How safe are you from crime?

The Office for National Statistics provides annual crime numbers for England and Wales. The latest data from 2016 states that all of us have around 1 in 4 chance to be a victim of a crime each year.

Although a significant proportion of this crime is electronic fraud, on average 4% of people will have their car broken into or stolen. 6% will either be subject to violence, property damage or a burglary.

For women, sexual assault are on the increase with over 112\’000 cases last year, up significantly on 2015.

As life goes on, it looks like avoiding crime is a lottery where your chance to win is ever diminishing.

That’s not the case.

This is a lottery where you can get more favourable odds. You can do something to stay safer from criminals and crime.

Criminals are human predators looking for easy prey. Their crime can be opportunistic. Their crime can be premeditated. The criminal is mostly looking for a victim. Someone who can be dominated without danger. Something that can be taken without detection.

Their modus operandi is to exploit your fear or false sense of security.

Krav Maga is a concept of behaviour and a system of skills to combat and protect against crime and terrorism. Practised worldwide by military special forces and secret service and law enforcement agencies, it is also a real self defence method for civilians.

It\’s not a sport. It\’s not competitive. It has no rules. It’s about the real world.

It\’s about you in the real world.

Krav Maga is how you think and act before any threat is visible. It\’s about avoiding the bad neighbourhood. It’s about the taxi instead of the bus late at night. It\’s about meeting your online date in a public place or the alarm on your door.

Krav Maga is the clarity of mind and skills of communication when the threat is upon you. It\’s about the body language you play to lower the aggression. It\’s about the words you chose to placate the situation. It\’s about the tactical movement of your body to exit the scenario and the trained evaluation of your environment to already know your plan as you entered it.

Krav Maga is the last resort. It\’s about the confidence of mind to protect yourself and your family and friends. It\’s about the strength of character to face the stress and shock of threats and violence. It\’s about the legal and technical skills to know when and how to fight against one or many aggressors, armed or unarmed.

Krav Maga is all about you. The world and you.

It’s about you and the the school bully or the violent partner.

It’s about you and the swearing drunk in the pub or the surprise of the home invader.

It’s about you and the group following you at night or the active shooter with a death wish.

It’s about you and the car hijacker with a gun or the knife wielding cashpoint robber.

It’s about you and the road rage maniac with a baseball bat or the controlling sexual predator.

And… When you know Krav Maga and live it: It’s just about you keeping yourself and your family safe with a confident and clear mind, a strong character and your body as a trained self-defence weapon.

Because that is your safest play in the lottery of life and crime.

Here are some tips to help you get started to protect yourself:

• Tell people where you are going, who you are with and when you should be home. –   Use a tracker app on your phone with your family or a trusted friend.
• Avoid short cuts and dark isolated areas.
• Be discreet handling cash, phones and wearing jewellery in public.
• Keep your distance to strangers. Be aware of accomplices. Move away if needed and don\’t worry about appearing rude.
• Walk confidently. Look assertive. Check the area around you.
• If you need to use your phone, stay away from people and against a structure protecting your back. Never use headphones in public, even when jogging. –   Entering a public venue, check the people, the environment and the exits. Plan an escape route and anything you can use to protect yourself with. –   At a cash point pay close attention to who is around you or approaching.
• Keep bags close to you, on the front of the body and secured with zips closed.
• Spread notes in different pockets around the body so, in case of a robbery, you can hand out a lesser amount and not lose other content such as ID or credit cards. –   If you think someone is following you, cross to the other side of the road. Repeat again if followed. If still followed, move quickly to a safe public area. If residential, go to a lit house and ring the door bell, knock loudly and call out a fictitious male name. Call the Police. –   If you need help, call out ‘Fire’ rather than cry for help. People are more likely to help.-   If a stranger buys you a drink, go to the bar with them. Watch the drink at all times. If you feel strange after drinking, tell someone else you trust to help you home.
• Don’t let alcohol impair your decision making and physical abilities in public.

Krav Maga is about clever investment in the lottery that is life.

Always live wisely.