[Clamart]

Originally Posted by Clothahump

Hmmm....I teach martial arts, so two basic things:

1. Situational awareness is critical. Always, always be aware of your surroundings. If you are constantly looking around you and making brief eye contact with others, you are less likely to be profiled as a potential victim.

2. Four guidelines:
If they can't
...see you
...put their hands on you
...breathe
...stand
then they probably can't hurt you. Make any of those come true and you stand a much better chance of escaping to safety. In the second case, if they have a weapon, add in the effective length of the weapon to the distance needed; distance is your friend.

And a bonus: one of the best ways to overcome sudden stress (fight or flight) is to take a very deep breath, hold it for a second or two, then exhale. Amazing how much that will calm you down.

This is excellent information that I'm cutting and pasting and keeping close. Thank you, Cloth!