Self–Defense Starts Before Violence

One of the most overlooked aspects of self–defense is making yourself seem like a bad choice for a victim. There are three different aspects to this that are all equally important. Respect, awareness and confidence will all make you seem like a less ideal target and lower your chance of becoming a target for crime.

Respect

The first and most basic is to be respectful of others. This applies even when they are not respectful to you. The reason being is if both people in a dispute are acting irrational and disrespecting each other it can escalate to violence quickly. Sadly, the situation can be entirely avoided if you just defuse the situation or don’t start it in the first place. It isn’t a sign of weakness it’s a demonstration of wisdom. If you respect others there’s a better chance to defuse the situation. If they still want to fight you though it’s another story but do not give them incentive to get payback against you.

Awareness

The second is to be aware of your surroundings. This means keep your head out of your phone as much as you can. Keep headphones on a low enough volume that you can still hear what’s going on around you. Watch for any suspicious behavior. Normally this would be classed under common sense but there are so many people within my own generation who do not think about these things that they just walk around without a care in the world. You have to be aware of your surroundings, so you can escape before a conflict starts.

Confidence

The last is to have confidence in your mannerisms. Keep your chin up when you walk. Keep a strong posture. Etc. Thugs will want to pick on someone else because they want to pick on someone who they perceive as weak.

Conclusion

While this may not zero out your chances of becoming a target, it can help minimize the odds of being attacked. Self–defense in many cases starts long before the actual violence occurs because it is the other events that lead up to it. There are situations where people are just being evil parasites and you will have to shut their attacks down however those situations are out of your control. What is in your control is how you act before the situation begins.