In A.C.W.A. Combatives, we often say: “when we lack awareness, all attacks will be an ambush.” That is, when we are not paying attention to others around us or the environment we are in, then anything in that environment (a bear in this case) will be a complete surprise to us. Terms like “it came out of no where” are often used by people when they are in this “white” or blank mindset. This is a fully internalized state of attention that allows for the world to sneak up on you without you knowing. This prey mentality almost did in the guy in the video below, who was texting and then suddenly realized there was a BEAR in front of him….he “did not see it coming” and it “came out of no where” as you can see from his reaction when he finally notices the creature. Luckily for him he noticed just in time and the bear did not pursue him, take a look:
This man was lucky, he got away, but luck is not dependable enough, we want to be actively aware of the world around us so that we don’t get caught out one day when our luck runs out! It does not matter what it is, bears, or others who are looking to do us harm, the more we can notice things before they become a problem, the less of an ambush we face. This happens all the time (not the bear thing, the distracted thing) as life is busy and it’s easy to get side tracked with daily life. The key is in balance and good judgement. Do things when they make sense to do them, when your out and about in the open world, DON’T BE TEXTING, be paying attending to others and to the environment. At a minimum that will keep you from twisting your ankle from tipping over a curb or broken piece of concert that “came out of no where.” At a max it communicates to people looking for an easy mark that your less of a target to be taken advantage of and that’s the type of communication we want to give off.
Intelligent self protection is about taking measures to prevent negative issues in your life from ever occurring in the first place. If a measure of awareness makes you less of a potential victim and more of a harder target (and it does), then we need to adopt that habit as our new best friend.
Train Hard & Stay Safe,
Justin J. Everman
Founder A.C.W.A. Combatives