Paradigm Shift
In a previous post, I introduced that I was going to look at what may be "Boring Parts" of Self and Community Defense. The parts that go beyond the physical elements. The next chapter in Mark MacYoung and Jenna Meek's book What You Don't Know Can Kill You uses a five speed manual transmission as a metaphor for the way one should view self or community defense. I don't see the five components; asking what the incident is, the need to be a Jack or Jane of all trades and a master of none, avoiding soundbites, knowing that the best answer is "it depends" and putting mental skills over physical, as a sequential gear shift. Just reading this chapter made me realize that trying to drive a manual transmission in rush hour traffic may be a better description.
First gear is asking "What is the incident?" Young and Meek say that any violent encounter has three stages; before the violence, the violence itself and the aftermath. In the streets this may translate into the initial contact with the fascists, the physical confrontation, and the legal and other consequences.
Downshifting to second gear, we have the notion that to defend oneself, or be part of a group defending a community, one must know a little about a lot. De-escalation, the legal parameters of defense and how they can shift, appropriate levels of force and observing and handling a developing situation are among the skills that are required to keep one alive, uninjured, and out of police custody. Martin Cooper, a self-defense trainer from the UK sees five fronts of defense; one must be able; to act, to stop the attacker, to be cleared of criminal charges, to win in civil court and to be able to handle the emotional aftermath.
Upshifting to third gear, one must understand the use of soundbites, axioms, etc. Self and community defense, in MacYoung and Meek's view, is not complicated, like a car's engine with all the parts working together, but is instead complex. The components are non-linear and non-deterministic. For defense, these components include; location, who the attacker or attacker are, what allies, if any, are present, and an awareness of the situation. A lot of these factors may not be known until after the fact. When these factors don't affect a person, people develop soundbites. Now these soundbites can be good rules of thumb or starting points, according to MacYoung and Meek, but they can also be self-fulfilling and aren't enough.
Getting to fourth gear almost sounds like a dreaded soundbite; "It depends", is usually the best answer. But what MacYoung and Meek mean is that answers are situationally specific; a "proud boy" with a lead pipe and a shoving match with a co-worker are going to be handled differently. As self-defense instructor Randy King puts it, "Violence is high-speed problem solving."
Being able to find those answers may mean one last downshift. One that a lot of folks may find hard to make, the need to put knowledge, assessment and articulation over physical skills. Some prior knowledge will need to be acquired, and one must be able to justify their actions. Someone will be unhappy with your decision to use force; the other party, a cop or a witness.
This is a lot of information to process and you may be like me going, "What have I gotten into!". Let's look at a few takeaways from this. One is that there is a difference between training and reality; as Mike Tyson put it "Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face." Another one may be that training does not teach, it ingrains attributes. The idea is to have "body knowledge" that movements can be done almost automatically. A final point is that most training is consumer-driven, it's not for preparation.
In a future post, I'll be looking at a place that can be as forbidding as any dark alley--court!