Strategic Awareness

[mercop]

Face it, when the rest of the world hears self-defense they picture pepper spray, and rape whistles. Commanders of the obvious also want to yell out the word awareness.

Awareness is worthless without tactics and strategy. The vast majority of people are aware enough to see things, just not aware enough to process the information based on their relation to it and immediately employ a tactic (act to gain advantage) to employ ultimate strategy (acts to achieve ultimate goal).

When the word awareness is spoken in the tactical sense too often people just assume that it means alerting to a specific threat. Alerting to a specific threat is easy and takes little effort and knowledge. What awareness needs to mean in the tactical environment is to always know where you are in relation to everything in your environment.

EDE (Every Day Example)- you are driving down the road at a safe distance behind another vehicle. Then all of a sudden the vehicle you are following jams on their brakes. Normally the best choice would be just hit your brakes since you have room, but he problem is you have your dog in the back seat. You are in the middle of lane of three lanes. The overall safest thing to do is to change lanes while applying pressure to the brakes but not slamming on them. But of course first you have to see which lane it is safe to change to and signal. If you fail to be aware of the totality of the circumstances and are only aware of the vehicle in front of your stopping- you slam on the brakes, your dog begins to slide of the seat and yelps, this startles you and you swerve into another lane and hit another car. Well at least you did not hit the car in front of your but your overall lack of awareness causes you to trade one problem for another.

Liken the above to what far too many people consider firearms training. Standing in a static position, engaging a static target in reaction to particular prearranged stimuli. Even in this sterile event many people are over come with stress to the point where they miss even the closest targets. So in all actually the only thing this act has in common with using a firearm to defend yourself is the mechanical acts of drawing and pulling the trigger. Add in only the requirements of verbal commands and the choice of a less lethal tool like the Tazer or OC spray and watch the games begin.

Are you training to hone your awareness to respond to a specific threat, or to be aware of where you are in your overall environment?

[Carnes]

In a high-stress situation people will default to their level of training. If a person's only training is killing paper from a fancy weaver stance, that is likely what that person will attempt to do under stress. Folks may think that is not the case, but when you are preoccupied with thinking about the load you just dropped in your shorts you may well find yourself standing with no cover, just hammering away on the bang-switch.

I admit I don't do enough practical, force on force, training anymore... But I am looking for a good airsoft, and persons interested in going at it.

[BullfrogKen]

Be aware? Be aware of what?


I would submit being alert is a much better descriptor of the mental state we should strive to be in.

[CommonHighrise]

I think what the OP was trying to say is that you need to be more than just aware/alert of your situation and surroundings, but be able to rapidly form a plan and strategy if they become needed. Its hard to explain to someone unless theyve done it. Closest analogy I can think of is making everywhere you go your living room. In your living room, even in pitch black night, you know where the furnature, doors, and windows are. You probably even have a pre-planned strategy for home defense threats. What one needs to do is pick up their awareness wherever they are, and train themselves to rapidly form a strategy at the drop of a hat.

Dont let alot of mall ninja types fool you, its a very difficult thing to get down pat. Personally, I can only do it 60-70% of the time, as things like conversations and planning my day take my focus away.

For training yourself, I find resurants are a good place to do it. Once you walk in and take your seat, without looking, see if you can mentally map out the room, with tables, patrons, the doors, and any windows. Now using that mental map, make up quick strategies for different defense situations, such as the easy and obvious of someone coming in waving a gun. Also, things like a fire from the kitchen, or that little old lady 3 booths behind you having a heart attack. Keep plans simple, they should just be your first few steps, such as getting to cover and getting your weapon out, or fastest route to a visible fire extinguisher. It shouldnt take much longer than the time it takes you to look over the appetizer menu.

[tes151]

As a motorcycle rider in an age where it seems that more people than not are doing everything BUT paying attention to their driving, I need to have an awareness of what is going on around me at all times, lest I become road kill. Having said that, I do need to get better at it when not on the bike. Like most people, I tend to let my guard down more that I should. Great post.

[XD40coyote]

I get easily distracted by children running around. Its like having bees buzzing around me and me trying to focus on each bee, but all of them at once.

Otherwise I am pretty aware, but there are times I am really tired or having an allergy thing going and its like I am sick- sick can be cond white.

Reactions to something can be instinct or based on training. Once I figured out how some foxes fire a trap off without being caught. I went to reset a trap and the triggering mechanism needed filing or some sort of adjusting, and the trap just fires on my hand- yet it misses grabbing it! Lightening fast reflexes! I would say... instinct with that one?

I suppose repetition of sudden quick draw and point shooting at 10 feet, over and over, maybe a session once a week, could tune you in to doing OK if you ever have to do such an action to save your life. Not instinct, but learned in repetition. Similar to the guy I went shooting with who was hitting the targets with groupings ( wide ones) at 20 yards, without his glasses on and having not even fired a handgun in 15 years. Or maybe he was a natural LOL. I couldn't even hit the target at that distance!