Safety For the Holidays

By Tommy Lee, owner

East Coast Martial Arts

. https://www.eastcoastmartialarts.com/

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Safety For the Holidays

The time of year is coming when there are many festivities. We have Thanksgiving, Hanakau, Christmas and the New Year Celebration, just to name a few. Many people will either be hosting or attending celebrations, parties or enjoying public events.
Although, I highly recommend everyone to attend some sort of training for either personal safety or family protection, many will not. I thought I would share some important aspects of personal and family safety. There are three types of threats we should fear, or three reasons things can go wrong
Bad Guest. Someone we know or the friend of someone we know.
Bad Guy. A seasoned criminal for whom crime is a business. In this respect the harm may be either personal or in loss of either money or material items.
Bad Day or Bad Situation. This is statistically the least likely to happen.
Regardless of what type of threat and to what degree it may cause harm, are you prepared to handle the encounter to keep yourself and your family out of harms way?
The Bad Guest. There are many things that can trigger this type of reaction in a guest. Perhaps the person has had too much to drink or they saw someone they didnt like or misunderstood something they heard and got into a confrontation. When asked to leave they get angry and start shouting and causing trouble. How to do you handle this person without escalating the situation?
The Bad Guy. Usually a seasoned criminal, they are looking for a victim. Not always, but many times people become targets because of something they said or the way they acted. Two examples You are out in public and talking loudly about buying expensive jewelry or a gift you received. Or, you are at an event, have a little too much to drink and attract attention to yourself. Either one of these examples can mark you as a “target”.
The Bad Day or Situation. You were brought to a party by your friends or another couple. There are a lot of people and the party is really going well. You realize you dont really know anyone and that there are things going on you dont particularly agree with. At that moment you decide that you shouldnt be there and that the friends or couple you came with either wants to stay or has already left. What do you do?
I want to make you aware that there are things that can be avoided and or drastically reduced by just using common sense. Making you aware is the first step. If you sit down and think about this, you will be able to come up with many things that can help avoid or deter these types of situations. Next month we will go over the tips to recognize some of the situations and what to do about them. Personal safety, and the safety of your family, is more important than ever.