The Colour of Violence is White
by Alan Charlton

The fear of a violent attack is greater than the reality, but all of us at sometime will be involved with it in one form or another. From the verbal attack by a car driver who you feel must have had someone take their driving test for them or the animal who eats crisps in a cinema behind you. Having been satisfied with the explosions and people being shot to pieces his brain cells cannot cope with complex dialogue and, god forbid, a plot. So his mouth opens to the size of a dust cart as he cascades crisps from a great height in total ignorance of all around him. We have all at one time felt the aggression build up inside us, and wished we could grow to the size of Arnold Schwarzenegger and put the person in the nearest dustbin. 

But unlike the films this doesn't happen we live in the real world, or do we?  Most people only think about their personal safety when it’s too late. From leaving the car unlocked with that new jacket on the back seat and walking down the street without any interest about what is going on around them.  When out of the blue you are pushed to the floor, kicked and left in a state of frustration and shock, you have just been a victim of a street attack and are lucky if you are not badly hurt. 

Not all of us want or have the time to train in the fighting arts. But we should all get switched on to the mind of the street attacker. Studies have shown that communication consists of body language, voice tonality and words. This in itself may not seem remarkable but when you realise that body language accounts for 55%, voice tonality 38% and words only 7% of communication you may understand what an important role body language has in self protection.  Most muggers will have already decided on their victim before any words are exchanged so therefore it follows that a person's body language is the deciding factor when a mugger looks for a victim. 

Awareness and body language are inter-related.  Your body language will broadcast for all to see your state of awareness. It is up to you to take the first step and get switched on. Colour coding your actions as you walk down the street or as you go into the pub will automatically broadcast that you are aware and not an easy target. Working the colours of awareness is easy. It can be broken down into 4 easy steps: WHITE, YELLOW, ORANGE AND RED. 

WHITE. This is the colour most people use going about their daily lives. In white you are broadcasting the fact to anyone who is looking out for the signs that you are a victim. You may as well be at home asleep with all your doors and windows open and a sign over the door saying come in and help your self. 

YELLOW - Switched on. This is the level of awareness we should be in at all times. As you  walk down the street or into a shop or club make a mental note of the people around you. Before you stop reading and think this guy is a nutter and getting people to feel paranoid about walking down the street, you are wrong. Being aware of your surroundings is common sense. You drive your car in code yellow - are the lights green or red? mirror/signal/manoeuvre etc. So being in code yellow is no more than looking and making a mental note of who or what is around you. 

ORANGE - Avoidance. Most street attacks happen when the victim is in code white (switched off). If you are switched on (code yellow) you will see most situations develop.  If you are aware, you will see the person standing at the end of the street, if you do not like the look of him, cross the road. If you walked into a pub and the floor was covered with blood and bodies were hanging from the fake 'olde world' barn ceiling you would leave or if driving your car down the street and the traffic lights turned red you would stop.  So not being aware would be like driving down the motorway with your eyes closed. 

RED - Fight or Flight. After all your efforts of avoidance and in the unlikely event that the person moves in to attack or just gets too close.  This is the time to take action, pre-empt the attack by running away or striking first then getting away as fast as you can.  Fighting back is the last course of action.  If the attack has got to the point that the person has physically got hold of you, the time for talking is over.  They have already picked you out as a victim.  If the attacker pushes you and runs off with your bag or case, let it go.  Going after the attacker will only put you in more danger. 

Staying switched on is the important part in self defence and staying out of any street confrontation.  Most victims of street crime think the person came from nowhere and just attacked them.  The chances are that the attacker had been observing them for sometime and may have bumped into them to check their state of awareness. 

The street attacker will always take the easy option and most will move away if they feel that you are switched on. More to the point, the potential attacker will see that you are aware from a distance and may not even come close to you. 

Thanks to Kevin Fox and Alan Charlton of the SPA for permission to reproduce this article