Eric M,
My sig says "Mindset, Skillset, Toolset," for a reason. Mindset is critical to self defense. One old martial artist says, "Attitude will get you through times of no skill, better than skill will get you through times of no attitude." But it takes having the
right attitude, the proper mindset. It takes education and experience to develop a proper mindset. It takes work, and it takes time. But it can be done.
I'd suggest some reading, to begin with. Lots of people have learned lots of lessons over the years. It's easier to learn some of life's lessons from someone else's experience, rather than to try and get all that experience on your own. Quicker, too.
IMHO the basic primer on mindset is a classic - Jeff Cooper's little book,
Principles of Personal Defense (
http://www.paladin-press.com/product/Principles_of_Personal_Defense/Other_Combat_Shooting ). While a lot of stuff out there that involves self defense tends to be gun-centric, many of the principles are useful even to people who for whatever reason don't have access to a firearm. Don't fall into the trap of focusing only on the gun. Guns are tools, and hardware comes last on the list. Software is more important.
Elevating your own awareness of indicators of potential criminal activity around you is probably the most important skill you can develop to help avoid becoming a victim. The classic approach to that is explained very well by Tom Givens, here -
http://www.teddytactical.com/SharpenBladeArticle/4_States of Awareness.htm . If you'd rather see/hear it than read it, Tom has this lecture available on DVD and CD - see his site at
http://www.rangemaster.com/ , click the Books and DVDs button, then go to the Order Form to see the list. And yes, that's the same Jeff Cooper who wrote
Principles of Personal Defense.
One of the most useful sites on the web:
http://nononsenseselfdefense.com/
There's a lot of material there to go over, if you try to cover it all. As a shortcut, just from the street crime approach, start with
http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/five_stages.html . We say "avoid" - how do you know
what to avoid? This segment will begin explaining the process of victimization as a predator uses it, and give you some warning signs you can begin looking out for.
Also, see
http://defendyourself101.ca/articles/lies-bleed . I like Ted's approach, he pretty much has something for everyone, including young folks - as well as oldpharts like me who sometimes use a cane to get around.
One of the most important books on the subject, and IMHO critically important for young men, is Rory Miller's
Meditations on Violence. There's a lot of important stuff in there some people never learn in a lifetime of dealing with other people. I strongly recommend it to you. There's a link to order the book from Amazon on Miller's site at
http://chirontraining.com/Site/Home.html . If you like blogs, his can be seen at
http://chirontraining.blogspot.com/ .
That should keep you gainfully employed for a while, and I hope it helps. Meanwhile, Stay Safe!
lpl
