Caveat: this post is my interpretation of readings and studies therefore errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. It is highly recommended one fact check the data for clarity. My effort here is self-clarity toward a fuller understanding of the subject matter. This is not a comprehensive model for SD Security but a lead in to the reader studying, practicing and creating there own SD Layered security posture.
Layered security is the optimal form of self-defense. To achieve this type of self-security you have to start with attaining the knowledge necessary to build your various levels of defense. You cannot defend agains things you don’t know, you cannot defend against things you don’t know you don’t know and this first step is the gathering, study and encoding of said knowledge to have the information to build your optimal form of self-defense.
When I first began thinking of this layered security I had to decide what was the most important, i.e. the level of security posture that would allow me to mostly, if not completely, avoid conflict and violence. Then I realized that every single interaction of humans is about a form of conflict and violence. Your studies as I recommended should begin to inform you of this aspect.
This all made me think of an old maxim we used in a high-security position I held many years ago, i.e. Time-Distance-Shielding. Time, distance and shielding often prevented a person from exposure or at the very minimum the amount of or level of exposure. Exposure being that which, over time, started to erode your security posture exposing the other levels to a type of violence, i.e., damage to your body, mind and spirit.
So, my first layer of self-defense is, “Knowledge of conflict and Violence.” That one is easiest as often found in various models of physical security. Especially one’s personal physical security. Without knowledge most other layers then have flaws in their defenses allowing an adversary to breach that level. This post is short so you will need to begin this knowledge gathering with two, very important books:
MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Meditations of Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence" YMAA Publishing. 2008.
These are what I consider the very foundation on which you build a complete self-defense data-set. It is like creating a data center in your mind that when fully programmed, security and filled you mind can tap into that data-base to achieve a high security level that is layered with strong defenses. Look at these two beginner books as digging, re-barring and filling a foundation with cement that creates a solid base to build your self-defense posture.
The idea is to take this SD Knowledge and create a security perimeter that will allow you to completely avoid the levels and kinds of conflicts and violence that will get you hurt, badly, and/or killed.
Once you gain that knowledge you are beginning to develop a series of types and levels of “Awareness.” There is self-awareness, there is environmental awareness and then there is situational awareness and so on. All have a purpose and all can be learned, at least academically, separately so that when encoded the individual then can inter-connect all types of awareness as each situation arises. The goal is to learn, practice then apply awareness in every day life.
The reason this part is of such importance is that in order to avoid and/or combat conflict and violence you have to see it coming so you can act on it while there is time and distance between you and the conflict/violence. The ability to give yourself the most time and distance in a conflict or situation of violence or potential violence is so you can perceive it in enough time and with enough distance to take the appropriate steps in avoiding it, i.e. see it or sense the danger and leave the area type thing.
The reason for writing the post on layered security for self-defense is to provide a sense of what can be done to avoid the type of violence that often leads to emotional psychological damage, physical damage, legal and civil prosecution, economical damage and other such ramifications in allowing yourself to be in a conflict that results in violence.
Awareness and Avoidance go hand-in-hand for your security posture. It is the type of thing that will be with you without having to resort to a hyper vigilant state of mind that cannot be held long due to the stresses it presents. It is about sensitizing your spidey senses that nature has provided so that when it is triggered you can instantly assume a higher vigilance to see what is causing it with enough time and distance to act.
Part of this knowledge is to provide you with all the situations and scenarios that result when violence is done both as a victim and aggressor or attacker. I say this because there is this boundary in self-defense that when you remain within those boundaries you remain within the square of self-defense. It is about knowing what violence is, understanding the ramifications of conflicts and violence, how to see it and act on it with plenty of time and distance to avoid and/or deescalate it.
You can’t avoid that which you have no knowledge of and you cannot deescalate it if you have no knowledge of what it is and what it involves and the results of all actions taken to combat it. This is what it is all about when avoiding and/or deescalating conflict and/or violence. Remember that avoidance and deescalation is not just about the externally influenced situation but also internally, i.e. you avoiding actions that would escalate or deescalate yourself so things don’t go bad.
Another aspect or layer for your security posture to avoid and/or deescalate is the ability to apply conflict communications. You have to have the knowledge to actually know what you are encountering so that you may communicate, to an adversary if distance and time are used up and yourself to talk yourself out of your monkey brain, so your human brain can assess then act with the right communications skills to avoid and/or deescalate.
If all of this fails then the next layer of your security for self-defense is triggered. This is the mental and physical barriers to conflict and violence that have been alluded to throughout the initial security layers. Your knowledge, once again, becomes important since your training and practice of the physical and mental involve those pieces of information necessary to make the physical work when all else falls down.
You have to encode a set of goals and techniques that will get the job done in a reflex like manner bypassing the OODA bounce along with all the effects and levels of the chemical cocktail, the adrenal flooding you will encounter when an attacker attacks. It is about creating a reality based operant conditioning training and practice that will ensure when blitzed by surprise attacks, a flurry of damaging blows, the fear induced and act, all within a second or so after the surprise attack to stop the bounce and cause your attacker to drop into the OODA bounce - something they would want to avoid and are surprised when encountering, etc.
Then the next level of self-defense layered security is the one that is needed “After the incident goes physical.” Here again your firs layer of building a knowledge base will come to bear. You have to know how to interact, articulate and defend against your encounter with legal authorities, i.e. police first, prosecutors second, your own defense attorney third, the family and friends of your attacker fourth, the economical repercussions and expenditures fifth, the medical issues of injuries and medical costs sixth and so on down the line over a long period of time to get to the end safely, securely and alive/with freedom.
Layered self-defense security is a complex program but doable if you take the steps starting with the two sources stated at the start. I can tell you it takes a lot of study then proper application in training and practice. Most of it can be handled properly provided you have given yourself plenty of time, distance and shielding, i.e. shielding being the actual layers between you and an adversary regardless of the level and/or intensity of the conflict and violence involved.
This post has barely touched on the complexities and completeness that is the convoluted complexities of self-defense in conflicts and violence.
Primary Bibliography of Self-Defense:
MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Meditations of Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence" YMAA Publishing. 2008.
Secondary Bibliography of Self-Defense:
Goleman, Daniel. "Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition [Kindle Edition]." Bantam. January 11, 2012.
Miller, Rory. "ConCom: Conflict Communications A New Paradigm in Conscious Communication." Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 2014.
Miller, Rory and Kane, Lawrence A. "Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision-making under Threat of Violence." YMAA Publisher. New Hampshire. 2012
Miller, Rory. "Force Decisions: A Citizen's Guide." YMAA Publications. NH. 2012.
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected." YMAA Publishing. 2011.
Elgin, Suzette Haden, Ph.D. "More on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense." Prentice Hall. New Jersey. 1983.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Last Word on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1995
Morris, Desmond. “Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior.” Harry N. Abrams. April 1979.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1993.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense" MJF Books. 1997.
Maffetone, Philip Dr. “The Maffetone Method: The Holistic, Low-stress, No-Pain Way to Exceptional Fitness.” McGraw Hill, New York. 2000 and more … see blog bibliography.
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