Most people go through life going from A to B on auto-pilot. They are either engrossed in their mobile phone or listening to music through their noise reduction headphones or busy filling their mind with thoughts of work, family, what’s for dinner, etc., etc., etc.

With so many things taking up your attention, it’s no wonder you are unaware of your surroundings.

We’ve all seen social media footage of people so engrossed in their mobile phones that they bump into lamp posts or fall into water fountains. So oblivious to the outside world when listening to music through headphones that they jump out of their skin when tapped on the shoulder.

Being aware of your surroundings is the first line of self defence!

Most people think of either a knee to the groin or martial arts / Bruce Lee-type moves, when they hear the term ‘self defence’, but true self defence begins long before any actual physical contact starts.

The first, and probably the most important part of self defence is therefore personal awareness. Awareness of yourself, your surroundings, and any potential threat or danger.

Now, we can tell what you are thinking – “Does this mean I have to be on alert like a spy in a movie? Constantly on edge, checking everything for danger.” Absolutely not.

An attacker likes to adopt the element of surprise to give themselves an advantage. They like to attack from behind, especially if it’s a male attacking a female. They like it if you are too busy with your phone texts to notice or identify them. Or completely engrossed in your music to hear them approaching.

Attackers and muggers love people who are unaware of their surroundings and what is going on around them.

By being alert, confident and aware of your surroundings, most confrontations can be avoided.

Sixth sense – Use It!

Woman’s intuition, sixth sense, that ‘uneasy feeling’ – call it what you will, but if you feel something is wrong, make sure you take action.

Invariably, it’s your subconscious telling you something is bad about a situation or person. All of us have this intuitive feeling but very few of us, particularly the macho-male types, pay attention to it. As females often do pay attention to it, it has become known by some, as ‘women’s intuition’.

Learn to trust your intuition and use it to your full advantage. If a person or a situation makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable – get away from it. Your sixth sense may be trying to tell you something, so listen to it.

So what causes this ‘sixth sense’?

When you book on one of our Courses, we will explain about Warning Signs and Danger Signs – the subconscious body language everyone displays when getting ready to fight or defend themselves.

You may have never heard of this warning body language before, but your subconscious brain is hard-wired to protect you, so when it sees this body language, it tries to warn you. Once you understand what these signs are, you will realise why you had that ‘uneasy feeling’ – it’s just your brain picking up on a Warning or Danger sign.