Keep Your Head on a Swivel and Watch Your Six!

You may have jogged the same route hundreds of times without incident; however, this time, something happens, and it's an incident that will leave you with a horrific memory. In this case, you were blitzed from behind by your attacker! It's tough to defend the blitz attack because you don't see it coming. Anytime you are around strangers, you need to employ situational awareness (be in tune with what's happening around you).

In law enforcement, we use the term "keep your head on a swivel and watch your six." Envision a clock; you are walking towards noon. Behind you is 6 o'clock, directly behind you. Your comfortable vision range is between 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. So you periodically need to check the remaining region 2 to 10. The predator relies on the element of surprise to be about 70 percent of his game. By identifying a potential predator, you challenge his element of surprise and become a much harder target.

Your two front lines of defense are your eyes and your ears. Your auditory sense can be between 25% and 100% more effective than your sight. If you're listening to music and or texting, you have removed your frontline of defense. So remember: keep your head on a swivel and scan your environment for anomalies.

Stay safe, and if you are in New York on September 11th, sign up to be a part of our instructor certification course!