Recently a lot has been written about this term, situational awareness. In the martial arts communities it has special meaning especially in regard to the role of MA in self-defense (a point of contention here is not many can actually explain it and not many can actually teach it). It is not an easy subject to write about and like Self-defense it is more complicated than most think. This post is my attempt to make sense of such a complex model, situational awareness.
First, knowledge. If you don’t know what it is or what it involves then how can you have situational awareness? This is important and since my experience is very limited I would suggest reading the following posts by Marc MacYoung and Rory Miller:
Second, Applicability. You have to have the ability to apply what you learn, know and/or understand. Just reading about it is not enough. If you have not gotten the appropriate training and practice, reality training and practice, and if you don’t have the appropriate experience then how can you have true, relevant and applicable situational awareness?
Third, finding the way? All to often in my limited experience I have found, including my early years of teaching martial arts, that few actually know and teach situational awareness. You have to seek out those who are capable of teaching this and then find a way to apply it. I am not saying you have to become hyper-vigilant, that doesn’t work. You have to find a means of applying situational awareness in a manner that is more appropriate to you the individual. You have to know a lot about a lot of things and a good beginning is to study, learn and apply the information provided above and in the following:
Then there is one more pivotal book coming soon to an Amazon store near you by Marc MacYoung on the subject of self-defense that has what I have been informed as a ton of information you need that will be applied to situational awareness, etc. The working title as of now is, “In the Name of Self-Defense.” Look for it soon.
The reason I titled this post, “SA, An Introduction,” with emphasis on the word primer is because this subject, as indicated by the readings and by those professionals who are most knowledgable and experienced, is huge, complicated and difficult to learn, teach and/or apply. An introduction to get a start on studying this subject matter.
With my limited knowledge and experience I can only provide what I have come across, studied and understand. I can at least provide the means or a key to open this door. A door that many don’t bother with in the name of commercialism, about earning the most bucks for the least bang.
I can tell you that my library is not complete yet, it has a ton of materials on the subject of which SA is a part, an important part. Every time I consider that I may have reached the end I read just one more posting by professionals, thanks for the work they do, that just tells me one more time that I don’t know enough about this subject but it does tell me that this search will go on for a long time.
In closing, in my opinion, I would tell anyone seeking out self-defense instruction and more importantly anyone teaching self-defense to take the time to make sure you are teaching the “full spectrum” of self-defense. For the novice, all the above is a great primer to you knowledge before seeking out a “qualified” teacher.
Note: You can also get more by contacting Rory Miller, Marc MacYoung, etc. at their web sites for training sessions/seminars. These guys travel the world providing professionals, martial artists and self-defense students, etc thier training/seminars, etc. When you read the testimonials of those who have attended you know that the effort is worth it.
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| This post is just the tip of the iceberg :-) |
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