Precursors or Signs of Imminent Attack/ Aggression

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AdamJacksom

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I am wondering if anyone has any great books or vids to explain the most common precursors or signs a potential assailant might present immediately, or leading up to, an aggressive attack towards your person.

Keeping with this, I am a big fan Cooper and Farnham and even Gavin Debecker regarding situational awareness and understanding why we get "that feeling" around certain places and ppl. I know that 99% of hostilities can be avoided by simply "not being there." But for this post, I'm more interested in those cases where such a situation is either forced upon you, or where you have no other course of direction but to endure through. And yes, I've been there, those situations do exist. So, for this, I am assuming that one either already realizes that the overall situation or placement is condusive to assault, and am wanting to know what, apart from actual assault or presentation of a weapon, would then take the situation to the "Red" level.

Also, my best friend is a LEO and he has the uncanny ability to predict aggressive action due mostly to years on the job and seeing the same behavior/ body language day in and day out. He claims you just get a "feel" for it, but I think much of that "feel" is due to the subliminal aspect of having seen the same signs over and over and he knows where the previous situations developed to, and can see the current situation developing in the same way.
So, if there are any LEO's that have personal experience in seeing/ teaching about this, I would love to hear that as well.
 
For pre-attack cues: You already know The Gift of Fear. Definitely Management of Aggressive Behavior. Maybe Meditations on Violence.

Googling "pre-attack indicators" or "pre-assault cues" isn't bad.
 
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Here are some good signs something is about to go down:

* Other people are tense.
* Unflinching focus in placed upon you.
* Someone makes a straight line at you.
* The scene suddenly goes quiet.
 
Google "Managing unknown contacts." You should find a PDF on Shivworks.com. This gem deals with "3+1," which are four major cues - three that often occur together, and one that often occurs by itself. Better yet, there is within that document a MUCH better strategy for dealing with unknowns than most people are using. You read "Just don't let him get close," or "remain situationally aware at all times!" - good in certain cases but this system of MUC shows you how to deal with people much better. I recommend it.
 
You have a source for that?
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I am operating under the assumption that you are looking for signs from potential assailants. Tension indicates preparing to act, or being afraid of something. Staring at a target is how you determine the risks versus rewards. Making a beeline for you means that they have something in mind. Suddenly getting quiet would indicate that they are bracing themselves for something. Pay attention to your fear, because over millions of years, those who didn't listen to it got killed. It has been training for thousands of times longer than you have been alive.

A lot of my signs come from living for the past 11 years with a brother whose favorite way of expressing displeasure was to dish out beatings.
 
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Like conwict mentioned Shivworks/S'Narc has alot of good work in this area, find some of their material online or even better get to an ECQC class and see it first hand.

I've taken a 2 hr MUC with him that went over pre assualt clues that was really good and am planning on ECQC in the spring.
 
Hear, hear!

conwict:
Google "Managing unknown contacts." You should find a PDF on Shivworks.com. This gem deals with "3+1," which are four major cues - three that often occur together, and one that often occurs by itself. Better yet, there is within that document a MUCH better strategy for dealing with unknowns than most people are using. You read "Just don't let him get close," or "remain situationally aware at all times!" - good in certain cases but this system of MUC shows you how to deal with people much better. I recommend it.
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Yup, "MUC" and "The 5 Stages of Violent Crime" (also already mentioned) both offer excellent insight into what some call merely "street smarts". All predators give behavioral cues; it's not so different from telling what, say, a canid (dog, wolf, coyote) is about to do from his general body posture and the way he holds his tail and ears. Or, you could compare it to a pugilist "telegraphing" a punch.

Just don't concentrate so hard on reading cues from the possible threat in front of you that you forget to check around you for accomplices.
 
A big +1 on The Gift of Fear. The knowledge I have gained from it has saved my life on 3 occasions that I can recall. Of course the big one that really takes a lot of time and research, along with many comparisons is The Art of War.

It is really difficult to predict what a person will or will not do. The only way one becomes skilled in this is the same way an interrogator knows how to read a suspect, lots and lots of practice. Practice in this case is simply observation. learning what certain body language translates to. Never trust the eyes. I have friend who is always accused of looking unapproachable and mean looking, but he is a rather intelligent and nice guy. He just tends to scowl a lot for some reason. Its all in how they move, what they do with their hands, how they are breathing.

I wish someone could put all this in a book, but unfortunately it is truly learned through interaction and observation.
 
All I can add is one little anecdote from personal experience....

If your shooting a game of pool and leisurely standing by with a pool cue resting in your hand, and someone slaps it out of your hand..... it's immediate game time... and you better bolt, or start swinging.
 
it's immediate game time... and you better bolt, or start swinging.
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Agreed.
It's better to avoid than to run; better to run than to de-escalate; better to de-escalate than to fight; better to fight than to die. The very essence of self-defense is a thin list of things that might get you out alive when you are already screwed.

--Rory Miller, Meditations on Violence
Click to expand...
 
Cliff Notes on MUC preassault cues from southnarc course I attended a while back:

Grooming - touching face area, scratching chin etc.
Furtive hand movement around waist - maybe a concealed weapon there
Target glancing - looking around for witnesses?
Definitive weight change signaling imminent attack
 
Right, so what you might commonly see would be someone approaching you, glancing to either side and rubbing his face, pause to talk to you, then a weight shift. It happens fast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efqnAmsW5gE

At 0:28 there is a good indication of assault with the weight shift... it happens FAST but it still telegraphs the fact the Indian(?) guy is going to hit the person in the doorway. Probably a full half second or more for the second guy to react.

The 3+1 do not always happen together.
 
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