Attitude & Alertness

Maintain good posture

• Breathing: Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth in a steady, calm pace.
• Vision: Be aware of your surroundings, use your peripheral vision and maintain focus.
• Listening: Keep silent and hear all sounds. Practice listening to sounds. Learn to know what the sounds are. Learn to hear further than your immediate surroundings. Your mind will be able to alert you of possible sounds of impending danger.

Your appearance, your outward stance, says a lot about you. Do you look confident or do you appear weak? I am not talking about physical size. You may be small or skinny or short but do you walk straight and upright. Is your walk a determined one and full of purpose? A lion watches a herd of gazelle and always chooses the weakest prey. How does it know which one is weak? By the gazelle's actions. Because a particular gazelle may be smaller does not necessary mean it is weak. It may be able to run faster, last longer in flight than the others. No, the lion watches for one weak in spirit, more than for one weak in physical appearance. Just as a lion watches to choose its prey, an attacker (mugger) will also watch and choose his prey. Don't look or act like a victim! Appearance has tremendous influence on one's spirit.

The best defense is to not be in a conflict situation or is to be able to diffuse a confrontation. But if you are under attack, then the fight is on (if you so choose)! Exercise extreme prejudice. To fight or not to fight is a choice only you can make when under attack. If you choose to fight, then you must commit to it. In certain instances it can be a fight of life or death. Commit to survival. Be ready for possible injury but be confident. You have everything to lose, but then so does the attacker. It is not necessary to kill the attacker but he must be disabled. Inflict damage without remorse. If he is disabled, he cannot pursue you. Again, violent force is not to be used just because someone hurls an insult at you. We are talking about personal safety.

Five Circumstances of Victory from Sun Tsu

• One who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious.
• One who understands how to use both extreme and gentle force will be victorious. There are circumstances in war when many cannot attack a few, and others when the weak can master the strong.
• Those united in purpose will be victorious.
• One who is prudent and lies in wait for an enemy who is not, will be victorious.
• He whose Generals are able and not interfered with by the sovereigns will be victorious. Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of victory are 50/50. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are in danger.