I am writing a series of short articles on topics like VIGILANCE for my website and facebook posts.  Here is Part 1 and 2 of the first articles.  

VIGILANCE.

What does it mean to be vigilant? Is it something you can develop with practice? How do you maintain it? What is it?

Well, first off, it is the name of our new program.

It starts with Situational Awareness, 360 Awareness and what ever other terms you want to apply. I simply call it being "turned on and tuned in".

It incorporates your situational awareness of the environment and the skills necessary to make realistic and valid assessments of potential threats in that environment so you can decide on appropriate responses and then take action on those decisions.

If any of you are familiar with the OODA Loop you will recognize that explanation of the mental processes of decision making that occur. I will delve more into the OODA Loop, how it works and why it is important at a later date.

For now lets look at VIGILANCE as a self supporting skill.

Being attentive to what is happening around you, who is there, what they are doing or saying. What physical place are you in, a parking lot, shopping mall, apartment building? Where are your avenues of escape, weapons of opportunity? Where can you get help from other people? Is this a dangerous area of town? What senses do you use to help you observe potential dangers? Is it only sight or can your sense of smell tell you if something is wrong? What about hearing, touch and taste?

When I leave my condo, I stop for a moment on the steps outside the door, I make sure I am fully awake and ready, I look around, I listen for a moment, I smell the air, then I turn around and lock the door and start walking to my car, watching the parking lot and surrounding area. I check the vehicles on either side, look up and down the driveway and then if no one is around I open the door and enter my car. I start and go right away ensuring the doors lock and get moving.

This is just one example of how I check myself to make sure I am vigilant, turned on and tuned in. As I travel around, going to work or running errands I try to maintain some level of vigilance all day, without being paranoid and exhausting myself in the process.

There is so much more to discuss on vigilance but we will delve into a bit at a time.

VIGILANCE, Part 2

In the first post I described how I, turn on and tune in, when I leave the house in the morning. Making sure I am awake and using my senses to assess any potential danger or threats in my immediate area. Some call that, Situational Awareness.

I quickly mentioned that being aware of your environment is the first step in self protection, noticing things that are out of place, that are not normal. How do you decide what is "not normal"?

You first establish a baseline. To do this you observe the area, the location, people and figure out what normal is in that environment. For instance normal at a restaurant is very different than normal at a beach. It sounds obvious but it can get more difficult in new places and locations that are not so obvious.

Let's say you are out for a drink with some friends. The band is playing, people are dancing, having fun, singing along and pretty much enjoying themselves. Out of the corner of your eye you notice 2 individuals walk in the front door. They look different, maybe you can't quite put a finger on it but they just don't fit in. Maybe it is their clothing, body postures, perhaps their facial expressions are out of place. They enter, look around as if assessing the place and who is there and then they split up and take post watching people. Maybe you have practiced your vigilance skills and you notice the slight bulge of a firearm on the hip of one of these people. Perhaps the long trench coat on the other looks very much out of place.

What do you do? Do you grab your friend and leave? Do you notify the bar tender or security? Have you assessed your environment for the nearest exits and way out?

There are 4 steps in the self protection model I teach, awareness, assessment, avoidance and action. I sometimes joke that the 4 A's are actually avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid. A good choice in pretty much every situation.

Making the decision to simply leave an area where there is a potential threat is always a choice. Choosing to alert security or the bar tender in this scenario is another. Combining both would be a good one. Alert someone, then get out.

One point that is often brought up in classes about personal safety is to listen to your instincts, intuition. If something feels out of place, dangerous, if it looks strange, then pay attention and take action. That may be making a more through assessment, it may be notifying another person or simply leaving the danger area before something happens. There is not right or wrong answer. The only wrong thing is to not listen to yourself.

Maintaining personal safety is a skill we have within us. It is animal survival instincts at their best. Learning to listen to them and taking appropriate action is something we can develop with a little practice and self awareness.

Next time we will discuss inner vigilance and learning how to pay attention to your inner voice.

Until then, stay alert, stay safe.

www.eastsidecombatives.com