How to Realistically Apply a Self Defense Philosophy

This week at Tulane University we cover the philosophy, basically how you determine your own approach to defend yourself, your family and your property.

Remember that the techniques we cover in a “real” self-defense class are for when your ability to avoid, escape, evade, get help, or negotiate has failed; or you can reasonably assume they will fail (for example, you are in the ladies’ room, a man walks in, closes the door, immediately stabs a woman in front of you, then moves towards you). Deception, bluffing, distraction may still be viable, but in this case causing injury or death to the opponent must be an immediate consideration.

I can tell you that based on Boyd’s loop (the OODA Loop) it is better in all cases to take the offensive rather than try to “hold” by reacting to an attack. What I can’t decide for you is when it’s appropriate to “make the choice” to do so. I can’t tell you when to use force that will insult or kill another person; rape is a good example. For some people, rape is psychologically worse than death (in some cultures this is a “norm”, such as in Islamic culture); in those cases, deadly force may be appropriate in the case of attempted rape. When the person tries to rape you, you try to insult or kill them if there are no other rational or viable options. A prostitute, on the other hand, may think of sex as a financial transaction and rape as stealing $100 to $500. In this case it is not worth endangering your life or that of your attacker. I personally would not kill or maim another person for $500.00. However, I cannot and will not attempt to make that decision for you; you should do it by yourself.

You need to think about this now and on a semi-regular basis as you grow and learn throughout your life. When a real predator attacks you, it will not give you time to hum, you will have to act “right now”. I know that in my case if someone pulls out a knife and asks for my wallet I will give it to them “right now”. It’s not worth $50 and some canceled credit cards to hack and beat a stranger to death. I know that if my door is kicked in in the middle of the night, I will grab my pistol with the intention of defending my home and family with several well-aimed rounds at the invader’s body. In other words, identify the intruder, ask him to lie down on the ground, all of those things will probably be done, but even with all the advantages, the best the intruder can hope for is that we both die (possible combat outcomes: you die , they die, they both die) because I have made the decision to use deadly force to defend my home and family if necessary. To make it “less difficult” I use a 12 gauge and 357 magnum, so I can be reasonably sure of success. Of course, I also use knives, clubs, tasers, pepper spray, and all those passive protections like avoidance (I don’t date idiots, nor welcome them into my home), escape (safe room), assistance (response alarm system). automatic), communicate/negotiate (best to do with a 12 gauge and the police on the way).

What I’m talking about is deciding “when would you do it” now, so that if you “have to” you can get to work. If you decide now, when things start to go “wrong”, you can focus on “how” you will insult them instead of “if” you should.