to deploy a weapon.
In 2010, the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated 1,246,248 violent crimes nationwide.
• Aggravated assaults (defined by the FBI as “as an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury”) accounted for the highest number of violent crimes reported to law enforcement at 62.5 percent. Of this 62.5 percent of aggravated assaults, firearms were used 20.6 percent; knives/cutting instruments 19.0 percent; clubs/blunt objects 33.1 percent; and personal weapons for 27.4 percent of reported cases.
• Robbery comprised 29.5 percent of violent crimes. Of this 29.5 percent, firearms were used 41.4 percent; while strong-arm tactics were used 42.0 percent; followed by knives and cutting instruments 7.9 percent; and other dangerous weapons 8.8 percent of the reported cases.
• Murder accounted for 1.2 percent of estimated violent crimes in 2010. Of this 1.2 percent; firearms were used 67.5 percent; knives/cutting instruments 13.1 percent; other weapons 13.6 percent; and personal weapons for 6.6 percent of reported cases.
• Forcible rape accounted for 6.8 percent of reported violent crime. Reported statistics do not account for the criminal use of weapons, but, past FBI surveys have indicated that approximately 10–20 percent of forcible annual rapes involve the use of a weapon.
• Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program 2010. For the most current information visit www.fbi.gov.
• In a 2010 National Crime Victimization Survey compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 852,660 specific weapon related violent crimes were reported in the United States. Of these 852,660 violent victimizations:
• 337,960 violent crimes were committed with firearms
• 192,320 violent crimes were committed with knives
• 266,620 violent crimes were committed with “other” and “unknown” weapons
In this study, the ratio of simple and aggravated weapon related assaults (616,670 incidents) compared to armed robberies (212,390 incidents) was roughly 3:1. Accordingly, one can extrapolate that when a weapon was present, a victim was three times more likely to be physically attacked rather then simply threatened.
Source: For the most current information visit www.bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov.
Criminals who use weapons are often not particularly well trained. For example, a controlled pull on the trigger of a firearm versus a hard pull is not something the average criminal gunman spends much time contemplating let alone practicing. Staving your skull versus simply knocking you unconscious is also a non-acquired skill. He may not know the fine line between knocking you unconscious and killing you. An armed assailant’s judgment may also be impaired by an admixture of inebriation, mental illness, or any other human emotion giving vent to violent rage.
Violence is an ugly grisly affair. If you are threatened or attacked, the assailant thinks he can win. You cannot doubt the assailant is committed, through violence, to dominating or destroying you. He is willing to cause you egregious, perhaps deadly, bodily harm by eviscerating, puncturing or spilling your internal organs, shattering bones, or pulping your brain. When unexpectedly caught in the sites of a deranged attacker or psychopathic predator, you may wonder, “Why is this stranger attacking me?” This thinking may occur continue, for example, even after the third, fourth, or fifth stab wounds of the ambush. This is why you must hone your mental to physical skills until you can call on them without thinking. With enough practice, you will train to react instinctively and swiftly. Only proper training can trigger this fighting response. Realistic training improves this reaction flow by allowing you to quickly assess violent situations and react under stress.
Training ingrains the appropriate responses into your memory bank improving your reaction time. Whether the threat comes from an edged weapon or gun, you will already know how to react. Equally important, proper training compels the most suitable reaction for a given situation. An attack launched by surprise will force you to react from an unprepared state. Therefore, your self-defense reaction must be instinctive and reflexive. Krav maga training prepares you for just that. Your subconscious mind will turn your instinctive trained responses into immediate action. Instinct assumes control. This autonomic response is vital because your instantaneous reaction will occur just prior to your natural adrenaline dump that can momentarily or permanently interfere with your fine and gross motor skills—your defensive capability. In other words, optimally, you won’t have time to think. You’ll make the defense before you even realize what is happening just as your adrenaline dump reaches its apex.
One of the most effective tactics krav maga can teach you is not to be taken by surprise in the first place. Developing recognition of pre-violence indicators along with impending attack identification skills are instrumental to krav maga training. Once you develop an awareness of your environment—any environment—you will notice at all times who and what surrounds you. By recognizing a potential threat, such as the bulge of a handgun sequestered in a waistband, before the assailant can deploy it, you can avoid a life-threatening situation. The best defense against any attack is removing yourself from the situation before the attack can take place. Only awareness of your environment can help you do that.
Situational awareness is all-important and common sense should prevail. In an unknown environment, keep your head subtly swiveling by shifting your eye movements, using your peripheral vision, and panning for potential threats. Constantly survey your surroundings. In a worrisome situation, always watch a suspicious person’s hand movement. Let’s say you are watching a potential adversary’s hand movements. You notice that the hands are hidden in a pocket about to pull out a weapon—stop him. Along the same lines, recognition of a bulge on a potential assailant’s body—a possible weapon—also allows you to take the initiative.
Remember, a weapon can be sequestered in many places and concealed from view even when an assailant is grasping it. Krav maga trainees scrutinize how someone can conceal a weapon, such as holding an edged weapon in a reverse grip with the blade parallel to the forearm and shielded from view. An impact weapon, edged weapon, or firearm could be placed behind an assailant’s leg ready for immediate use. Also sensitize your hearing for clues such as the lock-back of a folding edged-weapon clicking or the sound of a round being chambered in a firearm. Awareness and mental conditioning are integral to krav maga training.
Other indicators might be someone who seems distinctly out of place, loitering, or who is mirroring or following your movements. Criminals can telegraph their intent through nervous or abnormal behavior leading up to an attack. It cannot be emphasized enough the need to watch a suspicious person’s hands. A hand concealing a weapon will usually be stiff, contorted, or move in an unnatural way. This can be particularly noticeable when a potentially dangerous person is approaching you and his arms swing or don’t swing—another indicator. If someone’s arms are crossed concealing the hands, you should also take note. In addition, an assailant could also distract you by speaking to you, or asking you question such as the time to force you to look at your watch, phone, etc. to catch you by surprise while he simultaneously presents a weapon to threaten or attack you. Be especially aware of someone turning his back to you in close proximity as he pulls his hands in front of his torso; another preferred stealth method for weapon deployment.
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Three seminal works, Meditations on Violence (YMAA 2008) and Facing Violence (YMAA 2011) both by Rory Miller along with The Little Black Book of Violence by Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder (YMAA 2009), provide comprehensive insights into the psychology and physiology of violence. Reading these works will further develop an understanding of street violence’s underpinnings. Each of these works also provides a strong foundation for how to best extricate yourself from harm’s way before you have no choice but to engage in counter-violence. Many of these authors’ key points dovetail extremely well with the krav maga’s holistic self-defense approach:
• Understanding the warning signs of impending violence
• How predators