Grab your own mask first
Published: Tue, 03/28/17
There is a line in the Havamal which is translated as ‘one gift always calls for another’. Another way of putting it is that there is always a price to pay, a cost to everything. The five principles of Stav are concerned with protection and maintaining order and harmony in society. The first question that might come up in your mind is. Why five principles? Surely self-defence is about protecting and looking out for number one? Actually just looking out for yourself is one of the principles. The first principle we usually teach is the Trel, thrall or ‘slave’. This is the situation where you have nothing really to fight for and your only priority is your own safety and well-being. Nothing wrong with that of course, our first responsibility is to ourselves and we can’t do much for others if we don’t care for ourselves first. Think of the safety briefing on the plane before take off. ‘Always fit your own oxygen mask before helping
others’. You won’t be helping anyone if you are unconscious yourself.
The reason we have five principles is that, unless we are complete loners with no investment in other people at all, there will be situations when we have to consider the interests of others, not just ourselves. I will consider these other principles over the next few days. For today I will focus on keeping yourself safe.
If you are in a dangerous situation then the first requirement is to remove yourself from the immediate danger. Usually the best way out is along the line you came in. Moving away at the same speed and thus maintaining the same distance between you and the threat should mean that you can’t be reached. Once free then just leave. The calmer and more relaxed you are the less you will antagonise a potential threat. It really is about letting go of any investment in the situation at all. There may be a temptation to make a parting remark, or pull a face, just to make some kind of point. That is not letting go and may easily result in a dangerous situation continuing. Going back to the line from the Havamal, if the price of escape from danger is showing respect and humility then it may be a price worth paying. In our everyday modern society we seem to allow a good deal of disrespectful behaviour. However, in a high pressure
environment where violence is simmering just below the surface such as in a prison something as minor as just rolling the eyes can trigger a very nasty response. See link below for a real life example.
When we practice Trel drills in Stav martial arts training we look to develop the ability to move backwards along exactly the same line as the attacker is coming forward. We also learn to judge speed and maintain distance until it becomes second nature to keep a safe space around you. In the beginners classes we use a simple staff to staff exercise. In the CQC a simulated knife attack is more dynamic and builds a degree of speed and seeks to cultivate effective reflexes.
I will be sharing the five principles knife defence as one of the sessions on our CQC weapons seminar in April. http://www.somersetstav.co.uk/cqcweapons.html
regards
Graham
PS I am still interested in finding out about attitudes and preconceptions about self-defence, if you can spare a few minutes to complete my survey then I would be grateful http://somersetstav.co.uk/sdsurvey.html
PPS This rather disturbing article which came up in my Quora feed is about surviving in a contemporary prison in America https://www.quora.com/What-should-everyone-know-about-prison/answers/1801075