201 - Reader comment: Deception and pre-emptive striking
Geoff Thompson, dirty tricks and training relevance
Thanks to Underwolfe for this comment on the “It’s all a mistake!” article.
Underwolfe: “This sounds like an excellent way to diffuse a situation and to avoid unnecessary blood being spilt… I’m thinking this idea could potentially also be used to create a small window of opportunity with which to mount a swift and effective attack if the situation called for it.”
Jeth: Thanks Underwolfe.
I lay no claim whatsoever to having invented something here! These manipulative ideas are as old as human beings.
In terms of using deception to ambush the interview of an aggressor with a strike - commonly referred to as pre-emption, this is again an old, old idea.
The first person to bring these to common attention in books was Geoff Thompson - in fact little has really been added to his work in the years since. They were already known but he really is the guy that got many exploring these ideas.
What I will say is that little seems to be considered about using this moment to create a confused moment where you simply...leave.
Perhaps another reader can point me towards a source that I may be unaware of?
Thompson was a bouncer and developed many of his insights doing this work - he could not leave a situation so the pre -emption strike was the appropriate response to his context.
This was then taken up by many verbatim and taught everywhere by just about every trainer and their mum.
And yet... as members of the public our situation is different to that of a bouncer.
You don't work as a team for a start, the context of aggression is physically similar but situationally very different in many ways.
I talked with a well known combatives instructor who told me about an incident he was in where he used pre-emptive striking against a guy with a knife. The incident was caught on CCTV and, despite this being covered under self defence legislation, he endured a lengthy legal battle until he was eventually cleared of assault! This all played out under a lens of local politics and media. I have never seen this possibility covered in any great depth in all the standard talk of “just hit him” and pre-empt every time circles.
I get the drama and excitement of “Train for the Terminator” but perhaps videos of people finding ways to walk away from trouble don’t sell as well?
Leaving and avoiding physical conflict is your first, best option. Everything else is raising your exposure to risk - not just physical but legal, emotional, psychological, employment, status, your freedom and so on.
Creating confusion to stall the aggression is simply not always possible but it should be considered as a key tactic for the average person.
A toolbox with just a hammer in it is limited...
Jeth thanks for this! I am trying to train myself to think more about all this stuff and trying to get past a ‘reactive’ state of mind… I guess that’s all very well once you have drilled the moves etc but at my present stage I DEFINITELY need to slow it down and allow myself to problem solve more… I have been trying this more this week in classes and it has felt a lot better.
Being a female of average build and average strength (and some degree of civility!), physical engagement would always be a last resort.. In most situations there's far more power in me making my 'pre-emptive strike' a psychological one.
The confusion tactic is brilliant, especially when the aggressor is fully heightened as there's less blood-flow to the brain at that point so they'll be easier to bamboozle!
If it's been possible for me to read the signs and take action before things have gone too far (ie before they've become completely irrational) then I've found using pure logic ('you don't want to do this because xyz consequences') in a very calm measured tone is effective.
Showing empathy and compassion can be effective too if I know or can guess at what has triggered them.. Though I find men respond better to this, and females not so much.
With females (and the men who don't respond to the sweetie approach) I've had better results by being dominant - lots of direct eye contact, owning the space with my posture and body language; stepping toward them etc,
speaking firmly and loudly - maybe even aggressively - but still calmly, without getting drawn into any drama or hysterics.
It's interesting looking at the dynamics of these sorts of interactions, because I'm sure the psychological tactics that work for me would be different to what works for a male for example, or someone with a different nature etc.
Of course we're all here to learn how to physically protect ourselves but it's really great to see a self defence instructor acknowledge the other side of the coin too and remind us that there are other tools we can use.. There's a load of books and videos available too on subjects like de-escalation and non violent communication techniques for those who want to pursue the even further.