Personal Safety
5 Do ’ s of Personal Protection
By Mark Grobbelaar
In personal protection , these five essential things to do could be the difference between life and death .
Our lives are governed by rules from the moment we are born , which are there for a multitude of reasons , Granted , some are important , some seem a waste of time , but when it comes to personal protection , rules are the difference between life and death , especially if you are not a trained combatant , somebody who can react to all sorts of different situations . You cannot make it up as you go along , you need rules !
Now , obviously , there are a number of things you could do if you find yourself in a dangerous situation , but as I have said in previous columns , unless you are training every day and repeating these actions over and over , most of these are of no use , as you will never remember them . So where does this leave the average person who does not want to be a ‘ Navy Seal ?’ I have narrowed down all these rules to a simple set of five do ’ s and dont ’ s that I believe are relevant and will make a difference .
Let ’ s first deal with the things you should do . There are hundreds of things we could talk about here , but here are my five do ’ s .
4 . DO IT ONE TIME : That doesn ’ t mean later , or just now , or at 3:30pm , it means that in a life-or-death situation there might be a small window of opportunity in which you have the chance to get away or do something that could change the outcome . You might have to create that opportunity , and you might have to do something that you don ’ t want to do , and which you have never done before , to open that window . But that window will not stay open for long , and when it shuts , the chances of opening it again are very slim . That is why you need to know what to do and when to do it .
5 . DO IT EVERY TIME : Very simply put , the one time you do not do it first , right and one time , could very well be your last time .
Knowing what you can and can ’ t do is power , and it could be the difference in a life-or-death situation . But being more aware of your surroundings and the people near you may help you completely avoid those life-or-death situations . So always stay aware .
Images : Pexels
1 . DO IT : You must make a choice , and you need to know what your choices are . There are only three things you can do in a life-threatening situation : Flight , fight or freeze , but if you don ’ t know what these , are and what you are capable of , how will you decide ? You cannot make a choice if you do not know all the options .
2 . DO IT FIRST : You need to decide what you want to do , and you need to do it first , before someone decides for you . You cannot wait and see what happens . The moment something feels wrong , you need to decide : Flight , fight or freeze .
3 . DO IT RIGHT : It may seem so obvious , but like common sense , it ’ s actually not always so obvious . Whatever you do has to be done right , and unless you are a ‘ Friss Frikkie ’ who trains every day , the chance of you perfecting any complicated moves that are taught in so-called ‘ self-defence courses or workshops ’ are zero . It has to be simple .
Mark Grobbelaar is the founder of INpowered , incorporating WIP ( Woman INpowered ) and GRIP ( Guy Responsibly INpowered ), an organisation dedicated to giving people the essential tools to protect themselves . Mark holds a sixth dan in karate , and is also an avid runner and cyclist . He hosts INpowered programmes for corporates , schools and small groups . More info at www . inpowered . co . za .
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