There are four key strategies that I recommend to address self-defence situations: awareness, avoidance, de-escalation, and escape. These are part of a hierarchy, from most preferred to least preferred. They shall be expanded upon in individual posts.
Awareness denotes being aware of people around you, the physical environment, and potential weapons. Avoidance is about avoiding trouble that you are aware of. De-escalation involves using negotiating strategies to calm an aggressive person. Escape utilizes physical responses to remove an attacker’s ability to harm you. This might involve striking them, but the primary goal remains to escape, not to “defeat” them.
Awareness denotes being aware of people around you, the physical environment, and potential weapons. Avoidance is about avoiding trouble that you are aware of. De-escalation involves using negotiating strategies to calm an aggressive person. Escape utilizes physical responses to remove an attacker’s ability to harm you. This might involve striking them, but the primary goal remains to escape, not to “defeat” them.