Train this skill right now

• Beau Doboszenski, Owner/Lead Instructor

• Originally published September 13th, 2018

Here’s a skill that will dramatically increase your ability to defend yourself: The Threat Scan.

If you watch videos online about Threat Scans or Assessments, you’ll see a lot of similar advice:

• Trust your gut

• Watch the threat’s hands

• Watch how the threat moves

Okay, this advice is all generally fine, but it’s all a bit….general. Trust what about my gut? What should I be noticing about their hands? What moves am I watching for?

These useful tips are not ultimately very useful.

So let’s get specific. What should you look for when appraising a potential threat? Size, hands, shoes, eyes, and actions.

1. Size: Ask yourself if you can handle this person in a fight, or whether they appear too big/strong for you to deal with alone. Keep in mind your own capabilities: someone may not strike you as a threat if you’re a 250-lb body builder, but the same person would be significantly more threatening to a 110-lb teenage girl

2. Hands: Look for whether the threat has fighters’ hands (big knuckles, scarred, strong), is hiding their hands, is holding tools, or is wearing gloves that don’t seem to be appropriate to the situation

3. Shoes: Are the threat’s shoes appropriate to the situation? Given their shoes, can I outrun this person if I had to? A threat in flip-flops will be less effective than one in boots or sneakers

4. Eyes: Pay attention to how the threat is looking, with a focus on these: Hard intense stare, distracted or faking a task, hiding from you or figures of authority, tracking you or others in the area, shaking/trembling hands or shoulders, or profusely sweating

5. Actions: Look for movements: Closing the distance to you, Intercepting (setting themselves up so you must cross their path), mirroring (you move through the environment, they mirror it). Also look to see if they’re prepping their body for a fight (clothes, piercings, etc.) or prepping tools (deploying a weapon or checking to make sure the weapon is ready)

Develop your ability to scan people through these lenses and you’ll quickly spot threats and be able to avoid them, long before you enter a potential violent encounter.

If you want a deeper explanation on the threat scan, pick up a copy of the video series Avoid-Deter-Defend. You’ll get the full lecture on this topic and the full DMT Situational Awareness system, which is the best way to avoid dangerous conflict and protect your life.