FEATURE STORY |ƫ333ċ(%06)#ċ*!0ƫđƫ^69

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f we can better understand

the way violent situations

develop, and our responses

to them, we can both predict

— and possibly avoid — the

point of physical altercation,

and manage the way we deal

with it; for example, control our

adrenal response, change our

position relative to our aggressor,

create time and distance, and

so on. Physical self-defence

techniques and solutions are

rarely successful unless they

are set up to work, and this

requires time — something

most aggressors will deny you,

as they want to attack from a

position of surprise. Being able to

recognise how violent incidents

occur, develop and evolve allows

you to create this time, and in

so doing, extends the ‘Timeline

of Violence’.

There are, in effect, two

timelines in any violent incident:

yours and your aggressor’s.

Imagine that a mugging is

captured on video, but the video

not only captured the incident

itself, but everything leading up

to the assault, including what

occurred in the previous hours.

You would end up watching what

happened on a split screen: there

would be the mugger’s side, and

the victim/target’s side. For a

long time the screens would be

separate, but at some point they

would merge, as both parties

end up in the same location.

The mugger would select the

victim as their target, possibly

watching them for some time

before approaching them, and

then pulling a weapon and

demanding their wallet, etc. If

the victim didn’t spot that they

were being watched, or that

somebody was approaching

them, then they will be in a state

of shock and surprise when

confronted — however, this

often isn’t the case. Warning

signs and pre-violence indicators

are often picked up on by the

person who is targeted, but are

denied or discounted. When we

understand our experience of

the Timeline of Violence, we can

begin to predict, identify, prevent

and avoid violence.

The Timeline of Violence has

five distinct phases:

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Most of the time we are in the

non-conflict phase, i.e. there is

nothing in our environment that

signals harmful intent towards

us. This should be the state we

are in most of the time. This

doesn’t necessarily mean that

we are ‘switched off ’, as we can

still be alert and aware, rather

that there is nothing we need

to investigate in regards to our

safety. Physiologically, our heart

rate should be at a normal level,

and we should be relaxed.

There are two ways that we

can enter the conflict-aware

stage, one conscious, the other

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