Decide not to be a victim.

I've taught karate and self defense on and off for many years now. I started training in martial arts seriously when I was about 23 and never needed it since. Not once. Naturally, I sometimes wonder if I’m actually capable of defending myself should the need arise, but then I realize it already has, many times over.

One of the questions I often get is, "What if you're walking down a dark alley and-” I stop them right there. If you’re walking down a dark alley in the middle of the night you deserve whatever happens to you, doubly so if you’re intoxicated. I don’t care about “how nice” the neighborhood is supposed to be, criminals and ne’er-do-wells chose those spots because they make it easy for them to take advantage of their victims.

A friend of mine was telling me about something his flight instructor stressed when teaching him to fly. He said it was all about good decision making. The more I go through life, the more I believe that’s true for all aspects, not just flying a plane. And like I said in my previous blag post, the results of those decisions may take a while to manifest.

Having made decisions beforehand can help your self-defense situation tremendously. You’ll be able to act without thinking “Do I want to this?” or “Can I do this?” Since all physical interpersonal conflicts can result in someone’s death (worst case scenario) you’ll want to answer at least some of the following questions in advance:

Is it worth risking death for my wallet, car or other personal effects? Is it worth risking death for a stranger? Is it worth risking death for another member of my family? If a crazy man comes into my school/work and is just shooting people, am I going to go out cowering under my desk or should I try and stop him?

Making good decisions and being aware of your surroundings are the keys to self defense. Most importantly, it’s deciding not to be a victim and that your own life is valuable and worth defending. Making good choices will keep you from unwanted confrontation at least 95% of the time. Stay safe out there people!

A word about preparedness.

I spend a lot of time thinking. Mostly about nonsensical stuff: What would life look like from the point of view of a mirror? What would I really do if I had a super power? Sometimes its wishful thinking: If I could build my own house, what would it be like? What would I really do if I won the lottery?

Most of the time, I think about how to prepare for the worst. What would I do if my car breaks down? What would I do if we get snowed in for 3 days? What would I do if three guys try to jump me on the street? How would I survive if I got lost in the mountains? How would I survive a zombie apocalypse? (These thoughts aren’t necessarily exclusive from those above.)

I think many people choose not to consider how to prepare for things because it’s not exactly a pleasant thought, planning for the worst means thinking about the worst. Unfortunately, the decisions you make before catastrophe hits severely impact your survival of those catastrophes, whether they were conscious decisions or not. Sometimes, it’s not even a catastrophic event that can cause problems when you’re unprepared. A minor setback can quickly snowball with other setbacks and cause major problems.

So, I urge you to take a moment and think about it. There’s many a website out there to help you prepare for most of the common types of disasters. FEMA and the Red Cross have some great website to help you identify and plan for almost any kind of emergency situation. As for personal safety and preparedness, I plan on talking more on that subject tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Consumption Pressures

A long time ago, a friend sent me a link to "The story of stuff". After watching their presentation, it galvanized an idea that had been on my mind for quite some time that began with a bit in Fight Club (of all places). The idea is presented when Tyler Durden rants "You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your f*cking khakis." Later he also says "F*ck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns, I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may." Regardless of how you might feel about the rest of the movie, I think there's something to this.

Think about it this way; imagine for a moment the number of people in marketing. Picture everyone involved in the idea, writing and creating all the TV, radio and internet commercials and ads that you view (even unwittingly) every day. Think of them as an army, with the sole purpose of getting you to buy more stuff. Remember the fact that many of them study psychology in an effort to get you to bend to their will. Their big tactic is to make you feel like an incomplete person until you purchase whatever they're selling. This continues endlessly so that you will never feel complete. Ever.

That's the "offense." Now picture the defense. How many people do you know who try to convince you not to buy something? Add all those people together (I've only got a couple) and put yourself on the opposing side of all those marketers. Seems like no contest huh? Well, being aware of the problem is certainly a step in the right direction. I catch myself saying things like "If only, I had a surround sound system, I'd be all set" all the time.

But it's not true. You can be a complete person without surround sound or a 52" HDTV or the ladder back birch chair. That doesn't mean you shouldn't but those kinds of things, because the human need for entertainment and comfort shouldn't be discarded out of hand. But make sure you're buying them for the right reasons and not just because some smiling pretty face on the TV says you aren't a person until you do. Make sure you can afford it before you buy it, and don't feel bad about yourself if you can't. If it helps, take a moment to think about all the things you do have and all the people and intangibles in your life that do make you happy, because those are the things that will make us far more "complete" than that BMW.