South Africa Survival Guide: Self-Defense Tips for Dangerous TerritoryBy Morné Swanepoel | Photos Courtesy of Author |
South Africa is the most dangerous country in the world that’s not at war …. a rape occurs every 15 seconds, and that figure doesn’t include child rapes, which take place an average of 60 times a day … more than 60 people a day are murdered. Even the South African government admits that it’s overwhelmed by crime. Deputy Minister of Justice Johnny de Lange recently told parliament that the battle against criminals is hopelessly paralyzed by mistaken policy decisions, unprofessional personnel, and a shortage of resources and accountability. The announcement comes as no surprise to South Africans, especially those who’ve spent the past 15 years watching crime rates soar. They know that hardly a day goes by without news of an assault, rape, murder, hijacking or home invasion—most of which target innocent people going about their everyday lives. The smart ones long ago learned the value of being proactive. The strategies they’re using to protect themselves, their families and their property will benefit martial artists like you no matter where you live. Biggest Stick Way back when life was all about saber-toothed tigers and wooden clubs, toughness was measured by the size of your weapon, and victory usually went to the wielder of the biggest one. It must have been awfully confusing, then, for the guy who carried the biggest stick—we’ll call him Barry—after he was trounced by a smaller man who never carried anything larger than a birch twig. Very soon, in a series of one-sided skirmishes, Big-Stick Barry had lost his wife, his stick and his collection of shrew skulls to the devilish twig-wielder. What Barry learned quickly was that there’s more to being tough than carrying a big stick, and if Small-Twig Man could learn it, so could he. In some respects, little has changed during the intervening years. It doesn’t matter whether you’re facing a mugger in a parking lot or a drunken football fan whose team just lost, there are certain elements that will work for you—or against you, if you make mistakes—in a fight for survival. You have to properly manage your strength, reflexes, surroundings, awareness and fear if you want to win. Unfortunately, mastery doesn’t come naturally to everyone. It needs to be practiced—ideally, until it’s ingrained to such an extent that when the surge of adrenaline grips you late at night in a dark alley, you can prevail. In America, it’s referred to as adrenal-stress training. Fatal Errors In self-defense, it’s often said that you won’t rise to the level of your expectations; instead, you’ll fall to the level of your training. That observation has been taken to heart in the South African self-defense community, and it’s guiding more and more martial artists along the path to proficiency. A related lesson involves overestimating your abilities and underestimating your attacker’s. Don’t do it. A 12-year-old with a knife in his hand can be deadly even though he may not look it. When a weapon is involved, age doesn’t factor into the equation. On the street: If you’re being confronted by someone who’s smaller than you, don’t assume he doesn’t pose a real threat. After all, if he didn’t think he had the advantage over you, he wouldn’t have chosen you as a victim. Perhaps the biggest mistake made by untrained people is thinking that only the attacker will get hurt in the altercation. Reality check: If you find yourself in a fistfight, expect to get hit, and if you find yourself in a knife fight, expect to get cut. Tough Training Training for survival elicits physical and mental changes. You become tougher by enduring physical contact with your classmates. You also become more aware of your weaknesses. You learn what your body—with its unique fitness level, musculature, injuries and limitations—will allow you to do. Mentally, you become tougher by persevering when the situation pushes you to your limits. That’s essential in handling a violent attack because you must be able to withstand pain long enough to do what needs to be done. The trouble for most people, however, is that when faced with an attacker, whether it’s a 7-foot-tall behemoth making a pass at their wife or a carjacker trying to get their vehicle, they freeze up and fail to do anything. Under high levels of stress, the sympathetic nervous system kicks in. The SNS prepares the body for battle without really consulting anyone important—like the brain. It releases hormones such as adrenaline into the bloodstream to make the body stronger, faster and “sometimes even anesthetized to pain,” says Geoff Thompson, author of Dead or Alive: The Choice Is Yours—The Definitive Self-Protection Book. “The more dangerous the situation, the bigger the adrenaline release. The bigger the release, the better you perform, but by the same count, the bigger the release, the harder it is to control.” Your pupils dilate, your heart rate jumps and your brain gets all the blood it could possibly want—all of which is designed to heighten your mental and physical abilities. Meanwhile, less important bodily functions like digestion will have their blood supply dramatically reduced—which explains that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. While all that’s going on, you may not be able to see, think or move the way you normally do. If you’re unfamiliar with that feeling, you’ll be left shaky, nauseous and rooted to the ground. In essence, you’ll be at the mercy of your attacker. That brings us back to Big-Stick Barry; you can learn something from him despite all his defeats. Back when human beings had to fight to live, fear was an everyday emotion, something as natural as eating or drinking. In today’s society, however, you might live your whole life without ever experiencing it fully. So when you’re faced with a situation that causes your adrenaline to flow, you’re so unfamiliar with it that you neither welcome it nor like it. Instead, you panic. Remedy: Subject yourself to self-defense scenarios and force-on-force training situations to be get accustomed to the sensations.
Being tough begins long before the do-or-die moment. It entails having developed your survival instinct and situational awareness. Every time your brain senses danger, it cycles through four steps, known as the OODA loop: observation, orientation, decision-making and action. The order never changes, and a step is never skipped. Here’s how it should serve you in the real world: By constantly observing your surroundings, you give yourself more time to react to danger. The images you see as you go about your business are packed with information—a man is walking toward you, a red car is blocking your path or a shiny object is in that guy’s hand. Your brain orients your body with respect to the threat. Is it immediate, or do you have time to escape? Do you have the upper hand? Now you’re in a position to decide on the best course of action—run, fight or perhaps comply with the criminal’s demands. The next step is to act, immediately. A second’s hesitation can affect your fate. That’s all well and good, you might be thinking, but how do you know what to look for? Obviously, you can’t predict the future, but you can look out for some things when dealing with potentially violent characters. Watch for a flushed face; rapid, shallow breathing; a fixed stare; a rigid body; shaky hands; clenched fists; irrational behavior; and any signs that the person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Flight Time So now you’re ready in case you get punched, you know the sensation of the adrenaline dump and you’ve spotted a shady character. So surely it’s fight time, right? As Mel Gibson said in Braveheart, “We didn’t get all dressed up for nothing.” Sadly, fight clubbers, there’s still one more obstacle to overcome on the path to true toughness, and it’s a biggie. Gentleman, may I welcome into the ring, weighing in at almost nothing but capable of inflicting fatal damage, your ego. Despite all the ways that the various schools of self-defense differ, one thing they agree on is that escaping conflict is always the first prize. The training is intended to open your eyes to the world around you. It enables you to make an informed, unemotional decision to avoid altercations whenever possible. But what about when your dignity is stripped or your pride is wounded? What happens when your lovely wife is insulted by a beer-swilling, stench-steeped miscreant? Surely a tough guy should defend his wife’s dignity, right? Well, that depends on your perspective. Being tough is about being principled, steadfast and disciplined. Your ego will likely propel some inappropriate behavior into a full-blown violent encounter that carries with it not only the risk of injury or death but also some fairly serious legal consequences. Absorbing an insult to your dignity or your wife’s seems like a small price to pay to avoid that. Nevertheless, it can be a tough decision to make. Hierarchy of Needs I’ve trained in the martial arts for more than 30 years, and for 15 I worked the doors at the wildest nightclubs in Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa. I’ve also worked undercover in an area known as the crime mecca of the nation. Those experiences have convinced me of one thing: Conflict is best avoided whenever possible. The recommended way to deal with it is to use the following approach: Escape: By using situational awareness, you can avoid or escape from most situations. If you’re sitting in a bar and see some guys giving you dirty looks, drive to another pub. If a certain area is known for violent crime, avoid it. If you’re living in a part of town that’s experiencing home invasions, move. If you’re confronted by three guys in a dark alley, don’t try to duke it out even if you think you can. Run away. Control: When you can’t put distance between yourself and the threat, use verbal skills to defuse the tension and gain control. If you’re confronted by a punk itching for a fight, tell him you don’t want any trouble. If that doesn’t work and physical conflict is inevitable, use the smallest amount of force that will enable you to control the situation—especially if the instigator is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If need be, use the wall or the floor to control him. Because of legal considerations, control is always a better option than the last resort. Destroy: When all else fails and lives are in danger, it’s time to inflict damage. That means taking the fight to him and doing whatever is necessary to neutralize the threat. |
