Intuition and "gut feelings"

~

Definately..

This goes along with awareness.. and has saved me many times..

A great book on this is "The Gift Of Fear" by Gavin Debecker.. I read it years ago and it has served me well since then, I should revisit it..

This is something that can be developed, we all have it, but sometimes we need to bring it out because in society we have been taught it is wrong..

I actually wrote a bit of an article on this from my experiences and what I know about this subject for some people on a unrelated forum who wanted to learn about personal protection..

Here it is..

Quote :

What is the most important thing for personal protection?

If you ask most people this.. you will get some of these answers..

-Hitting Hard?
-Speed?
-Getting Angry? ("When I get angry, you better watch out")
-Fighting dirty?
-Being strong?
-Running fast?
-Carrying a gun?

While most those answers are pretty good, except for the 'Getting Angry' answer, which isn't a good idea. There is one problem with nearly every single answer that people without experience give.

They assume that this answer should be a PHYSICAL answer, but the first fundamental of personal protection and in my opinion the most important through out, is not physical.. Physical tools are important but mental and psychological rules so if you aren't mentally prepared then physical tools don't mean shit.

After reading the last paragraph I wonder what different answers you've come up with now?

The important thing is that you've been thinking for yourself but I will not keep you waiting any longer for my answer..

In my experience and agreed on by all the experience people I know in this area, the first fundamental skill you need is AWARENESS and along with that comes intuition.

Awareness of your surroundings, awareness of people and events around you, awareness of possible danger, awareness of who could be a danger to you and others important to you and then avoid the situation or depending on what it is, confront it before it gets out of hand (For example if your a bouncer)

Being aware will save you from many potential dangerous or violent situations so you can avoid it, confront it or be prepared for it if it is inevitable as most people who are looking for a fight, somebody to mug, rape or whatever are looking for a easy victim, somebody who seems weak but more importantly for somebody who is not aware of their surroundings and what is going on as they can be surprised easy and taken advantage of much easier.

They just don't see it coming. Alot of the time all it takes to stop a situation is you being aware of it and the potential aggressor realizing that and going for an easier target and if that doesn't happen, then you being aware means you are already planning for the situation, so as to come out on top..

An example that happened to me when I lived in the city, I was out one night walking along past some shops, I forget where I was going but I noticed a dodgy guy walking towards me and being aware, I noticed that in his right hand close to his thigh he had a knife out coming towards me. Being aware and drawing attention to it with my eyes made him realize I was aware of it and he kept walking, as my heart was pounding a million miles an hour. I looped around back to my car and don't want to think about what may have happened if I was totally unaware.

By training my own awareness I was able to avoid that and many other things since then quite regularly (mostly due to my line of work).

When you develop this, you will notice possible aggressors from a mile away and at a certain level 'feel' it, feel the vibe, this intuition is naturally there in all of us but usually has to be tapped into and trusted as it is an important part of this awareness you will need to stay safe.

On the job (bouncing) my awareness is getting pretty good, sometimes when I see a person I immediately get a feeling or a vibe from them and I just know that later on in the night they will be trouble, and 95% of the time I am correct. They end up starting a fight or some other kind of trouble or end up not wanting to leave peacefully when asked (so have to be dragged out).

If you see something coming you can deal with it MUCH better, if its all of a sudden 'out of nowhere' (usually thats because your unaware) then it is much harder to deal with.

And unless you guys are in a job where you have to deal with it and confront it like me then I recommend that you use this awareness you are developing to avoid violent situations.

So now you are aware of the importance of awareness

Here is an exercise for you to try for the next week that will help develop this.

Pretend you are a mugger, anywhere you are find spots where you could hide, especially spots that you yourself are usually unaware of and also identify people that you would mug if you were going to and ask yourself why?.

You wouldn't mug somebody who is confident and aware of their surroundings and knows everything thats going on would you? I hope not, you won't do too well.

What about somebody who walks around in their own world, with headphones in a trance, not knowing what the hell is happening around them let alone right in front of them,. they would be an easier target, right?

So ask yourself who you would mug, then plan how - What would you do? And how would you pull it off?..

The point isn't to actually implement this by mugging people, but to stay safe from a predator.. you have to think like a predator!

The next exercise is to go to a bar or a nightclub and find a seat in a corner where you can see everything and can't be snuck up on.

Try to 'feel' the vibe by observing people - Who is having fun? Who is angry? What emotional states are they in? Who's eyeing off people like their looking for a fight? Is there any aggressive behaviour between two people or groups of people? Is there somebody who you can feel is trouble, even though you can't come up with any rational reason?

All this is important, it doesn't matter if your feelings or answers are 'right' or 'wrong' because this will develop your awareness and intuition. If you are a bouncer, just do this as you are on the job, no need to sit in a corner. That was one way I did this exercise.

The first step is your senses, visual and auditory (eyes and ears) mostly. But at the highest level of awareness is intuition and feeling, they will serve you the most. I know its kept me safe.

Let me know your experiences with this and your feedback on this article (preferably after getting some experience with the exercises, or if you are already experienced in this area)..

I have done both of these myself and they have helped immensely.

Written By Ben Ross (Dominance)

-Ben