Principles of Avoidance: Predator Be Gone, Part 3.
PREDATOR BE GONE, PART III- Principles Of Avoidance
The S.H.A.R.P. (Sexual Harassment Assault and Rape Prevention) Principles of Avoidance chapter is pretty extensive, so I’m going to cut it down a bit. The key, once again, is to understand that you can avoid sexual predators about 98% of the time by adhering to the simple principles I have detailed in this and the last two posts. Ninety-eight per cent is pretty sweet, I think you will agree. And in my fourth post on the subject I will discuss what to do if the other 2% goes down.
There are 3 Principles of Avoidance: Know Your Limitations; Control the Environment and Control Your Fear.
- KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS applies to understanding your personal strengths and weaknesses. A key issue is Physical Appearance. Your physical appearance is often the most important factor leading to you being either selected or rejected as a victim. Fact is, gender, height, weight, apparent strength and fitness, and age play a major role in you being selected or not. If you read my last post (June 6) and note the segment on recreating yourself into a Tough Target, you can almost guarantee that you will not be selected based on your physical appearance!
An extension of physical appearance is voice pitch and an ability to maintain a calm, but authoritative tone. Voice tone and pitch can quickly communicate your confidence (or, of course, anxiety) within seconds of first encountering an assailant.
- CONTROL THE ENVIRONMENT should not be taken literally, but it means simply that you need to understand how and when to avoid the environment entirely, and how to use the environment, if and when you do enter, as an advantage to help you escape to help you retreat, or, if necessary, prevail. For the sake of brevity, I’ll sum up the guidelines:
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- Check Out the Outside of the Environment Before Entering. Look for unsavory people/person eyeballing you, etc. Is the establishment you are thinking of entering appear to be isolated, difficult from which to escape?
- Check Out the Inside of the Establishment Before Going Too Deep. Stop, look and Listen. Trust Your Gut Feelings about the place (could be an elevator, also). Assess the people/person occupying the place. Is the place going to be difficult from which to retreat? Do/does the people/person appear to be hostile?
- Identify Barricades: If you must enter this questionable environment, identify furniture and other objects which can be used to place/throw between you and an assailant. If you have to move tactically or run, certain objects can be thrown at the assailant’s feet to slow him down.
- CONTROL YOUR FEAR. You need to understand that the phenomenon of fear is closely associated with how you mentally prepare yourself for the possibility of defending yourself against an assailant. Yes, the Survival Psyche, or Mental Conditioning, when we come down to the bottom line, often is what will determine your fate. The world is a circle, and, so, my friends, is the element of survival. If you followed my posts, you know I believe that 98% of survival is awareness, preparation and avoidance. Failing those keys elements, though, you are going through life oblivious to people and circumstances surrounding you.
Surprise and Shock, then, will be your dominant mental and physical reaction to a spontaneous, close quarter attack (an attack you would have detected long before it became spontaneous and close-quarter combat) Here’s the thing: when you become surprised or startled by an unexpected threat perception, fear manifests and activates your Sympathetic Nervous System, which, means, when that happens to your unprepared mind, to put it as succinctly and as bluntly as possible, you are indeed screwed!
Ø Under SNS you will lose your ability to make life preserving decisions. More likely than not, you will freeze in place, be unable to move tactically, and whatever moves you do make will be guided by irrational thoughts!
Ø Under SNS your eyesight and ability to hear will be diminished.
Ø Your heart rate and respiration will increase greatly and so will the element of panic.
Ø Your physical actions will be those of a true victim, which is why the predator who is attacking you chose you in the first place.
Ø ARE YOU GETTING THE IDEA?
Bottom Line: When you are mentally prepared for anything, surprise is a limited possibility. But even when “surprise” happens, you are ready for it, and, therefore, you are in control of your fear!
In Part 4, we discuss what to do when the Bad Guy has you cornered.
Until then, Stay Safe.
Hammer