In the UK violent crime is up, and with it, the risk of being attacked has risen too.
Here are the numbers:
Murders up 12%
Crimes with sharp instruments up 16%
Robberies are up 30%
48% of crimes are being closed without a suspect being identified.
Yes, there is a 48% chance of the bad guy getting away with it.
The new buzz term being thrown around is ‘high harm’ crime.
High harm crime is basically the new phrase for having the crap kicked out of you.
So, in this post, we are going to explain why it is your DUTY to have the skills to protect yourself.
The Police Ain’t Coming To Your Rescue
Back in the good old days, the police would show up really quickly and in large numbers.
Today there are 20,000 less police on the streets of the UK.
(HARDLY A SHOCK THAT CRIME HAS RISEN).
Add to that 48% of crimes being committed without any offender being identified, well we have a breeding ground for violence.
But how does that affect you?
On a daily basis not much.
You will go about your day to day business and violence is still unlikely to enter your life.
Or is that a lie.
Statistics say you are unlikely to have a phone call from your crying teenage daughter to say she has been raped.
Statistics say that you are not likely to be robbed at knifepoint while walking home.
And statistics say that the gang kicking your head around like a football shouldn’t be there.
And yet these crimes happen.
The thing is, statistics vary depending on circumstances.
The chances of me being a burns victim are low, but they shoot up dramatically when I am lighting a bonfire.
And yeah the chances of you being attacked are low until you go up town for a few drinks on a Saturday.
So when it comes to violence, this is what I say “violence will enter your life when you least want or expect it to” regardless of what statistics say, it could easily happen to you.
Violence is strange that way, and equally cruel.
It might seem odd that I speak of violence as an entity but in a way it is, it is something that people ‘yield’.
Let’s see what I mean.
A gang of 18-year-old boys and girls are walking around, one of the group (who we shall call Chris) has told everyone that he is ‘pissed off with his life’.
Also, he tells his friends he is going to ‘kick some fuckers head in tonight’ (apologies for the language but let’s make this as real as we can).
You finish work at 10pm and are on your way home, it is a warm summer evening, and just 10 minutes into the journey home you find yourself face to face with the group.
They happen to be walking on the same side of the road as you and suddenly ‘Chris’ sees a chance to make good his bravado.
And that’s when you become a statistic.
Yes, this is a roleplay, but this is precisely HOW VIOLENCE HAPPENS.
You are in the wrong place at the wrong time with nasty people, and while the chances are slim, attacks happen daily.
So you have just as much chance of being attacked as the next person.
So what can you do?
You Owe It To Yourself And Your Family To Be Able To Defend Yourself
I can be nice, give you the fluffy version about how crime won’t happen to you, and it makes better sense to avoid trouble.
Sure, avoidance is part of self-defence, but when it comes down to it, if you can’t protect yourself you are that little kid in the playground that can’t stop the bully from taking your lunch money.
Or in other words, you are at the mercy of the whim of a would-be attacker.
Personally speaking, I made a decision years ago to make sure I had a choice.
That choice is that when the time comes, I will not be a statistic.
I will not allow the whims of the attacker to dictate what happens to me.
I will not sit there and allow someone to have that power over me.
Will you?
If you are reading this, I am guessing you too have made that decision.
You have decided that no one will ever have the ability to decide to hurt you, without receiving a salvo of power strikes.
And this is where Defence Lab comes in.
Your Next Step
Perhaps the headline of this article caught your eye; perhaps you are an instructor or a student of Defence Lab.
Or possibly you saw this article in your Facebook feed and deep inside you are worried that someone could attack you and you won’t be able to fight back.
If that is you, then head over to our main page and find a Lab near you or enrol in our online training.
You owe it to yourself to be able to stand up against attack, and your first step is learning how to do this.
The first step is the hardest, take it now and be on the road to empowerment.
Thanks for reading.