The defensive mindset is something I wish I could talk about more in my classes, but usually the curriculum is more "hardware" heavy, so I am going to have an ongoing series on this blog, where I talk about some aspects of developing it, and the benefits of doing so. Now, before I go any further, I am not suggesting that one becomes paranoid, and paranoia is not what I mean when I say "defensive mindset." According to Dictionary.com, the definition of paranoia is:
"1. Psychiatry . a mental disorder characterized by systematized delusions and the projection of personal conflicts, which areascribed to the supposed hostility of others, sometimes progressing to disturbances of consciousness and aggressiveacts believed to be performed in self-defense or as amission.
2. baseless or excessive suspicion of the motives of others."
I am not suggesting that one should become delusional and things that everything is a threat. If people thought that, then they would stay in their houses all day, except then they would fear the roof would fall on their heads. If you are genuinely paranoid, you probably should not be carrying a firearm.
That being said, I think that general awareness of your own surroundings and what is going on around you is a good thing, and really is the first step in developing a defensive mindset. You can't avoid a situation or defend yourself if you don't know that it is going on. Thankfully, someone ahead of me took the time to develop a system that makes self awareness easy to understand and learn. That person was Lt.Col. Jeff Cooper, a Marine officer and veteran of World War 2 and Korea, as well as someone instrumental to the modern use of handguns for defense. Aside from his "color codes" which I will go over momentarily, he advocated for the scout rifle design, the "Modern Technique" for the pistol, and founded what would eventually become Gunsite Academy in Arizona. The color codes are published in his book Principals of Personal Defense, which in my opinion is worth reading if you want to work on developing your mindset.
According to his system there are four colors, or states of awareness, in which people exist.
The first color is white, which is also known as "Unaware and Unprepared." This is, unfortunately, the state of awareness which most people tend to be in most of the time, including while doing tasks such as driving. While in condition white, you are oblivious to the outside world either through a lack of awareness, or possibly due to task fixation. But, either way, you have no idea what is going on around you. If you want to see what people look like in condition white, go sit at an outdoor seating section one night for dinner, and just watch the people who walk by. Especially with modern portable technology, people can become some fixated that they have no idea what is going on around them. They can't stop and smell the roses, because they have no idea if the roses are withing 10 feet of them or not.
White is not a condition you generally want to be in while you are out and about. Sometimes, it will happen, its human nature. You may become so fixated on a task that you have no idea what is going on around you. But you need to be able to know when not to be in condition white, and when you can be in condition white. If you are walking down an alley at night, or withdrawing a large amount of cash from an ATM by yourself, that is not the time to be in condition white. To do so means you are not using your brain to avoid potential threats.
The next color is yellow, which is a relaxed state of alert. For someone who has been overseas, this becomes pretty much the natural state. There isn't a specific threat to you, but you are aware of your surroundings. You aren't so tied up in sending a text that you bump into a wall. You know where people are around you, and what they are doing. You walk into a room and look for emergency exit signs. You simply pay attention to the world. You don't treat the world or the people around you as a threat, because they aren't. To do so would be paranoid. You don't maintain a 21 foot bubble off solitude around you because you saw a Tueller Drill (more on that in a future post) video once. But you just notice what is going on around you. Both security professionals and criminals exist in this condition the vast majority of the time. There is a saying that "the only people who check their 6 o'clock are police and military, or criminals and bad guys." Which is somewhat true. Most people don't seem to care who is walking behind them, although that could be a very good piece of information to have. If you just start to notice what is going on around you more in life, you can develop the ability to maintain this mindset for very long periods of time.
The third color is orange, which means that there is a specific potential threat. Something made that little voice in the back of your head say "something is not quite right here." A side note on that little voice, I am a firm believe in listening to it, and that it is usually right. I think it probably is a holdover from less civilized time when humans were much easier prey, both for each other and animals, and it was an internal warning system. Pretty much every time I have had that little voice, or gut feeling tell me something wasn't awry, it was correct. So I listen to mine, although you can judge if you should listen to yours or not. But when in condition orange, something doesn't seem right. Maybe someone is acting in a way that makes you uncomfortable, maybe someone you don't know if following you more than just accidentally. Maybe a car with multiple people and loud music pulls up when you are at the ATM, and the occupants just sit and watch you. But whatever doesn't seem right to you starts to become your focus. You mentally prepare a plan for the scenario you think is likely to unfold. There still is no defensive action taken, aside from focusing on the threat or planning, but you are more alert than in yellow.
Condition red is condition in which you are aware of a specific threat, and take necessary actions to stop that threat to you. That could be running away, that could be defending yourself. But your body has triggered the fight or flight reaction, and you are following it. It is preferable not to get to condition red, if possible, when you felt uncomfortable before and went to condition orange, you removed yourself from the situation. In condition red you are focused on the threat, and your survival. Your body has dumped a whole lot of adrenaline and endorphins into your bloodstream and now you are taking action. You lose fine motor skills, get tunnel vision, your mouth goes dry and your palms get all sweaty as your heart rate skyrockets. Its the same feeling you get when you are certain you are about have a car accident, but somehow avoid it. Condition red is about surviving that specific threat to you, in whatever manner is appropriate, it is virtually always preferable to not have to go into this mode, and to utilize your condition of awareness to avoid specific threats. Someone has made a threat, shown a weapon, or done something that shows they intend to do you harm.
The most important part of having a defensive mindset is using it to avoid potential self defense situations. Unless you have a job that necessitates going into harms way, then don't go to places that are dangerous if you don't have to. Just because you carry a gun doesn't mean you are superman, and should go walk through dark alleys by yourself at night. De-escalation and avoidance of self defense situations are always preferred to having to physically defend one's self. Your pride may be hurt, or you may be inconvenienced, but that is a lot cheaper financially and mentally than if you get into a defensive shooting you don't need to. If you are going to take self-defense seriously, the "software side" your brain, attitude and state of awareness are infinitely more important than the "hardware" side, which would be your sidearm, bullets, and gear. Put some real thought and effort into developing the software side. A lot of people want to go to the range a couple times a year and call themselves prepared, but your most important training can be done inside your own head. Think of it this way, which component will you use on a daily basis to keep yourself and your loved ones safe? The hardware, or the software? Which one do you think needs more work? Above, I generally paraphrased the color codes, once again, if you want to learn more about developing a defensive mindset, Lt.Col. Cooper's book is a good place to start
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