Yesterday’s article explained a facet about criminals and bad guys, namely what they want from their victims. We will now talk about criminals’ fears and how to capitalize on them.

Criminals are smart. Anyone who says otherwise needs to understand that a career criminal is a professional, crime is his work, and that the crook, mugger, rapist and others are good at it because they use elements of surprise, deception, careful analysis, and tactics to get what they want.

However, a criminal does not want to attack someone who can fight back, he is looking for a victim, an easy target, the weakest link.

A criminal will avoid three outcomes, namely getting hurt, getting caught, or having attention drawn to the situation.

Let us start with fear number one, getting hurt. Any criminal worth his salt knows that there is always a risk of getting hurt when “on the job”. Pain is taken as a calculated risk. However, there are certain levels of “acceptable” pain let’s say a rapist expects: shoves, small punches, a few strikes to his manhood, etc. What the violator doesn’t want is to miss a large chunk of his face, have his ears ripped off, broken fingers continuously re-broken by some yelling harpy. Everything equal, the more savage the retaliation, the more your chances of surviving increases.

Contestant number two is the bad guy’s fear of getting caught. And wrong: A criminal doesn’t care much about the Law itself, but he definitely doesn’t want to end up in jail, where he will be mugged, raped, beaten up by someone nastier than him. Anything that increases the baddie’s chances of going to jail is a big “no-no”, as the benefits aren’t worth the risk.

Finally, the third fear is having attention drawn to the situation: The more people pay attention to the crime, the more the bad guy’s chances increase of having a good Samaritan come to save the day (usually by beating him up) or the Police show up and arrest him.

To reduce one’s risk, it is recommended visit two or all three of these fears upon the criminal.

More important than techniques and moves, it is vital to look into the criminal’s mind and understand what the bad guy(s) want(s).

To always “wrist lock and groin kick” or “jab cross uppercut” or “Thai kick, followed by a takedown, ground and pound” an opponent without knowing what he or she wants is to invite disaster.

If you know what the baddie wants, you can therefore manipulate him/ her in a manner that maximizes your survival rates, positions him/ her in a worse position, thus allowing you to evade, escape or fight back effectively.

The good news is that criminals’ wants are simple to categorize. We at Senshido believe that the bad guy usually wants one or more of the three following things: Valuables, Body, Life.

“Valuables” includes money, credit cards, clothing, shoes, cars, and anything else that can be obtained from the victim and sold or used by the criminal for his or her benefit.

“Body” basically means that the bad guy(s) wants to beat you up, torture you, rape you, or any other behavior targeting your body.

Finally, “Life” means that the opponet wants to kill you, snuff out your life.

A sadistic psychopath may kill for the thrill of it; in this case, your “Life” is also a “Valuable”. A mugger or home invader attacks his/ her victims for their “Valuables” but can often take advantage of the situation to rape (”Body”).

Senshido is a modern approach to Personal Protection (Self Defense) created in Canada, circa 1994, by Richard Dimitri.

Senshido teaches its participants on how to avoid, de-escalate, escape, and survive modern violence.

Although there are many systems out there that teach self defense, only a few teach their participants to protect themselves and their loved ones from all the aspects of violence, namely the Pre-Contact, Contact, and Post-Contact phases.

The Pre-Contact includes awareness training, fear/ anger/ adrenal management, evasion and escape tactics, understanding the criminal mind, tactical assessment of one’s environment, and much more.

The physical aspect of violence or the Contact phase incorporates all forms of unarmed and armed combat, against one or more aggressors.

Finally, the Post-Contact phase discusses the legality of one’s actions, talking to the Police, preventing revenge attacks, debriefing and analyzing the confrontation for enhancing one’s survivability, etc.

Senshido can be instantly used, by anyone, regardless of size, height, weight, age, and strength, because:

1- We focus on the psychological-emotional-behavioral aspects first, elements that will allow you to “not be there” when trouble comes looking for you

2- We teach people to use their instinctive flinch reaction and gross motor skills, combined to concepts, strategies, tactics, and tools, to protect themselves and retaliate physically. Our motto is “Rather than provide technical aspects for people to use in specific situations, we provide analytical skills that will be useful in any situation”

3- We test it in full speed, full power, and intensive scenarios that replicate reality to the fullest. If it works under those conditions, then it works in real life.

Take care, and stay safe.

Georges Z. Fahmy - B.B.A, M.A
Founder and Chief Instructor – Senshido.NET
Senshido Affiliate Instructor, Greater Middle East Area
Phone: +961 3 499 712
www.senshido.net