The Vital Pyramid – Tactics for Self Defense

I previously wrote about the concept of The Vital Pyramid as one of the models we follow in the world of self defense.

At the base of the pyramid is Mindset.

Next, we want to take a look at tactics and principles you should employ in your everyday life in order to give yourself the best opportunity for dealing with threats.

When it comes to everyday living, there are three areas where anyone interested in self protection should focus their attention.

Daily Game Plan for Self Protection

The general model I try to follow is based on the Urban Combatives Game Plan developed by Lee Morrison.  Morrison’s UC Game Plan includes the following steps…

• Awareness
• Situational Control
• Pre-Emption
• Continuous Assault
• Escape

Awareness

This daily game plan is centered around Avoidance.  We want to develop skills for identifying potential threats, and avoiding those situations altogether.

This effectively means that when we leave our house, we put up the antenna and turn on the radar.

I would estimate that 99% of people or more walk around utterly clueless to their surroundings.  They are either looking at their smartphones, have earbuds or headphones in their ears, or both.

This is exactly what a predator is looking for, night or day.

If we can’t avoid a situation, we’ll try to de-escalate.  This is a skillset most useful when dealing with a drunk at a bar or similar situation.

If there is criminal intent, then we must employ situational control to put ourselves in the best position to prevail.

Pre-emption will then come into play here.

If we’ve identified a criminal threat, and have no opportunity to escape that threat, then we must strike first, and continue to strike until the threat has been eliminated… continuous assault.

We can then make our escape.

Of course, if our radar indicates a potential threat, and that treat has not yet identified us as a potential target, we can simply escape the situation altogether, but changing course.

For instance, if we are walking down the street and notice someone up ahead that may look like they are on the lookout for prey, we can simply cross the street, or turnaround and go the other way.

Strength Training

The stronger you are, the harder you are to kill.

This is true when dealing with both illness and criminal assault.  The stronger you are, the more punishment you can take, and the more you can dish out.

Your punches, kicks and ability to throw someone to the ground or against a wall will improve with your strength.

Unfortunately, most people never properly train for strength.

Strength training involves hard work, and has nothing to do with doing 20 curls with those little orange dumbbells.

If you want to get closer to your strength potential, you have to train properly with barbells, and ultimately, learn to lift heavy weight.

With that said, it takes a good amount of courage to get under the bar and try to squat a weight you’ve never squatted before.

I would argue that this type of training also goes a long way toward helping you develop the proper mindset for dealing with a criminal assault.

Conditioning

In this age of increasing violence, you may find yourself having to deal with more than one assailant.

If you are out of shape, it will be difficult to deal with more than one person, or if someone is equally matched with you in terms of fighting skill.

Bruce Lee once wrote that one reason he spent so much time on his conditioning was due to a fight he had that ended in an effective draw.  While he felt that his skill was superior, his opponent was in better shape.

As a result, Lee was a big proponent of running, riding an exercise bike and jumping rope.

It’s also no surprise that military training involves a significant amount of conditioning work as well.

Final Thoughts

We’ve now added to our foundation of training in the Vital Pyramid.

Learning how to protect yourself involves far more than getting a gun permit.  There are a number of steps you need to take before you can even be marginally effective in using a gun.

Self protection is effectively a lifestyle choice.

I set up the Practical Kung Fu Flagship Program to provide intensive training in all of these areas to help you develop your mind and body so that you can better deal with life throws at you.

Now, get to work!