Why Street Robberies Are Largely Committed by Groups

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 27th Nov 2023

One of the consistent findings about street robberies/muggings, is that it appears statistically that most involve more than one offender; something that is often not reflected in self-defense and Krav Maga training. Whilst not every potential gun or knife threat is going to be in the context of a street robbery, when we look at the situations most people are going to find themselves in this is one of the most likely scenarios e.g., a person is more likely to be targeted for a mugging than an abduction, and in most forms of social violence – unless you live in...Click To Read More

De-escalation & Changing Behaviors

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 20th Nov 2023

Because de-escalation involves emotional people, it is good to have a number of tools that can be used to help direct an aggressor to consider non-violent alternatives during a verbal confrontation. De-escalation is not a universal approach that can be applied to all aggressive interactions e.g., a mugger who is engaged in a street robbery is unlikely to be “talked” out of it, as they have a defined goal/outcome that they have set out to achieve i.e., relieve you of your possessions. However, someone who has become aggressive due to an external event, rather than an internal motivation, presents an...Click To Read More

De-escalation and Active Listening

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 13th Nov 2023

In developing a de-escalation skillset, it is necessary to be proficient in “Active Listening” – this is especially true in workplace settings where you don’t necessarily have an option to disengage e.g., you have to resolve an emotional client/customer’s complaint. It is important to note that there is a difference between de-escalation and conflict resolution i.e., de-escalation is about reducing and removing the emotion in a confrontation so that an individual is able to consider ways that the conflict could be resolved etc. Active listening is a process that contains elements of de-escalation and conflict resolution. In a quickly escalating...Click To Read More

Air Travel & Personal Safety

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 6th Nov 2023

I recently saw a meme of a dog – probably a comfort/service animal – sitting on a plane, looking at the flight attendant in the aisle giving the safety demonstration; it was captioned, “The only one on the plane watching the safety demonstration.” These safety measures/instructions along with the safety cards in the seat pockets are often ignored by passengers. Airplane safety cards were first introduced in the 1960’s and then were made mandatory in the US in 1978. Originally text heavy, they sometimes took the form of booklets, rather than cards – and were rarely read. They are still...Click To Read More