Would you let someone you do not know use your phone to make a call if they had a compelling reason to do so?Read this story, then ask your significant other/friend what they would do if someone asked to borrow their phone. Then tell them what happened to this guy:

A recent report from Arlington County Police Department reads:
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At approximately 2:45 p.m. as a male victim was walking down the street he was approached by a male suspect who requested to use his cellphone. The victim complied and the suspect began walking away from the victim with his cellphone. The victim followed the subject in an attempt to regain his cellphone at which point two additional male suspects approached the victim. Two of the suspects brandished handguns and robbed the victim of his personal belongings. 

How could this have potentially have been avoided? If you have trained with me you know that the first drill I teach is for dealing with encroachment from someone you don’t know:

The 3E’s of being Elusive: Empathy, Excuse, Exit. 

Hands up, -sorry man, I can't- and keep walking-keeping an eye on the person, making sure they are not following or closing distance on you.

This seems like an easy example to dismiss and say, of course I'd never do that, but under what circumstances would you be more likely to comply and help a stranger?  

• What if the person asking was a woman?
• What if the person had a compelling story about how they can't find their kid but their phone is dead?
• What if they sold you on their story or emotionally drew you in?

My goal is for you to be well on your way before allowing the scenario to unfold- before getting to hear the story and feeling bad about the person's situation, if in fact it is a ruse.

You do not owe anyone your time, money, use of your phone, or any other favors-especially when you do not know them.

Another bit of food for thought- following the man who has your phone to another location- where his armed accomplices are located, is essentially allowing yourself to be abducted- never do this.

Make yourself a harder target-  It's OK to say no, address the person to disengage, and be in a hurry and on your way.  If the encroachment persists- you have other options.

Train smart & stay safe,

Evan D.
Owner/Lead Coach
NOVA Self Defense

A couple weeks ago I attended an Edged Weapon Overview with Craig Douglas, owner/creator of Shivworks.  This class is a broad overview of close-range knife skills.  The class was split about 50/50 with training for controlling the person and mitigating the knife attack in grappling range as well as accessing and utilizing your own knife if you carry one and using it in close range or at keep-him-off-me-range.

What I appreciated from this course was how much it implicitly stressed the need for broad fundamentals.  The base skill set in which the drills were introduced were movements derived from Greco-Roman wrestling.  What I found extremely helpful from this course is that you learn a lot from the variations in the training modalities and constantly changing of training partners.  With a group of 20+ people of varying sizes, athleticism, training backgrounds, and “go-speeds” you get a better feel for who you are with the drills and what you can make your own, even more so in the “competitive” iterations of the drills, where both participants are trying to competitively win the drill- the drills still had boundaries and particular focus points, rather than a free-for-all, but this is method of training, which I would prefer to differentiate from the word “sparring" was task specific, mostly with a particular skill-focus under the stress and pressure of somebody not letting you technically perform the task. 

This class also did an excellent job of pushing comfort zones during the "Evos," which are competitive training scenarios with high intensity that last for an unknown amount of time (maybe 30-60 seconds... felt like an eternity), with the participants wearing minimal gear- big padded helmets (which were thankfully pretty good at absorbing strikes) and either training knives or boxing gloves.  

All and all it was a very good experience and illuminated how crucial distance, time and movement when you are within arms-reach and someone is attempting to attack you with a knife.  If you are serious about carrying a gun or knife and need skills for accessing it under stress, I highly recommend checking into training with Shivworks.

Train smart & stay safe,

Evan D.
Owner/Lead Coach
NOVA Self Defense