Predators of all species seek the path of least resistance when selecting prey. To further illustrate this point, place yourself in the predator role momentarily and answer the following questions honestly:
1. You decide to steal a car and are presented with two vehicles sitting side-by-side. One is locked and appears to have an alarm system activated, the other is unlocked and the keys are in the ignition.
Which do you choose?
2. You are walking through the mall and decide a little extra cash would be nice. You start scanning people in your immediate area and notice two women waiting at a counter, their backs are turned. One is holding her purse to her side, the clasp is closed, the other has her purse slung towards her back, the mouth of the purse is wide open with contents easily in view and easily accessible.
Which purse do you choose?
The answers to the above questions are obvious; predators choose the easiest victim–the victim that provides optimum opportunity for success. Every habit you possess that increases the ease of acquisition for a predator means that you are edging into the opportunity column. Every precaution you take to reduce criminal opportunity will make your personal safety a likelihood. However the fact that crime is, by and large, a product of opportunity is great news. By understanding that certain habits create greater opportunity for loss of life or property, that certain environments are more conducive to these crimes, and that even certain times of day or night can work for or against us, we can make choices that vastly improve our odds of ever having to use any of the actual tactical material in this book.
Approximately 90% of criminal activity is of the opportunistic variety. That leaves a 10% area that’s out of our hands. If we take every step that we can comfortably make to reduce the opportunity earmarks then we have, in a sense, made 90% of the journey towards being a “master of self defense” without ever having to learn one single physical defense tool. Of course we teach you the most effective physical self defense techniques in case you ever need to defend yourself and survive however nothing would make me happier than to see every single student alive and well not because they overwhelmed their enemies with physical attacks but rather they exercised good opportunity reduction habits and avoided physical confrontations altogether. Opportunity reduction is key. Again, to drive the point home, crime is 90% a product of opportunity; reduce opportunities for crime and the self-defense has taken care of itself.
For any questions or to schedule your next class please give us a call at 512-918-9999 or visit our website www.austinselfdefense.com
