Awareness Versus Paranoia, the Realities of Self Defense Training
By Matt Thornton

There seems to be an ongoing debate in Martial Arts circles these days that can be summed up in the sentence, "street" versus "sport" training. The false premise being it must be one or the other, that the training methods are mutually exclusive. This is not only an incorrect assumption; it also goes against the long and colorful history of American "combatives" or "self defense" Instructors, of previous eras. A brief look into their backgrounds, and minimum amount of research will tell the tale.

So setting aside that false argument for a moment, I would like to address the most important topic related to real world self-defense, the topic of awareness.

When I teach people specific topics related to civilian "self-defense" I generally base my teaching on a simple progression I call the ABC's of self-defense. The A stands for awareness, and is by far the most important aspect of the teaching. Awareness as I am defining it is the broad based clear realization of your environment, and surroundings, as it is brought to your body by all five senses. Knowing where you are, and what's around you at all times. At first glance this seems like a very simple idea, but it is in reality the most difficult aspect of self-defense training, with the 'pre' physical confrontation (what many are now calling the "psychological" aspects of self defense), and the actual physical skills of fighting, being a very distant second in importance.

"What makes this needed awareness difficult is first and foremost our own minds."

We are often proud, so we don't bother checking with local authorities regarding our geography. Or worse yet, we feel aggressive, which is a form of fear, and purposely place ourselves in situations we shouldn't be. We place ourselves in situations where we know we may receive an invitation to hurt another human being. This subconscious motive is common with those that like to "bar" fight. Or the half-wit that upon first receiving his concealed weapons permits begins driving through tough neighborhoods within his city. And it's worth noting that those, which find themselves attracted to such situations, or people, are usually the weakest members of human society. Both intellectually, emotionally, and to a degree, physically.

"We often feel paranoid, so we create an atmosphere around us that attracts predators, and fellow victims of paranoia seeking to measure their fear, and misery against ours."

We are most often distracted with random and uncontrollable thoughts of our relationships, jobs, finances, and our own personal judgments regarding how we feel things should be, or not be, and this makes us oblivious to so much of what is going on around us within our field of awareness.

All of these states, pride, aggression, paranoia, and confusion, create a mind that is unable to read its surroundings well, and invites dangerous situations that could otherwise be avoided. They narrow the field of awareness to a great extent. So our first goal in cultivating this real world awareness should be to broaden that field, to expand it, and allow us to fully process all that occurs within our vicinity. To do this we need to attack each of these states step by step.

Let's start with pride. My job is self-defense, martial arts, and combat athletics; it's all I do for a living. This affords me more time then the average person has when it comes to daily training. It keeps my body in reasonable athletic shape, beyond what most 'normal' people have within our society. And it has given me a certain amount of skill when it comes to fighting within all ranges. In the course of working towards my black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu I have wrestled thousands of opponents to submission. Some bigger and stronger, some faster, some younger, over and over. This is nothing special, it's simply the process required to gain real world skill in any delivery system of combat.

Having said all that, there are still many places I will not wander, unless I had to, within this world. One clear example is South Africa. I have visited South Africa on many occasions. And depending on the statistics you read, Johannesburg may be the homicide capitol of the world. For those that think they come from a tough neighborhood in the USA, an evening stroll through a South African township may quickly bring that measurement into perspective. Before my last trip I was approached by a modern "combatives", or self-defense Instructor within the USA who is quite well known. He was offering what he felt was helpful advice by telling me what firearms I should carry while there, what clipit knife I should have on my person, and relating to me all the latest violent crime, and car jacking stats from the local.

Then he asked "what do you carry while you are there?" When I informed him I usually don't carry any form of weapons, be they blades or guns, he looked quite shocked. "How can you be in a place like that and not be armed man?" My answer was, I am with people who know where to go. It's as simple as that. I have a 140lb Portuguese driver named Nuno, who is quite good at keeping us out of places we shouldn't be, when we shouldn't be there. He grew up in Joberg, and knows the area very well.

The worst thing I could possibly do is believe that because of my job, and the amount of weapons I am carrying on my person, I could wander the city as I see fit. That would be pride, and or stupidity, of the worse kind. And even if I were to survive such an encounter, and in the process wind up hurting people, what have I really gained?

"Know where you are at, and when you should be there, and if you are not from there, find someone who is, and listen to them!"

Aggression is another state all together. The first thing I try to explain is that aggression when it is unwarranted is simply another manifestation of fear. We need to understand that aggression and fear are one and the same quality. Two ends of the same stick, or two halves of the same coin, if you will. They are not only the same, they are inseparable. When it's aggression that is manifesting itself in non-appropriate ways, such as the examples above of the "bar" fighter, or the concealed weapons holder who puts himself in dangerous situations, then it's actually the fear that is being manifested. So we need to address that issue, the big issue of martial arts as I see it, the issue of fear.

I am asked a lot about fear when I teach seminars. And the subject of fear is an important one for anyone interested in pursuing martial arts, or self-defense. The first thing we need to do when we talk about fear is separate what I call "psychological" fear, which is self created, and what I call "body" fear, which is dependent on external circumstances.

Body fear is the body's own natural response to danger. It's normal, healthy, and needed. The simple example is the two men in the military told to charge a machine gun nest. One charges the nest, and is branded a hero. One refuses to move, and is branded a coward. However, the important point is that physically both men felt the exact same thing. This feeling the body gets is the natural response to a very real physical threat, and it should be viewed as an aid, and not a foe.

Another clear example of body fear comes in the form of what people often call 'intuition'. A term I prefer is "gut" instinct. This is a great term because it aptly describes the body's actual feeling when danger comes close… a stirring in the gut, (stomach area). The work of Gavin De Becker brings this information to light in a very accessible way. The nanny that gives the mother an "uneasy" feeling. The date that wont take "no" for an answer. The stranger offering unsolicited help. When we meet these people our bodies tell us something is wrong, and then, too often, we allow the mind to come in and rationalize the feeling as "paranoia."

In reality, the opposite is true. Paranoia begins and ends in the mind, as thought. Gut instinct begins and ends in the body, as feeling. By learning to trust these gut instincts we can stay away from danger by recognizing it much sooner then we otherwise would. Gavin De Becker's work has shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that the common idea that most violent acts are unpredictable is a complete and utter myth. For those raising children I would also highly suggest his book "protecting the gift," we are implementing some of the educational aspects of this book within our own children's program at the SBG.

Psychological fear is a completely different animal, and sadly it is incredibly common within the "combatives", or modern self-defense crowds.

Psychological fear is actually a form of paranoia, and it's created by one's internal fears of inadequacy on either a physical, emotional, or mental level.
When a male (in particular) thinks himself to be inadequate there is a strong feeling of sadness and anger. And just as aggression is the other side of the same coin as fear, sadness is the other side of the same coin as anger. If one doesn't address this internal sadness in a very real way then it will often manifest itself in the form of anger. I think as males we are more prone to adopt and embrace the anger, at least within our public persona, as opposed to the sadness, because for some misguided reason we have been taught that anger is more "masculine" then it's equal, sadness.

One would think that by training in "street" orientated martial arts, or combatives that emphasize the self defense aspects of martial arts, to the exclusion of what they deem to be "sports" training, that these types of individuals would gain more confidence, more peace, more happiness, and become more comfortable within them as their skills at 'self-defense' grew. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that the opposite seems to be true. Individuals that come to strictly "street" oriented martial arts, that were already prone to feelings of inadequacy, shame, physiological fear, and paranoia tend to have those qualities magnified by such training, rather then eased.

I wouldn't ask anyone to take my word for it with that assessment. Instead I would suggest one visit the nearest "mercenary" convention, combatives or "street" martial arts forums, or speak with these individuals in person. This sadness, anger, and immense fear is palpable when you are forced to spend anytime around these types of individuals. Try reading the posts at the "street" forums. Many tend to read like angry notes from disgruntled 13-year-old boys. There is talk of "tearing out the mo-fo's eyes", biting, and various vicious things that can be done to the attackers. The posts speak to an intense anger and fear in the writers, and sadly, the Instructors of such curriculums cater to this need by exploiting their target audiences obvious weakness, and emotional frailty.

These same people could begin to realize a much deeper sense of peace, well being, and level of personal safety if they were instead steered away from the geeky-ness of the combatives crowd and into a more contact orientated, healthy, and sane sports environment, with "alive-arts" such as boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, muay thai, judo, and other "sports" systems. In that type of "alive-training" they will not only gain real skill within a particular delivery system of fighting, they will also achieve a higher level of personal conditioning, become used to a higher level of contact, understand exactly what an aggressive, resisting attacker feels like, and learn to perform under a certain amount of stress. They will also gain a real sense of peace that comes with understanding how to actually move the human body in effective ways against aggressive and dangerous attackers.
By avoiding the contact, resistance, and most important required willingness to tap, be thrown, hit, and be beaten over and over, that is required with Alive arts, the "self defense" student instead draws deeper and deeper into their own world of self defense fantasy. And in the process their fear, paranoia, and sense of overall unease only increases over time. The anger and sadness actually grow, and if not checked they can turn into the most destructive emotion a person can experience, hate.

The real irony is that by not addressing the psychological fear that these individuals feel they actually decrease there own field of awareness, narrow it, and increase their risk of personal attack.

The reason they increase that risk of attack by another is because when we are dealing from a point of psychological fear and anger we project that onto those around us, and in turn that anger, fear and aggression often gets projected back at us. Our world becomes a more hostile place to be.

As the scholar Robert Thurman so aptly put it:

"Once we are prone to hate and rage, we project around us a field of paranoia and all people become our potential enemies. We feel destructive towards them, and we assume they feel destructive towards us. When we become cool, we don't project enmity on others; we can observe them more objectively, and if they are in fact out to cause trouble, we can quickly act to avoid it."

Finally there is the issue of a chattering mind. We have all experienced being so lost in thought that we walk into a sign, or run a red light, or bump into someone on the street. In fact being lost in thought, and trapped within an imaginary world of a chattering mind, constantly talking to ourselves within our own heads, is for many people the normal state of being rather then the exception. The danger of this when it comes to your field of awareness is quite obvious. By turning our attention to our random thoughts, as opposed to the field of awareness around us now, we seal ourselves off from experiencing a great deal of reality. And in terms of self-defense, this presents a very real threat to our person.

A simple example of this is a friend of mine who was recently visiting a beautiful tropical island on vacation. She is an attorney by day, and maintains a fairly busy work schedule, along with being a mother. One day after having been on the island for three days, she was walking down the path and noticed the birds chirping. She realized she had not noticed that before, and wondered if the birds had just arrived? Then she realized the birds lived there. They had always been there. It was she that had just arrived.

We become so pre-occupied by our daily stress these days that we can easily get into the habit of allowing the mind to chatter endlessly. Being able to relax into a state of present awareness, (that is an awareness that is not burdened with thoughts of the past, or an imaginary future, and allowed to be fully present in the moment) will increase our level of performance in all areas of life, athletics, relationships, listening, hearing, seeing, and decision making. Our ability to sense danger also becomes heightened, as we are now free to notice what's going on around us in the moment, and our own bodies gut instinct to it, rather then attempting to rationalize it away with thought, or ignoring it all together.

This is the idea of awareness. The most useful tool for self-defense, and "self preservation".

By not allowing ourselves to become so prideful we neglect to ask those that know, the locals, local police, etc, where and when places are safe to visit. We will become more fully aware of where we should and should not be at any given time.

By acknowledging our own fear, which masks itself in aggression, we can avoid that weakest part of us which seeks to pick fights in bars, or place itself in dangerous situations as a means of creating more fear and misery. We can avoid the endless cycle of stupidity and suffering.

By acknowledging gut instinct, and not attempting to rationalize it with thoughts of how we "should" be acting, or what we "should" be feeling, we can avoid much danger we might otherwise ignore.

By acknowledging that aspect of ourselves that creates psychological fear we can avoid projecting our own anger and paranoia onto others around us, and as a consequence cease attracting certain troublemakers that might otherwise find themselves attracted to us.

By learning to calm the mind, and rest in a heightened, and relaxed state of present awareness, we can see danger coming much sooner then if we are in an agitated state of paranoia, or lost in the thoughts of a chattering mind.

This is true awareness.

I have not touched on the B and C aspects of the ABC teaching method. As I felt the subject of awareness fully warranted its own article, and was indeed the most important issue related to modern martial arts training. I will address each of those in future articles. But very quickly I will mention that B stands simply for diving Board. The diving board consists of all the 'pre'-fight psychology, postures, tactics, and things that one should be aware off. And it's named after the feeling one gets just before they take the leap off a high dive at a swimming pool for the first time. C stands simply for the actual physical confrontation that may or may not follow, and it refers to the actual physical skills in the delivery systems of stand up, the clinch, the ground, and with weapons, that we offer our clients.

It's worth noting the obvious in that I am painting with a broad brush when it comes to combatives or self-defense Instructors. I started the article by stating specifically that I was referring to those Instructors that seek to minimize the "alive" aspects of what they do, and refer to all "alive" arts as "sports" training. By mitigating the real value, skill, and attributes that are developed through Alive, athletic arts they dissuade those weaker minded individuals that where already prone to paranoia, and fear, from one of the few things that can really make a positive impact on their life, athletic training.

But as stated before, there is absolutely no reason that fully Alive training, and fully self defense orientated curriculums are mutually exclusive. In fact the opposite holds true. One can have an athletic curriculum that will teach a certain level of self-defense by emphasizing strictly sporting aspects of Arts such as boxing, wrestling, BJJ, and Muay Thai. But one cannot teach real world self defense without offering it in an Alive environment. When people attempt to do so they instead create a fantasy world, which only serves to increase their own paranoia, fear, anger, and sadness.

There are many great Instructors outside our own SBGI group that are offering top of the line modern combatives, and self defense training, while also understanding and using the athletic principles of Aliveness. That list includes Michael Brown of The Praesidium Group, Gabe Suarez a former police officer that is now training civilians, Kelly McCann from The Crucible Group, and many others. Their level of maturity and real world experience is visible, and your gut instinct will let you know that's true if you allow it to.

For firearms I would suggest D.R. Middlebrooks, the firearms training he uses is designed from a private citizen/solo act point of view rather than the normal team tactics type scenarios. After all, how often will the private citizen have a "team member" to help them?

In closing I'd like to offer an experiment. Spend one week without watching the news, or reading any major media publications. Avoid stressed out, or manic friends that are obvious victims of the chattering monkey mind. Devote at least 30 minutes each morning to doing absolutely nothing except sitting quietly. And try and look at every human you come in contact with as a member of your own family. Don't engage in any gossip, or negative conversations about anyone, even if you do believe it to be justified. Don't give any credence or time to selfish thoughts that pop into your head about what you "need", or "want."

Instead, place your attention upon what others around you may want, or need. The assumption being, (and although you may feel this idealistic upon reading it, for the sake of the experiment give it a shot) that they too are actually looking out for your best interest. Try this simple test for one week. After one week ask yourself this question:

Do I feel safer?

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