The Lighter Side of Situational Awareness

Hello everyone! It’s your favorite professional ninja here, and I would like to share an experience that I recently had. While initially it set off some warning bells for me, it later ended with a smile.
 
As a self-defense instructor, I have always felt there is a sense of responsibility I have to my students. I am teaching them how to handle themselves in some very scary situations. While a large part of the training is physical, there is still the need to develop the proper mindset to handle a potential threat. Being able to punch a pad is one thing, but can you translate that to being able to fight off an attacker in a highly stressful situation? That is where the proper mindset needs to be trained.
 
While the needs to be aggressive and decisive in a fight are important, the most important attribute is to be aware of your surroundings at all times. Being aware of what is happening around will allow you to identify potential threats that much earlier, and hopefully apply the number one, best, most effective singular self-defense technique in the entire world…not being there to be attacked!
 
Now let me paint the picture for you…It was a bright sunny Sunday in October, the weekend before Halloween. I wanted to get a workout in, so I headed to the gym. I had pulled into the gym parking lot at about 1:30pm. It was a busy lot, as this gym is in a big plaza of other stores and businesses. I parked the car, and checked in on one of my favorite hobbies…fantasy football!
 
So I am sitting in my car, with the engine off…Patriots game is playing on the radio, I am on my phone looking at scores, and because it was such a beautiful day, my driver side window was all the way down. Out of the corner of my eye, I just notice a guy walk behind my car, and then take a turn to my side of the car. There was no one parked on that side of me, so I quickly gathered that he was coming to my window. In that moment, my tactical errors all came to the front of my mind.
 
So there he is, standing outside of my window, looking at me. He raises his hand…which is holding a blue orb-ish thing, and apparently is offering it to me. I had no clue initially what it was, and I really wasn’t trying to find out! As one of my mentors would often say, “I only like surprises on my birthday and Christmas!” Anyways, I asked him “What is that?” I was polite, but probably didn’t seem like I was ready to make a new friend in that moment.
 
He smiled, and proceeded to open the orb to show what was inside…a rubber duck. On the duck, it said “Happy Halloween,” and the blue orb was just a little plastic jack-o-lantern (the face was away from my view initially). I think it is important context to let you know that I drive a Jeep! I smiled and laughed, took the duck and “orb,” then shook the guy’s hand.
 
Thankfully, this was a friendly encounter, but can you see how I put myself in a dangerous situation? Guard down, exposed, really nowhere to go and hard to defend myself. Not smart.
 
I want my students to be ready when needed, but not paranoid or nervous in their daily lives.
 
It is likely they’ll never have to use the actual defense techniques we teach in class. However, there is no guarantee either way. Awareness is key, and I’m glad that I can fondly share the tale where there was nothing to fear, just someone sharing some spooky holiday cheer.
 
Until next time!
Derek Field