"awareness" vs. "AWARENESS!"

[Long tom coffin]

I personally wouldn't put either in my pocket if I wanted to be able to use it. It is hard enough to execute a draw stroke from a holster while getting punched in the face or donkey stomped while on the ground. I think I am missing even the rare scenario where this idea is superior to other options. But I am open to enlightenment.

So you are against pocket carry altogether, even for a BUG?


I was always under the impression that good planning and situational awareness were the first and most effective keys to self defense. It seems to me that if you are getting "donkey stomped" on the pavement while in a futile attempt to get to your holstered weapon, you've already committed a series of cumulative fails that pretty much overshadow either your choice of pants or holsters.

[Dropkick]

I was always under the impression that good planning and situational awareness were the first and most effective keys to self defense. It seems to me that if you are getting "donkey stomped" on the pavement while in a futile attempt to get to your holstered weapon, you've already committed a series of cumulative fails that pretty much overshadow either your choice of pants or holsters.

Yes and No.

Avoiding the Three Stupids (People, Places and Things) is what I'd consider "Good Planning" and will keep you out of a lot of trouble. Situational Awareness will keep you out of trouble too... But there times where criminals employ ambushes to completely blind-side people.

For whatever reason, if you've lost the initiative in a fight and are getting stomped... The first thing to do is stop getting stomped. Until you've regained the initiative trying to deploy a weapon is most likely going to fail miserably.

[ToddG]

I was always under the impression that good planning and situational awareness were the first and most effective keys to self defense. It seems to me that if you are getting "donkey stomped" on the pavement while in a futile attempt to get to your holstered weapon, you've already committed a series of cumulative fails that pretty much overshadow either your choice of pants or holsters.

Anyone who says he's never fallen into Condition White while out in public is either lying or so unaware that he doesn't even realize his own imperfections. Furthermore, with growing trends like "flash mobs" it's hard to imagine how anyone can honestly think he'll be aware enough to realize trouble that materializes in large numbers over the course of just a few seconds.

There are plenty of instructors who talk about Awareness as a combined holy grail and classroom lesson wrapped in an impenetrable force field that will protect you at all times under all circumstances if you "do it." These tend to be the same people who have less developed hard skills and justify it by saying "I don't need to know combatives, my Awareness would never let someone get that close to me," or "I don't need a fast draw, my Awareness will give me plenty of time to act." The word awareness is really just code for luck under those circumstances.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying awareness & avoidance are unimportant. They're critically important and under most circumstances absolutely will be a greater factor than shaving half a second off your draw or knowing the 97 Steps or whatever. Just don't let "my awesome level of awareness" become a paper mache crutch.

[LittleLebowski]

Anyone who says he's never fallen into Condition White while out in public is either lying or so unaware that he doesn't even realize his own imperfections. Furthermore, with growing trends like "flash mobs" it's hard to imagine how anyone can honestly think he'll be aware enough to realize trouble that materializes in large numbers over the course of just a few seconds.

There are plenty of instructors who talk about Awareness as a combined holy grail and classroom lesson wrapped in an impenetrable force field that will protect you at all times under all circumstances if you "do it." These tend to be the same people who have less developed hard skills and justify it by saying "I don't need to know combatives, my Awareness would never let someone get that close to me," or "I don't need a fast draw, my Awareness will give me plenty of time to act." The word awareness is really just code for luck under those circumstances.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying awareness & avoidance are unimportant. They're critically important and under most circumstances absolutely will be a greater factor than shaving half a second off your draw or knowing the 97 Steps or whatever. Just don't let "my awesome level of awareness" become a paper mache crutch.

Good post.

[Dropkick]

Would it be possible to break off the few posts about getting stomped and awareness into another thread for further discussion?

I don't want to take away from the awesome MC Hammer pants.

[mnealtx]

the 97 Steps

Is your real name Khadaji?

[ToddG]

Thread split so Dropkick can fully embrace his MC Hammer fetish.

[Dropkick]

There are plenty of instructors who talk about Awareness as a combined holy grail and classroom lesson wrapped in an impenetrable force field that will protect you at all times under all circumstances if you "do it." ...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying awareness & avoidance are unimportant. They're critically important and under most circumstances absolutely will be a greater factor than shaving half a second off your draw or knowing the 97 Steps or whatever. Just don't let "my awesome level of awareness" become a paper mache crutch.

(Not sure where you were going with the italics and quotes on awareness, so hope this make sense...)

This has got me thinking... How important is awareness in and of itself? I'm tempted to say not very. For example, I could be aware I'm in the process of getting mugged. Ooookay. That doesn't really seem like it would lead to a positive outcome.

However, thinking of it in terms of Cause & Effect. Where awareness is the Cause, and properly defending yourself is the Effect. That seems like the winning combination that I hope everyone would strive for. Right?

Do you think there is a disjoint in what is being taught between what I refered to as Cause & Effect?

[ToddG]

Awareness is like radar. If your radar only works within 5' and only detects giant threats, it's useless. If, OTOH, it has a range of miles and can tell the difference between an laden European Swallow from an African Swallow, that's pretty awesome.

Being able to detect when something is about to get bad, or being able to pick out who the about-to-get-bad guys are, is a valuable skill regardless of whether you're carrying six blades, three guns, and a howitzer or not. SouthNarc's MUC (Managing Unknown Contacts) goes into great detail on the subject and is probably one of the best such lectures I've heard.

[JAD]

What I got out of the Wednesday lectures I've watched (on tape; I'm old, but I'm not that old) is that the function of awareness is to allow you to select and deploy a plan. Cooper was very focused on shifting surprise to the adversary; being ahead in reaction, so that you can take decisive and aggressive action to create a favorable outcome. That starts with being aware, so awareness (and hence the color code) are fundamental; but as Todd points out, awareness without a prepared line of action is meaningless.