SCENARIO #1
You are waiting for a friend ...You are waiting for a friend outside a local convenience store. Suddenly you notice large man walking rapidly toward you. He is looking directly at you and his clothes are in disarray. You start to feel panic, but you force yourself to remain calm.
Unfamiliar with the effects of adrenaline and uncertain what to do, you do nothing. The man steps right up to you. Before you have time to react, he grabs you by the throat, squeezes and demands your wallet.
Unable to breathe or speak, you are barely able to comply. After pocketing your wallet the man departs. But not before he gives a final vicious squeeze that permanently damages your vocal cords.
In this situation, your mindset was
conscious, your body state was
adrenalized, and your emotional mode was
calm/controlled. Since you had never decided how you would handle this type of situation, you were completely unprepared. As a result you did not act to protect yourself and received a serious injury.
SCENARIO #2You have recently attended a self-defense seminar...Same situation as scenario #1, but this time you have recently attended a self-defense seminar in which your practiced situations similar to the one described.
As a result of your training you recognize the impending danger. Confident from your training, you remain calm. You think to yourself, "If he grabs my throat with his right hand I will kick him in the groin with my left foot, then I will pivot and use a downward strike with my left elbow to remove has hand. Next I will grab the rear of his neck with both my hands and knee him in the stomach,..but if he grabs me with his left hand I will ...".
You prepare yourself for the throat grab as the man reaches for you. But instead of grabbing your throat he grabs your hair and slams your head against the store's brick wall. After you fall unconscious to the ground, the man removes your wallet and walks away.
In this situation, your mind mode was
conscious, your physical state was
neutral, and your emotional mode was
protective. You had
DECIDED and trained for this type of situation. As a result you recognized the impending danger. But no effort was made to
DETER the aggressor.
This combination of mindset, emotional mode, and body state is ineffective for handling the physical violence of the
DISRUPT stage and you were quickly overwhelmed. This result is typical of self-defense training that does not take into consideration the importance of the psychology of self-defense.
SCENARIO #3You have recently graduated from an intensive self-defense course...
Same situation as scenario #1, but you have now recently graduated from an intensive self-defense course where you have learned techniques of pre-emptive strikes and follow- up techniques to cause serious injury. You learned how to transition your emotions into
violence mode and your body into
fight state in order to maximize your attack.
The man approaches you and crosses your threat zone. Wordlessly, you spring forward and strike him in the throat crushing his Adam's apple. You then perform a neck twist take-down that sends the man crashing to the pavement, where he lies unconscious.
After the police arrive, you learn that the man had just been in a car accident. He was reaching for the pay telephone next to you when you struck him.
In this situation your mind transitioned from
conscious to
unconscious mindset. Your body transitioned from
neutral to
fight state, and your emotions transitioned from
calm/controlled to
violent mode.
This is the proper combination to execute the
DISRUPT step. You had clearly
DECIDED and trained. But due to the lack of the
DETER step you never received
Confirmation of Bad Intention or the
Trigger to Act. As a result you are now in jail for assault with intent to kill.
SCENARIO #4The Application of the 5 D's...Same situation as previously described, but as the man approaches you look directly at him and state clearly "what do you want"? Responding to your voice he looks at you with a sinister smile.
Immediately your intuition senses danger. You raise your hands forward and forcefully state "back off!" (
DETER).The man ignores you and you escalate your verbal intensity and yell "BACK OFF !!!
The man continues to rapidly move toward you (you have now received
confirmation of bad intention).Your mind becomes more instinctual (mindset is now in
transition) and your body is filled with a surge of fear and energy as it is charged with adrenaline invoked by your yelling (body is in
adrenalized state).
You are filled with an overwhelming urge to protect yourself (emotions in
protective mode). As the man reaches out (you have now received the
trigger to act which transitions your mind to
subconscious mindset, your body into
fight state, and your emotions into
violence mode) to grab you, your hand instantly shoots forward into his face, two fingers strike his eye.
Filled with the motivation to stop him from harming you, you strike him repeatedly with the heel of your palm in the bridge of his nose while continuing to yell. (
DISRUPT). The man filled with pain and unable to see through teary eyes hesitates (you have now created the O
pportunity to Escape).
Sensing this opportunity (your mindset moves back to
transition, your body goes from
fight to f
light state, and your emotions go from
violent to
protective mode) you flee into the safety of the store (
DISENGAGE).
In this situation you applied the 5 D strategy of self-defense. The use of the verbal boundary setting in the
DETER step provided you with confirmation of bad intention that the man was dangerous. Had the man not intended aggression, he would have responded and stopped upon hearing your verbal command of "BACK OFF!!".
Once your conscious mind had been convinced of the danger, your mind began the transition to
subconscious mindset.Your
protective emotions sensing danger and the need for immediate action called upon your body for adrenaline. As a result, your body went into the
adrenalized state.
When the man reached out for you, he crossed your boundary and you responded to the
trigger to act which transitioned your mind into
subconscious mindset, your emotions into
violent mode, and your body into
fight state.
You now have maximized your effectiveness to
DISRUPT your attacker.You used the strategic tactic of
attacking the attacker and the physical tactic of using targeted unexpected focused explosive strikes to instantly and repeatedly strike the man in a sensitive area in order to create the
opportunity to escape.
The 5 D's are a visual blueprint of a complete self-defense strategy and plan of action.
