Self-defense awareness simply means you agree something bad can happen to you, bad people do exist, and now you must do something to prepare yourself for it. It is in the knowing where you can begin the process of preparing yourself for the eventual meeting you or your children may have with someone who wants to hurt you.

Sure it’s not really fun to think about it, but reality is seldom fun…

There are simple things you can do to increase your personal safety, and reduce the risk to your personal safety or personal security.

Jeff Cooper was a self-defense icon. He was someone thinking about how the human body reacts under stress and the need for realistic self-defense training long before many others. He created something called Cooper’s Color Codes, and it is a great way to begin thinking about how to increase your self-defense awareness.

The first color code for self-defense awareness is…

Think about sheep when you think about color code white. Sheep don’t know how to fight, they don’t ever appear to get angry with anyone, and they often depend upon others to get them out of a jam (shepherd, farmer, sheepdog, fences).
They know they can’t hurt anyone, so they don’t even appear to try anything remotely resembling self-protection skills.
They walk around with their head in the clouds thinking life is just grand, and unfortunately for them they miss the wolves lying in wait behind the tall grass. They don’t have a clue
Color code white represents a total lack and disregard for what is going on around you…who is looking at you, and who is standing close-by waiting to pounce.

The smart man or woman doesn’t live in code white…instead they know bad people are out there and they know they have the skills to deal with them, so they live in…

Condition yellow is where warriors live. It represents men, women and children who understand bad people exist and they have taken responsibility for their own personal safety.

They don’t rely on anyone else, they have prepared themselves with realistic self-defense techniques, and they have trained with various weapons should they encounter someone who wants to hurt them.
They don’t look to get into trouble, they simply are aware of their surroundings so they are not taken by surprise.
Their head moves on a swivel, they appear confident, they make eye contact with everyone near them, and they walk with their shoulders back as to appear ready for action.

Condition yellow helps people see a problem before it becomes a problem, and they listen to their intuition to escape a situation before things get ugly. They know wolves wait on the perimeter looking for weakness, and they don’t express any hint of weakness. When they look around and see something, they then enter into…

Condition Orange

Condition orange is when you are in condition yellow and see a potential problem and completely avoid it. The key to self-defense is not necessarily in who knows the best techniques or who has the biggest weapons; it is all about avoiding a problem in the first place.

A kid walking home from school sees a threatening problem; he goes a different way home.
A woman walks out of a store and sees a man standing near her car; she waits on the sidewalk until he leaves the area.
A man sees another man looking at him in a threatening manner, and he goes somewhere else.
Self-defense awareness is not about getting into a fight, but completely the opposite. Fight back when you are attacked, but the easiest way to win a fight is to never get into the fight in the first place.

Speaking of fighting…

Condition Red

Self-defense awareness condition red is when you have been attacked and now you must understand the threat you face and respond appropriately in a matter of seconds.

The easiest way to condition red is to stay in condition white. The problem with being in condition white is that now you are three steps behind, and your brain must engage very quickly with a trained response.
Do you use your self-defense fighting skills, do you whip out some pepper spray, or is your life in jeopardy and you resort to deadly force?

Condition red is when you find yourself in the middle of a large threat to your personal safety at the hands of another human being, and you must win to escape to a safer place. It isn’t the best place to be for self-defense awareness…but the next color code is worse…

Condition Black

Condition black is when you have not prepared yourself for a violent encounter mentally or through self-defense training and now your mind is overwhelmed with stress and both your mind and body shut down to any realistic defensive response.

In essence, you become the victim through lack of planning or self defense awareness or planning on your part.
This is NOT where you want to be…so you can return to the homepage and read other articles about how to better prepare you and your family for the time when you meet the wolf.

Summary
Increase personal security and personal safety by living in Cooper color code yellow to make sure you see any threat to your safety before you find yourself in the middle of a mess and risk injury or death.

Techniques Should Be Reasonable and Proportionate to the Threat You Face.

This is an article that Glen had written in the past when training adults and children in basic self-defense techniques. One of the questions that always needs to be addressed in these classes is “When can I use Force to Defend Myself”. Thought not specifically written for the church security team member, there is very valuable information for us. As church security members we are in a “No Man’s Land” between Civilian and Police Officer. We are more inclined to get involved in a tense situation with a potential for violence than a civilian but without the authority of a Police Officer. Understanding Self-defense Reasonableness is critical to our proper and professional conduct.

Self-defense Reasonableness

Self-defense reasonableness helps us understand when the use of defensive force is justified and necessary. When is it appropriate to use force in a self-defense incident? It really depends upon the state you live in. Each state has its own version and idea of what is appropriate and what the law expects you to do.
However, there are two guiding principles used to determine when to use force in self-defense.

Civilians are not afforded the same distinction under the law as police officers. It is expected officers use force to enforce the law, as long as the force applied is necessary and reasonable. However, the law does recognize a person’s right to self-defense, and is often an affirmative defense to the charge of assault.

An example would be if you are confronted by someone, you feel threatened and you punch him in the nose. He falls down and calls the police to report he has been assaulted. You are questioned by the police and admit you did punch him in the nose because you felt threatened by his actions. The cop has his own opinion of what happened and decides to charge you.

Your Day in Court

Your day in court has come and you make the claim you were defending yourself. The judge and jury have questions they want answered before they decide your fate.

What were you doing before the incident?
Did you instigate a confrontation with the alleged victim? Or were you minding your business and he confronted you?

When you use force to defend you or your family, it is difficult to reason through your options in the moment of stress and fear.

Only you know what you believe or feel at the time self-defensive force is used.

Reasonableness and Self Defense

It seems like using self defense techniques to defend yourself should be a no-brainer, you feel threatened and then you do something to protect yourself. Often times the use of force is an automatic response.
This is why self-defense training is so important and vital. You should already be looking out and scanning your area to give you a chance to escape if a threat. The judge and jury want to know why you did what you did, and it is up to you to articulate why you did what you did. Granted, it is a rare occurrence when a criminal, after having robbed you, would call the police to report he had been assaulted or shot during a crime he was committing.

Yet in our lawsuit happy world, it is important you understand what you can do to protect yourself both physically and financially. Reasonableness can best be explained this way. If a judge is looking at the case, did you do what he would do or what he would expect his wife and children to do if their personal safety were threatened?

Were your actions reasonable in light of the conditions you found yourself in?
Did you tell the assailant you wanted him to leave or were things happening too fast and you reacted to the fear you felt?

You have a right to protect yourself against bodily injury, but when you have stopped the threat, it is necessary to stop your defense, make sure he isn’t going to attack again, and get to a place of safety.

Self Defense Reasonableness Example #1

Let’s say you are walking down the city street. Most people are keeping to themselves and avoiding eye contact. You are paying attention to who is around you and notice a young man sitting on a stoop about 30 feet away.

There is too much traffic, so you decide to create distance by walking on the far edge of the sidewalk. You scan the area, and notice he is looking at you. You make brief eye contact and he yells, “What are you looking at?”

You ignore him and he comes off the stoop and walks behind you. You turn around and assume a defensive stance and ask him, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you, what did you say?” He appears to be very upset and angry and you notice his hands are clenched as he walks toward you.

Your hands come up defensively and you loudly tell him to stay back and that you don’t want to fight him. He ignores your request and proceeds toward you closing the gap quickly.

Before you have a chance to flee he is upon you and begins hitting you.

What are your options?
What is your responsibility here? Do you have to run away or can you defend yourself?

In this self defense example, your personal safety and personal security are severely threatened, and if you don’t do something immediately, there is a good chance you might be seriously injured.

Most reasonable people in this situation, especially if they are trained, would respond with force to stop the person’s assault against you.

Your counter strikes should stop when they are no longer necessary and the threat has gone away. It is important you do not get into neutralizing the threat and then punishing the threat because this is where your right to self defense ends, and criminal liability may begin.

Self Defense Reasonableness Example #2

You are standing at a bus stop waiting for the next bus, when a young man walks up to you and asks, “Excuse me, do you know when the next bus is coming?”

You reach into your purse or pocket and grab a can of pepper spray. You begin to hose the man’s face down with hot pepper juice as he begins to holler in pain.

He falls to the ground and begins to crawl away. You then reach into your purse and grab the stun gun and fire it up. You reach down and apply the stun gun causing him to yelp in even more pain. You stay there and wait for the next bus to come, get on, and leave the area with the main still writing in pain.

I think most people would agree that this person’s actions are totally unreasonable.

1. Where was the threat?
2. Were the person’s actions against you threatening?
3. Did you tell him to give you space? Did you create space or try to walk away?
4. Did the man persist in bothering you, even after being warned?
5. Were your actions reasonable or were they a little over the top?
6. Were your actions proportionate to the man’s actions?

In this example, it is obvious the pepper spray and stun gun were unnecessary. It would be totally unreasonable to use these self-defense techniques against someone asking for directions.

If you saw him coming, it may be more reasonable to use your voice, tell him to stay back…then his actions toward you could more easily be defined.

Let’s Change Example #2…

Let’s say the same man approaches you, asks if you know when the bus is coming, and you tell him you don’t know.

He invades your personal space, looks around, and then grabs your arm…you realize the question was a ploy to knock your intuition down and get close to you…you feel threatened, so you use self defense techniques by …

Yelling, “STAY BACK, NO!”

He jerks your arm in an attempt to lead you to an area of bushes. You respond by…

• an elbow to the face, smashing his nose…
• a kick to the groin, bending him over…
• a knee to the face, and he falls down.

You then back out of the area and continue yelling, “STAY BACK, NO!”

You run to a storefront and ask the clerk to call the police.

See the difference? The first example was a little ridiculous in an effort to illustrate reasonableness and proportionality. The example of a man approaching you and your use of pepper spray and stun gun were totally unreasonable…

The one little change of invading your space, making contact or saying something to you (come with me, shut your mouth and I won’t hurt you, etc.) opens the door to using self-defense skills.You can use the skills to stop the threat to your safety, and to give yourself the chance to escape…as long as they are reasonable and proportionate to the threat you encounter. Self defense reasonableness means you use defensive force only when necessary to stop an immediate threat to your personal safety, and you only use enough force to stop the attack whereby allowing you the opportunity to escape.

The force used must be proportional to the threat you face. If someone is trying to take your life, then deadly force would be reasonable and proportionate.If someone is trying to abduct you, self-defense reasonableness considers your belief they will hurt you, rape you or kill you. You may use self-defense techniques against this person to stop the attack by causing injury to the attacker to stop the event from happening.Events must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable person who is under attack and is faced with rapidly evolving circumstances where he/she faces risk of serious physical harm or death.Understand that even police officers self defense techniques are investigated and if deemed inappropriate or unreasonable, they face criminal and civil liability. You should expect your actions to be equally scrutinized under the law. Using the concept of self-defense reasonableness will help you avoid problems when defending yourself.

The best method of self-defense is to completely avoid a situation of having to fight back in the first place. Increasing awareness and avoidance skills can do this.

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The Church Security Fast Startup Kit Has A Ready Made Manual and Printed Forms to Help Guide You to a Successful Ministry and Lower Your Church’s Liability.

Time is so important, so why spend it writing a new policy and procedure manual? You can spend time researching, planning, and wondering if your plans will succeed…but why do that when we have already done the work for you?

You don’t want to spend time reinventing the wheel.

The importance of having your church’s policy and procedures in place BEFORE an incident happens is too critical. Knowing who is going to handle each responsibility, how it is going to be done, and documenting exactly how it was handled is expected in our litigious society.

How does your church assess threats? How would your fellowship respond to a bomb threat? How can your security and safety team care for the body with an appropriate medical response? What if a tornado occurs during a worship service? How should the team respond? Or worse, what if a church shooting occurs, do you have a plan in place?

Failing to have a plan in place can be disastrous for your church. Contingency planning, training, and documentation are essential for reducing church liability and really protecting your congregation.

That is why the Church Security Alliance created the start up kit. The CD-ROM contains sixteen practical forms, presentations, and documents your church needs to do the job right.

Simply place the CD in your computer’s disc drive, navigate to the form, manual or presentation you need, PLACE YOUR CHURCH LOGO or NAME in the appropriate place, and you have an instant document.

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• Security Team Manual V2.2
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• Church Risk Assessment
• Building Security Review Sheet
• Security Team Application
• Sample Medical Response Plan
• Incident Report Log
• Medical Team Incident Report
• Bomb Threat Information Sheet
• Bomb Threat or Suspicious Package Procedure
• CCW in Church
• Use of Force Chart

When you purchase CSA’s start up kit, you have full access and permission to change the documents for your church and team members.

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Click on the Add to Cart button below and you will be taken to an order page where you can order the CD-ROM through Paypal. You do not need a Paypal account to order this product. You may pay with Mastercard, Visa, or Discover. Easily follow the directions on the order page, securely submit your order, and we will send you your CD. Shipping and handling of $6 will be included, as well as a 7% Ohio sales tax. You will receive a receipt via email.

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Why I decided to CCW with Appendix Carry

By John Czeiszperger

Chief of Security

Dayton Area Church

Getting Started in CCW

Like many of you, my gun handling progression went something like this; firing from the low ready position, a 4 count draw stroke from an outside the waistband Kydex range holster that came with my pistol with no concealment and then drawing from my Kydex holster with concealment. After that I tried an inside the waistband (iwb) strong side carry which offered better concealment.

Read More…

Church security and use of force with a firearm. Using a firearm in the church setting is usually the only way to stop someone intent on killing people in your church with a gun. You can shoot from a distance, from behind cover, and if you’ve done you part and trained, you can hit the violent person and save lives. Choosing to carry a firearm is a big decision, but if you do it, train for it like your life depends on it…because it does. Watch the third part of Use of Force for Church Security below…

For online training resources, check out The U.S. Concealed Carry Association. A lot of good articles, forums, and a free newsletter.

Read More…

When violence begin it all boils down to our training. What weapons have you trained with? Your body, hands, knees and feet can be used as weapons. Self defense products help us even the playing field. In this video we will discuss the options you have available to you as a church security team, and how to decrease your liability if you ever have to defend your church against violence.

Encountering turbulent behavior at church is an ever increasing possibility in today’s violent society. Preparing for violence as a church security team is essential because the body responds to how it is trained. If you don’t train to use force, then you will be running away with the rest of the sheep, or worse, freezing in place and taking an unnecessary beating. In this video you will discover how you will gain an understanding of the physiological responses the body goes through when encountering violence, and some personal defense weapons choices you should think about to stop a threat quickly. Click the Read More button to watch the video…

Read More…