By Idai Makaya

 "The price of freedom is Eternal Vigilence..."

The above is a well known quote which many readers will be familiar with. If you're not familiar with it I suggest you dig around to find out who said it, when they said it and why they said it.

Whether or not you do know who made the statement wont change the relevence of this next scenario - so read on for now. I am going to cover the concept of forward thinking, premeditated self defense at a more sublime level. However, this information is probably as crucial as any other aspect of self defense and should be highly prioritised by anyone seeking to become unassailable.

I will demonstrate the concept of Premeditated Self Defense (Eternal Vigilence) by giving an outline of one day in the life of a hypothetical young lady (who happens to be Invincible). The information given should make the concept clearer to you so please take heed and learn from her.

She gets up early on Saturday morning in her bedsit flat in a quiet suburb. She draws the curtains and opens the windows. She sleeps with them closed to avoid the possibility of an unwelcome intruder taking notice of her room (also - open windows are no good if you have asthma or hayfever!).

The sun shines in when she draws the curtains. She has thick curtains, which keep light out (and stop outsiders getting a meaningful internal view). They are also strong enough to be tied into a rope which will allow her to climb down one storey to the ground (in the event of a fire stopping her from leaving the room via the door). She keeps enough sheets in the drawers of her dressing chest to make a long rope when tied to the ends of the curtains - should such an absurd initiative ever become necessary.

She picks up her mobile phone and calls her widowed mum, who lives about 80 miles away, to check that she's okay that morning. All is well. she goes downstairs, enters the living room carefully, anticipating that if an intruder is in there, he will be poised to ambush her - so she glances discretely towards the areas which an intruder would naturally gravitate towards if planning an ambush. She unlatches the doors and draws the curtains to let in some light. She wants some fruit for breakfast so she digs through the drawers in the kitchen, lloking for a knife to cut some oranges with. Knives are not kept in open hanging displays or racks, were a startled intruder may reach for them if disturbed in the middle of the night during a burglary.

After a shower and tidying up she heads out to buy some milk and a newspaper. She takes her mobile phone with her and a bank card, but leaves most of her valuables behind in an inaccessible chest hidden in her wardrobe. He handbag is lightly packed with minor toiletries only. Her phone has ICE numbers market to call "in case of emergencies" because she has a rare blood type and is ont he organ donors register.

We wont get too long winded here, as the life of a young lady on a normal Saturday can get pretty dull by most standards. So fast-forward to that evening.

The young lady is meeting friends to go out clubbing that evening. She wears a fashionable dress but it's comfortable and if she kicks off her high heels she'll be able to run pretty quickly because of her comfortable clothing (should the need to do so ever arise). She is uncomfortable about getting mugged due to an incident that happened when she was a teenager, so she doesn't drink alcohol, in order to stay alert. In the wine bar where they have dinner she ensured she looked around the entire room before they took their seats at their table. She looked out for potential emergency exits in case of the need to evacuate (fire, etc) and she looked around to get a feel for the kind of crowd who frequent the place.

Her friends were drinking quite freely so she new she needed to stay alert because nobody else would. She'd told her boyfriend where they were going and when they were expecting to go home and he was expecting her call at midnight to say she was back at her apartment. She kept note of the different characters leaving and entering the establishment, but did so discreetly so that nobody knew she was doing it. One big guy who entered had quite an aggressive way of moving and seemed ot to be there for the entertainment. She noticed he was keenly interested in their table.

There could have been many reasons for this but after an hour she convinced her friends to leave and go to a club, as she noticed him standing close by. He had no friends with him and hadn't spoken to anyone in the wine bar in that hour.

Going home after clubbing there were lots of people in the streets. But there were also some quiet areas just ouside town centre. She made sure they left when the place was still buzzing with people - and not when it was so late that the place was becoming deserted and potentially dangerous. She kept scanning around in all directions, at discreet intervals, to ensure she was fully aware of her surroundings. When walking down any roads with her friends she regularly checked the rear view to ensure she knew what was unfolding behind them. They all went home in groups (by taxi) so nobody travelled alone and they used registered taxis to go home.

Nothing particularly easy to pick out in all this (for the uninitiated) - but there were lots of opportunities to make sure certain things would not be permitted to occur. You don't have to live defensively in a blatantly obvious way in order to be totally safe. If you are unassailable, you are as successful in your self defense as you can possibly be. This doesn't mean you are not prepared for eventualities, in case your precautions fail, but vigilence goes a long way towards pre-empting trouble. Be prepared. Be vigilant.

NASD advice:

• Dress in such a way that you can react to potential crises. If you are a trained fighter, dress in such a way that if you have to fight you can use the skills you've practiced.
• Always stay aware of your surroundings and stay alert. If you drink too much, find a way to stop if your self defense is your priority.
• Very tight jeans will prohibit kicking - if you are a kickboxer. 
• Strapless sandals will prevent you from running and will hamper your ability to fight (if you are ganged up on at a petrol station late at night). 
• Move in groups whenever possible.
• Avoid badly lit areas of low population density. Avoid trouble spots and be alert when in neighbourhoods you don't know - they may be trouble spots. Check up on the reputation of an area if you are about to visit there. Be prepared. 
• Always ensure someone knows of your planned movements (and their timings).
• If you are at risk of domestic violence ensure that knives and sharp, hard objects are not in easy reach in the home - domestic violence is usually not planned in a coherent way, so the abuser is unlikely to set up weapons in advance for use during an assault. Abusers act impulsively and are bullys - so they do not expect to be challenged.
• If you are at risk of domestic violence have courage. Procrastination is the greatest enemy of people at risk of domestic violence. You need to plan to be able to leave the abuser as soon as possible. Ensure someone else knows what you are planning - but keep it secret from the abuser. Then when everything is set up, make the move. Do not get trapped in an abusive situation - because of money, circumstances, children, lack of confidence, threats of a lowered quality of life, embarassment or pride - or anything else. There are no miracles in domestic violence situations and they will eventually come to a head. If an abusive situation has not shown early promise cut your losses and start afresh. Prevention beats cure when it comes to domestic violence. There is no point in learning to fight physically to solve domestic violence - that does not work. The only defense from domestic violence is to sever relations with the abuser. Please don't think I believe that solving domestic violence is easy. It is extremely complex, but sometimes it helps to look at the bare facts and plan what to do.