PRAXIS
Personal Protection

Self Defense
Fundamentals

• Physical Self Defense Fundamentals
• Threat Detection, Deterrence, and Avoidance
• Establishing verbal boundaries, verbal engagement, and verbal de-escalation
• Why we ignore our intuition, trust inappropriately, and how to change that mindset
• How to cultivate the will to survive and give ourselves permission to act
• How predators select their victims, and how to de-select ourselves
• What predators want and want to avoid
• Pre-incident indicators of assault
• Use of boundaries and barriers
• Use of flashlight and objects in our environment for defense
• Overall strategy tying together all the elements in scenario based responses

In the first phase the emphasis is on detection and deterrence. We of way beyond the basic skills of good awareness. We cover the differences between intellect, instinct, and intuition and how all three provide valuable information. We discuss the cultural suppression of intuition and how to trust it. We cover specific strategies of predators. We put an emphasis on predator psychology, what they want, what they want to avoid, and how they choose their victims. We then discuss strategies for avoidance and escape.

The second phase deals with defusing and de-escalation. Emphasis here is placed on understanding the interviewing phase of predators. How to develop appropriate posture, eye contact, verbal boundary setting, verbal engagement, and verbal de-escalation. Understanding victim psychology, the difference between being “threatened” and being “challenged,” and fear management. We cover personal motivations, giving yourself permission to act, and the use of indignation. Physical boundary setting, positioning, and use of obstacles are explored.

The focus of the third phase is the physical defense encounter. We cover the psychology of the fight or flight response, and how to convert and use those reflexes. Emphasis is on simple, effective, and easy to learn techniques. We discuss the legal and moral aspects of defense. We cover the use of the self defense flashlight. We explore the advantages and disadvantages of other common self defense tools. We cover the distances at which self defense and tool use must be made in order to be effective.

The class is taught through presentations, discussions, real world situations and their outcomes, role playing scenarios, and physical confrontations with the staff in protective suits. Topics are serious so all participants must be 14 or older. Wear comfortable active clothing. Clothing may be come stretched or damaged.

Transportation and Travel Safety

• Personal Protection in and around vehicles
• Threat Analysis / Awareness of how street crimes are committed
• Driving and parking lot protocols to minimize exposure time
• Advanced situational awareness
• Deselecting ourselves as targets
• Pre-incident indicators of assault
• Types of surveillance and practical counter-surveillance
• Accident avoidance, understanding the benefits and limitations of crash avoidance systems
• Civil Unrest / Mob Mitigation strategies
• Movement in crowds / escorting someone else through a dense or panicking crowds
• Pre-travel Intelligence, and preparation
• Actions during the transportation phase
• Actions at your destination
• Anti-kidnapping / Counter-custody methods of escaping common restraints

In the first phase we focus on everyday threats that take place in or around your vehicle including parking lots, streets, sidewalks, gas stations, and convenience stores. How to detect and deter threats. How to take specific actions to minimize your overall exposure, as well as your exposure time.

The second phases focuses on travel and divides it into three categories of actions. Pre-travel intelligence focuses on what information to gather in advance to reduce your vulnerability and how to gather that information. The in-transit phase cover the specific threats during the travel phase and how to mitigate them. Actions at your destination include hotel/housing security as well as specific actions to take to minimize your exposure.

The third phases focuses on the three types of kidnapping currently being employed, who they select and why, Anti-kidnapping protocols to reduce the likelihood you are selected, the phases of a kidnapping and what do to during each phase, and counter-custody/escape from illegal restraint concepts and skills.

Secure Data and Communications

• Data and privacy
• Why electronic protection is important
• Secure communications
• Malware
• Balancing security and convenience
• Understanding data exchanges and methods of collection
• Data Breaches
• Social media
• Seeing what data has been collected on you and reducing it
• Hardening your cell phone
• Hardening your laptop
• Protocols and applications to limit exposure

In the first phase we focus on your data and privacy. What information is routinely collected on you, and why, who buys it, and how they use it. What happens when there are breaches that expose your data to criminals, and what actions to take before and after an event. This will be done in the context of security versus convenience, what measures do you not want to take because you value the convenience of the service it provides.

In the second phase we cover secure voice, email, and text communications. This covers your cell phone, laptop, and computer. As well as, each step in the process starting with your wifi router, your internet service provider, the DNS server you access, and the distant point you connect to.

In the third phase we develop our individual game-plans based on our goals, and what we are realistically willing to do to protect ourselves to various threats. We introduce and setup a few applications and services that assist us in protecting ourselves, our data, and our communications.