Has this ever happened to you?

[Kittan Bachika]

One of my training buddies was asked by a friend of his to help out at his daughter's birthday party that was taking place at this party place.
Everyone had a lot of fun but he noticed something really strange about himself.

He had to drive some of the kids over to the party place. When he got to the party place and he was walking the kids out of the parking lot to the party place, he became
really, really alert. He was looking for bad guys, cars, everything. They are young kids so he makes sure they are all together.

At the party place, he is even more alert. He is watching all of the kids and making sure where they are. He's not all in their face but he is aware of where they are. He is also aware of any strangers coming in, which are only the staff.

The party ends with the parents to picking their kids up. He watches every kid, making sure they get into the right cars. After the party his friend thanks him and even compliments him on him being so relaxed.

My training buddy has been training for 5 years. He's never been in a street fight and he has never done any type of security work. But he told me that day he felt like a bouncer and he thought it was strange the way he felt. Because he has no kids.

I don't think he was acting strange at all. His training was just kicking in. And even if he wasn't training, I think he would have acted that way. It is natural to be protective of children.
What do you all think?

 

[Dirty Dog]

Has it ever happened?

I'm like that all the time. A state of heightened awareness is (I think) one of the goals of our training. And when you're respsponsible not only for yourself, but others, the need is even more acute.

 

[kodora81]

That sounds like situational awareness kicking in. It's hard for me to comment, as I've been working in the security industry for over a decade. It's become ingrained in my psyche, so I don't even consciously think about it.

A lot of the time I take it for granted and assume that it's just common sense - until I'm reminded that common sense isn't always so common.

 

[lklawson]

Use the "Color Code" system of personal "alertness." Anytime you're outside of what you know is a 100% safe environment you should be at Yellow.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[ks - learning to fly]

You know it's funny this is brought up because shortly after I earned my red belt (currently 1st Dan Black) - I attended a play with my mom in Minneapolis and while we were waiting for the train, I found myself feeling more alert and aware of my surroundings than ever before!! Also, my mom is close to 70 years old, so I was really looking out for her! Situational awareness is - in my opinion - one of the best kickbacks of martial arts because sometimes you never know...

 

[lklawson]

Situational awareness is - in my opinion - one of the best kickbacks of martial arts because sometimes you never know...

You don't need Martial Arts to attain better situational awareness. Firearms advocates often have very high awareness levels, for instance, but anyone interested in not being a victim can have good awareness.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[Big Don]

You don't need Martial Arts to attain better situational awareness. Firearms advocates often have very high awareness levels, for instance, but anyone interested in not being a victim SHOULD have good awareness.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

Fixed that for you

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

You don't need Martial Arts to attain better situational awareness. Firearms advocates often have very high awareness levels, for instance, but anyone interested in not being a victim can have good awareness.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

True, but IMO Martial Arts is one way to improve one's own situational awareness, which I think is what KS was getting at.

 

[lklawson]

Fixed that for you

I get the point (and generally agree) but, honestly, I meant it as I wrote it. There are multiple paths to good awareness and, frankly, most of them take a lot less time and require a lot less investment in skills that aren't related to "situational awareness" than martial arts training.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[lklawson]

True, but IMO Martial Arts is one way to improve one's own situational awareness, which I think is what KS was getting at.

Sure, martial arts can potentially (for some, sometimes) help increase situational awareness. But there are a lot of things completely unrelated to situational awareness that are also required for martial arts. Further, martial arts training isn't a sure bet either. Just because someone trains in martial arts doesn't mean they're automatically going to improve their situational awareness.

My experience is that the motivation for training in martial arts is more important in determining if a student will develop situational awareness. If a student is honestly interested in self defense (as opposed to just saying they are) and not being a victim then the motivation for learning situational awareness is there. Otherwise it's not and most martial arts will do nothing to provide that motivation.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk