Reaching Decisions, Acting & Choosing the Right Time to Act

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 30th Apr 2012

Once we have “chosen” a particular solution, we have to act on it. This is often the hardest part of the continuum. Our perceived inability to act may well cause us to revisit and reconsider the other options that we thought about before initially deciding on one plan of action. We may also try and look for other potential solutions, especially if we start to over-consider the potential consequences of what we first decided upon. This way of thinking puts us squarely back into the “Deliberation Loop” and moves us further away from action, which should be the goal of...Click To Read More

Denial, Deliberation, Decision Loop - Deliberation

Gershon Ben Keren

Wed 25th Apr 2012

The individuals in the World Trade Center who eventually passed through their denial phase and accepted that something was very wrong were faced with many choices e.g. should they wait for instruction on what to do, should they evacuate the building, should they try and find a supervisor/manager who may have more information etc. In such high stress situations many people get caught in a loop, comparing and evaluating the best option available to them. They will weigh up the pros and cons; eventually they seem to reach a decision, only to repeat the process over again. People do the...Click To Read More

The Dynamic Risk Assessment - The Denial, Deliberation & Decision Loop

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 23rd Apr 2012

Denial Human beings have a very simple way of coping with high stress situations; we deny them. Rather than accepting the reality of our situation, we tend to ignore our predicament, denying that we are in any danger at all. Our instincts may tell us to run or get out of a place but we will immediately look for and accept any reason that will allow us to stay put; however tenuous, ridiculous or patently dangerous it may actually be. A statistic that should be in everybody’s head is 6:36. 6 minutes and 36 seconds, is the average length of time that...Click To Read More

Improvised Weapons (Security Overseas Part 2.5)

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 16th Apr 2012

One of the “comments” I got from one of my last posts was about the use of improvised weapons i.e. if you\'re overseas and can\'t carry a firearm, CS Spray etc what could you carry or use as alterntives. This is a subject that I feel many self-defense instructors take lightly or misinterpret and at the worst case point people towards “legal carry” weapons that actually disempower them. A true “improvised” weapon can only exist once. The moment something you find in your environment is spontaneously used as a weapon it loses its improvised quality. The moment you realize an umbrella,...Click To Read More

Security Overseas - Part 2

Gershon Ben Keren

Sat 14th Apr 2012

This post follows the last and is looking at personal security when travelling abroad – both posts stem from a question a student at my school asked, concerning altenrative self-defense products to CS Spray that could be carried legally by a female friend who was travelling in Europe (in many European countries CS Spray is illegal). Rather than concentrate on alternative weapons to CS Spray, I’m choosing to look at the direct security measures that a person traveling can take to avoid them having to deal with a physical conflict in the first place. As a side note to this, I...Click To Read More

Security Overseas

Gershon Ben Keren

Sun 8th Apr 2012

It’s awhile since anyone has asked me to write on Travel/Overseas Security but I had a request to do so this week. The question was more about what concealed or legal carry weapons should somebody (in this case a female) take, when travelling especially in European countries where OC Spray – which I’m a big fan of – are illegal and/or there is a risk of causing an alert when passing through airport security etc. Firstly, any weapon carried should be seen as the last line of defense and not the first. Unfortunately, many people become lazy about this and put...Click To Read More

When To Defend Yourself

Gershon Ben Keren

Thu 5th Apr 2012

The shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, a few months ago as raised many issues about the rights a person has to defend themselves against both real and perceived threats to their safety – I am staying out of the debate as to whether the shooting was justified but will use it to illustrate certain points that might help us avoid adopting the roles of both Martin (the victim) and George Zimmerman (the shooter). Many people who carry weapons, despite being technically proficient in their use, have never really considered the decision making process that they would have to go through...Click To Read More