Active Self Protection experts stress the importance of attitude in being able to prevail in a difficult situation. Situational awareness is even more critical. Paying attention to your surroundings and noticing what’s going on around you is key.
If you notice, this old Marine didn’t see what was going on in the armed robbery for awhile. I am not saying to be paranoid, but always pay attention!”
If you find yourself in a place where a robbery gets underway, always look for the opportunity to protect yourself, even if you’re not the person being robbed. Don’t stay in the danger zone if you can possibly help it. But if there’s no path to leave, consider taking action if the opportunity presents itself.
You want to wait for the time that the armed robber is not focusing on you to act with decisiveness to protect yourself. This kind of counter-ambush is exactly why the old Marine was able to win this fight.”
If you carry a knife as a means of self-defense, make sure you’ve trained enough to use it effectively to disable limbs and diminish the attacker’s ability to harm you.
This old Marine stopped the fight more with aggressiveness and attitude than with the knife.”
Stabbing the robber in the chest no doubt startled and confused him. The Marine followed up with a few more stabs and then forced the robber to exit.
Fortunately, the robber was hurt enough to not try to come back and get even. Accurately sizing up the situation and acting appropriately is critical to prevailing in a dangerous situation.
Here’s their full instructional:
- Many times an attacker will give pre-attack cues during the “warmup” phase of an armed robbery that defenders can use to anticipate what is coming. One of the most common is looking around, either for witnesses or for escape routes. If you’re interviewing/being interviewed, and in your talk notice someone who exhibits other danger signs looking left and right away from you or searching for witnesses or escape routes, consider that a significant clue that something is wrong and place yourself in the best possible place to avert or deal with the potential attack.
- Situational awareness is your best friend. It doesn’t mean that you always are paranoid or living in “condition orange,” but it does mean that you know Col. Cooper’s color code of awareness and you live by it. Pay attention to your surroundings, and recognize that when you’re in public places you need to be more aware of your surroundings than when you’re in private. If you notice, this old Marine didn’t see what was going on in the armed robbery for awhile. I am not saying to be paranoid, but always pay attention!
- Do not stay in the danger zone if you can possibly help it in an armed robbery. So many times people get decision paralysis and freeze, but you cannot stay in a place where a deadly threat exists! Either act to leave the area, or act to protect yourself. Every second you give an attacker is another opportunity they have to do you and yours harm, so don’t allow that. If you can, get out of there immediately. Lots of people stood around and watched this armed robbery go down.
- In the moment of an armed robbery beginning, you must look for your opportunity to protect yourself. It is strongly possible that the moment of the attack is not that moment. You want to wait for the time that the armed robber is not focusing on you to act with decisiveness to protect yourself. This kind of counter-ambush is exactly why the old Marine was able to win this fight.
- If you carry a knife as a defensive tool you must know that it takes a good bit of training to use effectively. It has very short range, and while it can be a devastating force multiplier, it doesn’t tend to stop fights quickly against determined foes. If you use a knife as a self-defender make sure you are trained how to use it to disable limbs and diminish your attackers’ ability to harm you, because stabbing them in the chest with it will probably kill them, but won’t stop them for a LONG time while they’re a serious danger to you. This old Marine stopped the fight more with aggressiveness and attitude than with the knife.
Source: Active Self Protection
I don’t know that I would actually *recommend* stabbing the chest in this particular situation. He’s actually behind him: I would go for the kidneys. No bones in the way, LOTS of blood supply for the skell to leak, and difficult for the scumbag to defend against. A chest attack with a folding knife is really risky. If you aren’t picture perfect, you’re going to hit hard immovable bone, and your hand is going to slide right down that little blade – and then where are you?
Still, hat’s off to the Mad Irishman!