…you’re hoping you get lucky.

You’re emotional state doesn’t have to be one of out of control rage like your assailant but it does have to outstrip them in terms of depth, determination and belief. A physical assault/threat is a challenge to the very core and essence of the person that is you. Although I care little for the respect of those that don’t know me, I still take seriously the disrespect that an aggressive person shows to me; that they believe they have the right to communicate with me (or anyone) on such an uneven footing – don’t tell me it’s just “trash talk”, it’s ignorant entitlement at a volume that nobody should be expected to tolerate (and when you won’t get out of your car to talk to me, or walk away when challenged about it, I’m surprised you can keep upright without your backbone).

At the first sign of aggression and violence, you should be prepared to act preemptively – this doesn’t mean you should, just that you should be prepared to. Making the switch that says you’re prepared to be the one to hit/strike first signifies you have moved away from a prey mentality. Even a cornered rabbit with no escape opportunity will attack first if necessary. If your head is concerned with the legal implications of such a course of action, clear it, your assailant isn’t encumbered with such thoughts. If you fear for your safety you have every right to strike first: you don’t have to wait for a person who is holding a gun to your head to pull the trigger before you act. As long as everything you did up until that point was following a course of disengagement/de-escalation and avoidance you should have no concerns about the implications of your actions – they are to be worked out after the assault.

In my experience both as a participant and observer of violence 8 out of 10 fights are “won” by the person throwing the first punch/strike; that person should be you. If you fail to do this, the first strike your assailant throws should be there only one, as you move from defense to attack in the shortest possible time. You end fights by being the predator not the prey.