We spend a lot of time training for The Fight™. We fixate on weaponry, gear, accessories, draw stroke, trigger press, sight picture, grappling, low light, etc etc etc.
And we should! All of those things are important.
We spend a lot less time training for the “pre-encounter” and “post-encounter” phases. Pre-encounter could be how to carry oneself to avoid being “selected” as a target, how to talk to a stranger, how to avoid, deescalate, escape, and evade an encounter, and so on.
Whether we know it or not, we spend more time in the pre-encounter phase than we do any other.
William Aprill’s famous “Unthinkable” class is almost entirely pre-encounter. This 8-hour lecture and hands-on course is based on William’s career as a former law enforcement officer, and a practicing mental health care professional. This class address the mindset of a Violent Criminal Actor (VCA), what they look for in a victim, how they think, and what we can do to mitigate our chances of being selected.
Here’s my 3×3 review, which discusses the top 3 things covered in class, the top 3 things I learned, and the top 3 things I’m going to change.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tMTK17uOys
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