There are no perfect answers. By remaining aware of your surroundings and actively avoiding trouble, and by being willing to place safety ahead of convenience and ego, you can greatly reduce the chances that anything bad will happen to you.

If things do go south anyhow, then you need a gameplan to get you out of trouble (and you need to work at making the plan play out). ‘Winning a fight’ isn’t the goal - the goal is to preserve your safety. That means choosing the option that gives you the best chance of avoiding harm, or at least minimises the harm you suffer.

Preserving your safety can mean backing down, running away, handing over possessions or other acts that your ego and self-respect don’t like. So be it; sometimes things are bad enough that a bad outcome is the best you can hope for. Preserving your safety can also mean pre-emptively striking someone and other solutions that seem unpalatable to the sort of people that say violence solves nothing. Maybe it doesn’t, but there is nothing particularly honourable about being beaten, raped or killed because you were ‘better’ than your assailant and therefore unwilling to hurt them to protect yourself.

This is your life and you won’t let anyone take from you.  You must believe in your ability to survive.  It is your duty to protect yourself and your loved ones from violence.  You must be your first line of defense against the bad guys and by adopting an offensive mindset you can enhance your ability to survive.

If you should have to fight…fight with everything you got!   Continue attacking until you are free from danger.  Most importantly, Never Give Up!

Be Well & Be Safe,

Matthew Dyck