 In the dojo, we are the masters of our own training. Whether you are an instructor or student, classes are usually held within a safe, secure, and fully controlled environment. But there's a lot we can take for granted. It's hard enough to focus on learning the proper techniques and application that it's very easy to forget, a very big impact on any self-defense situation, the environment. Learning what obstacles you might face or what possible tools might be at your disposal might just make a difference in you being able to defend yourself or not. Today we're going to talk about situational awareness and self-defense. Let's start with the basic, the dojo itself. The dojo setting is very easy to take for granted. You come in, you're in an air-conditioned room, usually. You've got pads to work with. You've got partners that practice safety. Sometimes you've got padded floors. Safety is a concern. Now, some dojos have wood floors, but they're still very different than working out in the concrete or the gravel. Taking the situation outside adds a lot of concerns. You've got to worry about terrain, people that are around you, the weather, objects that could be obstacles or tools. Are you in a parking lot? There's cars, both parked and moving, something to be aware of. So when you go outside, it's not just your technique and what you know, you have to adapt to your environment. So let's go back to terrain. If you are on gravel or concrete or grass or sand or snow, all have different considerations. Also, we're talking flat terrain there. What if you're on hills or if there's potholes or if things aren't quite level, there's a bunch of sticks on the ground, rocks you can trip over. Those are all things you have to be aware of. The terrain is a very, very important experience. One, what kind of traction do you have? Grass is going to give you a different traction than concrete. Are you going to be able to rotate, stand your ground if you need to? If it goes down to the ground, grass is going to be very different than sand, which will be very different than gravel if you have to ground fight. Granted, you'll do what you have to do, but you still have to take that into consideration. Weather, is it been raining? Is the grass wet? It makes it easy to slip on. You've got rain, you've got heat, you've got snow. Is it autumn? Are there leaves on the ground? Could you possibly slip on them? They take away some of the traction. Let's take things down to a finer level. What kind of objects are around? Everything and anything can be a potential weapon for you to use or to be used against you. Are there sticks and rocks, chairs? Are you in a restaurant where there could be tables, plateware, silverware? What is at your disposal? There's a lot to keep in mind. So you've got your big setting and you've got your finer details. They all work together and can definitely turn a situation one way or the other. Whenever you enter a new place, it's definitely a good idea to take stock of what you're walking into. Several things to keep in mind. The first thing is mobility. What is your ability to move in this setting? Are there tight spaces? Are you in tight hallways? Is the big open room? Are there tables and chairs that you'd have to navigate around? Is this place crowded? Are there a lot of people? If there's a lot of people, you might not have room to move or try to escape. Even then, the crowd can become hostile. So that's part of the assessing the room. When you go someplace new that you've never been in before, it's always a good idea to take note of any possible escape routes. What are the exits? What's the closest to you? If you can't get to that one, what's the next closest? Always know a way out. Take stock of the obstacles and tools. You walk to a restaurant, you've got tables to work around, full of silverware, plates, even food. Ground can be slippery if some liquid spills. You go to a movie theater, your mobility is decreased. Now you've got small aisles, you've got chairs and people to work around. A subway, a zoo, a bar, a parking lot. What do you have at your disposal? Going back to the floor and the terrain. When you walk in, this is a habit I like to develop. When I walk into a new place, I kind of make a little subconscious mental note of how does my traction work on the floor? Are my shoes slippery? Does it grab well? Do I have good footing? Will I be able to run on this? Will I be able to stand my ground on this? Just good mental note, walk into place, just kind of check the traction on the floor. Depending where you are, if you're at a bar or a concert or some large public event, is there security around? And playing on that, any security cameras? What are the camera positions if you see any? And also keep in mind, if something breaks out nowadays, everyone's got cell phones, everything's caught on camera. So if you do find yourself in a situation, just realize any action that you take or that's taken against you is likely to get caught on video. So note where those situations are. See where the cameras are placed, if there are any around. If there's a large crowd, you can bet if something breaks out, someone's going to hold up a camera. Part of avoiding a situation could be avoiding certain places if possible. So if you can, obviously avoid bad areas, bad neighborhoods, especially if you're in a tourist area. If you're in a tourist area and the surrounding areas are bad, do not venture away from the main crowd. You're putting yourself at extra risk. Also, if you are uncomfortable, so say for example, you're coming out of work late one night or you're coming out from a bar, you're going to your car, is the parking lot empty, there are a lot of people out, is it quiet? Do you feel safe? If you don't quite feel safe, you can always walk around with keys in your hand. It's something, you know, if you have to defend yourself, it is a weapon, going back to what tools are at your disposal. There's something called the coupon. It's basically a keychain, but it's a miniature baton, usually made of aluminum or some type of metal. They're about five and a half inches to six inches long, and they fit well in the keychain, but they are designed for possible wrist locks, eye pokes. It's a weapon. Sometimes they're even pointed. So if we're good for pressure points or if you have to defend yourself, good for soft targets. So if anyone's interested in one of those, I've got a link below in the description. Whether you get into the car or say you're putting a bag in the back seat, try not to just lean in and keep your back exposed if you're not aware of what's around you. Just take stock, look around, make sure you're safe before dropping your guard or leaving yourself wide open for a possible ambush. A lot of people do get attacked in parking lots when they're not looking, so just be aware as you're going to your car. If you do not feel safe or you feel there's a threat, try to go somewhere safe and call security or call the police if you need to. Are there any dark areas? Are you walking downtown? Are there any potential hiding spots? Alleyways, just stuff to keep in mind. I'm not saying that you're going to walk down the street and people are going to be jumping out of every corner, but it's a good practice just to kind of identify what a possible threat could be and just be mentally prepared for it. First I want to say I'm not telling you the profile. Don't base any judgment of gender, race, age, anything like that. That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is when you walk into a new environment, just take stock of who's around. Just know what kind of crowd it is, what people are possibly wearing, where their positions, if something were to happen, are there people blocking your way? Just be aware of who's around you. Also, try to read the crowd. Is it a potentially hostile crowd or is it more passive? If a situation breaks out in a bar or at a club or a concert, chances are if something were to happen, people might jump in. It kind of spreads. People are usually drinking, they're amped up, hostility can spread. Versus if you're at a family restaurant, people tend to veer away from the fight. So try to read the room. Try to pay attention for any strange behavior. Again, I'm not saying profile anybody, but is there a person who's sitting in the corner of the room totally withdrawn from everyone? Or is it the dead of summer and someone comes in wearing a long coat, trench coat? Just keep that in mind, keep an eye on them. If you feel nervous, if you don't feel safe, maybe alert someone in security to say, hey, maybe kind of keep an eye on that person. If the person's drunk, probably best to stay away from them. So just notice any strange behavior that makes you feel uncomfortable, stay away from, but keep an eye on it. Sitting down. I recently did an exercise with the kids. I like this drill. I think it gets people thinking. We started class, we did our warm-ups. Then I had them partner up and practice their self-defense techniques with their partner. Then I took the kids. I took one kid. I put him down in the chair. I said, okay, now do the same technique. He looked at me like, what? I said, do the same technique. And he wanted to stand up to you. I said, no, do it in the chair. And he looked at me like, well, how? I said, well, you tell me. How would you alter it to work from sitting down? Sitting down is something we all do a lot. And a lot of situations can arise where you might find yourself prone in this chair. So how can you adapt your material to work from that position? So basically, I had them working groups. We laid a bunch of chairs out. And I had them sit down. I had one partner just attack them. And they had to choose the technique that they would use to get out of it. It was actually really interesting to watch them work this out. Because I saw the gears turning. Some kids came up with some great concepts. I saw a few work around how to get around the chair and use it as a weapon. Other people from attack from behind were able to counter-grab and get out of it. And they pulled the opponent over the chair. So they started to use the chair as a weapon or as a tool for their disposal. Even at one point, I heard this giant thud and I turned around. And one kid flouted on his back. His partner basically came up and just sparred to kick them. But that's something that could happen. You have to be aware of it. So I told them, well, if that happens again, what would you do? I made them work on it. There's different types of seats. So one size technique doesn't fit all. Booths, benches, subways, chairs, they're all going to be different. Are you in a seat that can tip over and be pushed back? Or are you in like a park bench where it's fixed? That will greatly change the situation. For example, if you're in a fixed seat, a park bench or a subway, well, you can push back against it. You can brace against it. Launch off it if you have to. If you're in a folding chair, you're not going to be able to do that. You know, that's going to give and you can tip over. But also, with a park bench, you can still get up and move around behind it whereas a subway you can't. So you can start to see the different varieties of situations that can come up. So wherever you're seated, take note of that. What are your options if something were to happen? Big difference if it's one person attacking or multiple attackers if you're in a seat. Are you in a chair that can be tipped over? Well, now you've got 360 degrees to worry about. Are you at a restaurant? Are you in a booth? You know, someone's attacking you from the corner, from the side. Someone else can climb in the booth behind you and grab you. Take that into account. What is your mobility like from where you're sitting and how could you use it to your advantage if you were attacked? Okay, so what do you do if you feel threatened? You've taken the safety measures that you can. You've tried to avoid bad areas. You've taken stock of your environment. You've noticed who's around you. You notice what you're wearing and the traction. All that. That's all good. But what if you still feel threatened? Maybe someone's really making you uncomfortable or you're starting to sense hostility. What can you do at this point? Number one, if possible, avoidance. You feel someone's a possible danger? Move away from them if you can. If you feel like other people are starting to have an argument, maybe move away from that if you don't want to be a part of that. So if you still can get out of there, still the best recommendation. You don't want to be involved in a situation if you don't have to be. People only get hurt. So if you can still avoid the threat or what you perceive as a threat, then do that. Your body language can say a lot. If someone's threatening you even trying to fight you and you go into this stance, what are you telling them? You're saying, all right, it's on. Let's fight. Maybe that's what you want to do. I don't recommend that. You want to try to de-escalate the situation that you can. But you also don't want to just stand like this. You're completely vulnerable. So what are some ideas you can do? Well, one is you want to keep your hands up. There's a few ways to do that. One is you can stand with your arms crossed. You know, I like this one. I wouldn't fold your arms under where you kind of get tangled up, but just kind of fold your arms a little bit. And if you're still trying to read the situation, but you don't want to be caught off guard. So that way, if your hands have to come up quickly, they can. Another one I see is the popular one people like to do. It's pretty far from a fighting position if you have to be. And speaking of fighting position, hey, whoa. Man, the person's really getting heated. Do you really want to start a fight? You're still trying your last-ditch effort to kind of simmer the situation down. Hey, man, I don't want any trouble. Your hands are up. There is very little difference between this and this. You're in your fighting stance. Your body's turned. Your centerline's faced away. Your hands are up. You're covered. But what it does is, one, this is passive. You're also people watching security cameras. We're in a day and age where lawsuits are common place. Everything's documented. So if you do end up in a situation in the fight, what looks better on you legally? Hey, man, I'm just trying to be defensive versus someone sees you do this that makes you look like a possible aggressor. Especially if someone comes in with a cell phone many times, the beginning part of the fight is not captured, but the ending is. So your body language can really, really help dictate the situation as well. Are you sitting down? You feel threatened. Okay. Maybe not a good idea to lean back in the lounge position. Someone's making you nervous. Do you think it's a possible threat? Lean forward a little bit. That's why I work with the kids. I had them relax and when they felt threatened, I had them kind of sit forward, feet flat on the ground so that if they have to launch up into a standing position, they could do it quicker. What are you holding? Okay. We talked before were you shopping? You have a bag. You know, bags, you can swing around and use as a weapon. Drop something to be as a distraction. Throw something up to be a distraction. Get their hands up so it opens up a possible target. What do you have on you that you can use? Also, if you're wearing something that can be snagged, again with that backpack, can you run with it? Can it get caught in something or are you near a fence? Do you have to go through trees? Take that in mind. If you have to escape, what will allow you to avoid bad areas? You've tried to assess the situation. You've tried to de-escalate a possible fight, but to no avail, you're attacked. A fight breaks out. What do you do? Well, basically you do what you have to do, but you want to use the environment and get out of there. A note, if you are attacked with a weapon and you do manage to defend yourself and you get the person on the ground, again, get out, call for help because you don't know what the impression of the situation is when I see you standing over somebody with a knife or a gun, instantly who are they going to think as the threat? And the last thing I do is turn around and have something pointed at them. So if you do manage to wrestle a weapon away from an attacker, don't just hang around, defend yourself and leave, then call the police and call for help, whatever you need to do, but you always have to be aware of your own safety and it's not just the person you're fighting, it's also the people around you. All right, so say there are multiple attackers. It's a very dangerous situation. It is not easy to fight against two or three or more aggressive people who are trying to hurt you. So the very first thing you want to do again is get out of there if you can't avoid the situation. Do not linger, do not just try to say and say, okay, who's next? It's just not worth it and what do you have to prove with that? If you are attacked with multiple people, the worst place you want to be is between them. Try to use them against each other. If there's two guys, keep one between you and the other one. It's possible. You don't want to deal with two at the same time, but rather one than one if you're able to manage that. Also, stay on your feet as much as possible. I know a lot of people out there, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a very, very popular thing. But the danger with that, though, is you don't want to stay tangled up on the ground too long if there's multiple people. You do what you have to do, do your damage and get up. Also, make noise, attract attention, be a distraction. If you're being attacked, make it a spectacle, get noticed. Maybe someone around can call the police or maybe the police are already there nearby or security. Just make a lot of noise. And once again, use your environment. If you're in a setting that you can work around objects, I talked about, if you've got two people attacking you, keep one between you and the other one. Okay, we'll start going around obstacles. Keep an obstacle, keep a table, keep a support pole between you and them. Use that to your advantage. Don't let yourself get trapped. Don't let yourself into a corner to work your way around your environment where you can escape easier and put obstacles between you and them. There's another drill. I love doing this with the kids and the kids get a real kick out of it because it gets intense. We call it the restaurant drill and basically what I do is I take out all the wave masters and the gym mats and we kind of fashion makeshift walls and we'll stack the gym mats and we'll make like a bar or a countertop and we'll take all the kicking shields and we'll make like little tables. We basically make like a mock restaurant. And then what I do is I have the whole class mingle around the restaurant and we'll choose one kid, we'll send them out of the room and while they're out of the room I'll select either one, two, or three attackers. Now this is a sparring drill and I actually have them wear the sparring gear most of the time when doing this. So I'll choose up to three attackers and I'll put them back in the group. We'll call the first kid back in and say, okay everybody just mingle and they have no idea who I chose. So they're walking around, there's people coming up to them talking to them. They get all nervous because they know someone's going to attack them but they don't know who so I try to put them on alert and try to get them to take stock of their environment. So when I say the word go, the people who I call to be attackers at their discretion can attack whenever they want. They can all attack at once or one guy can attack and then the others can jump in. It's up to them. Now here's where things get really interesting. It gets really intense very quickly and the goal is I tell them, get out of there. Me and the other instructors were the bouncers or security so we say, try to get out of there and come to one of us or try to get out of the situation and leave the restaurant all together. Don't just stay and fight because if they try to prove themselves they usually get caught in the corner and they get beaten up and it's really interesting to see how they work. They're allowed to pick up shields and throw stuff. They're allowed to use their obstacles. They're allowed to climb the walls if they have to. They're allowed to do it on their own and I like it because it mimics a real-life situation. Sometimes kids I don't choose to be attackers will jump in anyway. So sometimes we'll end up with three, four, five, six attackers because that can happen. You're in a bar. You're in a mosh pit or at a concert and a fight breaks out. This possibility other people are going to jump in and they might not have any care of who they attack. It might be you or the other person but you have to be ready that you don't know who might jump in on your behalf to protect you. And the last drill we did one kid actually jumped in to defend the girl. She ended up punching them and he's like what happened? I was just trying to help. I said yes but she doesn't know who's good and who's bad so you're in the crowd you don't know who's going to become involved who's already involved in the beginning or who's going to help you. You can't bank on that. You can't rely on that. You don't know when you're going to get involved too so when I say we're doing restaurant today they all cheer they gear up they're excited because it's fun for them but I'm trying to get them to understand how to use that environment this is not just standing the line doing your drills in the air this is application now with real people in somewhat of a simulated setting so I love this drill for them they seem to get a lot out of it so that understanding of what's going on around them, especially in an age where everyone has their faces glued to their cell phones. Only half of your training is learning the art, the other half is understanding how to apply it in the real world. And I'm not saying you have to be paranoid or everywhere you go, you've got a hawk eye, but just you walk in someplace new, you go out somewhere, just take a scan, know what's going on around you, it's only going to help you and give you a better chance of defending yourself if you have to. I also feel that it's a really good habit to occasionally rescan your environment and notice any changes while you're there. People come and go, objects get moved, the situation always changes. And speaking of changing situations, I'm just kind of curious how many of you noticed that the Bob dummy behind me wore three different shirts during this video. So thank you so much for watching, I hope you enjoyed today's topic on situational awareness. If you guys enjoyed it, let me know because I would like to do further videos on breaking down individual environments, if that's something you'd all like to see. Let me know in the comments, subscribe, share, thank you so much.