The Ultimate Self Defence Strategy
1.0 The Master's Lesson
Over two thousand years ago, the Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War. It remains one of the most influential texts on strategy ever written—studied at military academies, business schools, and by anyone serious about gaining an advantage in competitive situations.
Sun Tzu's central insight was simple but powerful:
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
Fighting—even winning—comes at a cost. Casualties, resources, time, risk, unpredictability. The great strategist wins before the battle begins, through superior intelligence, positioning, preparation, and psychology.
"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
Victorious warriors win first—then go to war if necessary . By the time the conflict starts, if it starts at all, they have already won. Defeated warriors fight first and hope to win.
This principle applies directly to personal safety. The best outcome is the threat that never materialises because you saw it coming and avoided it. The best confrontation is the one that never happens because you positioned yourself well.
Win before. That is the foundation of Part One. Part Two and beyond cover what to do when prevention fails and you have no choice but to act. First, we learn to win before.
1.1 Lessons from Professionals
Real violence is fast, chaotic, and unpredictable. It carries physical and psychological consequences. Understanding this shapes how we approach self-defence.
Effective self-defence starts well before any physical confrontation. By the time a situation becomes physical, your options have already narrowed. The earlier you act on the timeline, the more control you have.
Professional close protection officers—the people who protect heads of state, royalty, and executives—understand this better than anyone. Their greatest successes are invisible: the threat identified before it got close, the exit secured before it was needed, the situation avoided entirely.
These professionals are paid to prevent. Physical confrontation means something went wrong earlier in the process. Their goal is to maintain control of the situation at every stage.
You can learn to think the same way. It requires attention and better decision-making—skills anyone can develop. That is what Part One teaches: staying ahead, maintaining options, and handling situations before they escalate.
1.2 The Event Timeline: Stay Left of Bang
Violence has a timeline. The U.S. Marine Corps Combat Hunter program developed a concept to help Marines identify and respond to threats before they happen. They call the moment of violence "the Bang." Everything before it is "Left of Bang" and everything after is "Right of Bang."
The Combat Hunter program trained Marines to read human behaviour and environmental cues—to spot the ambush before it was sprung, to identify the threat before shots were fired. The goal was to move Marines from reactive to proactive, giving them the advantage of time and initiative.
The same principle applies to personal safety.
Left of Bang is where prevention, awareness, preparation, and avoidance happen. You have time. You have options. You can see things coming and make choices that keep you safe.
The Bang is the moment of violence itself—the attack, the threat, the incident. This is chaos. Everything is happening at once and nothing is certain.
Right of Bang is reaction, survival, damage control, and recovery. Your options are limited. You are responding to what has already happened. Even if you "win" a fight, you can still get hurt, arrested, sued, or traumatised.
Your job is to stay Left of Bang whenever possible. That means paying attention, thinking ahead, and making decisions that keep you away from danger. It also means preparing and developing capability—so that if you do end up Right of Bang, you have the skills to survive it. The earlier you act on the timeline, the safer you are. But you prepare for every point on it.
Part One focuses on staying Left of Bang. Part Two and beyond will prepare you for Right of Bang—because sometimes, despite your best efforts, that is where you end up.
1.3 The Bodyguard Mindset
Here is the identity shift that changes everything: You are a VIP, and you are your own bodyguard.
This is a practical framework for taking responsibility for your own safety.
Why You Are a VIP
You are all you have. Violence does not just hurt your body. It can shatter your sense of safety, your confidence, your trust in the world, and your belief in yourself. These things can take years to rebuild—if they ever fully come back.
People care about you. Your family, your friends, the people who love you—they need you to come home.
People rely on you. Maybe you have kids, colleagues, or responsibilities. People are counting on you.
You have work to do. You have a life to live, goals to achieve, and things that matter to you. None of that happens if you get hurt.
That makes you a VIP. Act accordingly.
Your Job
VIPs have bodyguards. Since you probably cannot afford to hire one, you have to be your own. That means you have a job:
- Pay attention. Know what is happening around you and notice when something is off.
- Think ahead. What could go wrong here? What is my exit? What would I do if something happened?
- Control your environment. Position yourself for safety, know who is around you, and keep your options open.
- Prepare and develop capability. Learn the skills you need so that if something does happen, you can respond effectively.
- Act early. When something feels wrong, do something about it. Do not wait to be sure.
Bodyguards are prepared, and when you know you are paying attention, you actually relax more. You are calm because you are in control.
1.4 Identity Drives Behaviour
Why does this "bodyguard" framing matter? Because identity shapes action. If you see yourself as a protector, you will behave like one—you will scan for threats, you will prepare, and you will act decisively when you need to.
Your brain adapts to what you practice. This is called neuroplasticity. If you practice thinking like a bodyguard, it becomes automatic. You start noticing things without trying and making safer choices without thinking about it.
The goal is to make safety second nature.
1.5 Responsible Awareness
Your safety is your responsibility. When you accept this fully, it becomes empowering. You move from hoping things work out to actively shaping outcomes. You move from relying on luck to relying on yourself.
Think of it like driving. You wear a seatbelt, check your mirrors, and stay aware of other vehicles. You anticipate what other drivers might do and position yourself accordingly. This is basic competence—what responsible adults do behind the wheel.
The same applies to personal safety. Being aware of your surroundings, knowing your exits, noticing when something feels off—these are skills that give you control. They create options.
Options are everything. The person who notices a situation developing has time to respond. The person who knows where the exits are can use them. The person who trusts their instincts can act on them. Awareness creates the space between stimulus and response where good decisions happen.
1.6 What This Part Covers
Part One gives you a complete system for staying safe through prevention and awareness. Here are the chapters in this Part:
Chapter 2: Situational Intelligence. A six-step system for preventing problems before they happen—context, data, anticipation, preparation, awareness, and action. This is the operational framework you will use every day.
Chapter 3: The Predator. How predatory strangers operate, the tactics they use to set up victims, and how to recognise and interrupt their approach before it escalates.
Chapter 4: Social Violence. The violence that comes from ego, alcohol, and stupidity—road rage, bar fights, the Monkey Dance—and how to de-escalate and walk away.
Chapter 5: The Enemy Within. The threats that come from people you know and trust—domestic violence, coercive control, toxic relationships—the patterns, the warning signs, and how to get safe.
Chapter 6: The Protector's Toolkit. The verbal, physical, and psychological tools you need when a situation escalates—communication, positioning, the Ready Stance, and the Switch.
Chapter 7: Be Safe on Purpose. How to apply all of this to everyday life—commuting, work, social events, dating, parenting—and making it your standard operating procedure.
Part Two and beyond cover physical self-defence—what to do when prevention fails and you have no choice but to act. But we start here, with prevention, because it is the foundation everything else is built on.
1.7 The Bottom Line
A complete approach to self-defence includes prevention, de-escalation, escape, and—when necessary—physical response. This book covers all of them.
We start with prevention because it gives you the most control and the best outcomes. Physical confrontation is unpredictable and carries consequences even when you come out ahead. Staying Left of Bang keeps your options open.
Sun Tzu's insight has guided strategists for over two thousand years: win first, then go to war. Prepare for conflict and work to make it unnecessary. That is the approach this book takes.
You have a job to do. You are your own bodyguard. Let's get started.
Chapter 1 Summary
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Your job: Stay ahead. Stay ready. Win before.