Resurrecting an old, but what I believe to be important post.
Threat Indicators and Personal Safety
March 5, 2013
threat indicators
Posted by tgace under law enforcement, martial arts, self defense | Tags: awareness, law enforcement, martial arts, self defense |[18] Comments
August 28, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Awesome video Tgace!
I have witnessed all of those and a few others myself during the course of work duties and life in general.(back in the day) I think the quicker you can pick up those indicators the better you can prepare for conflict, call for back up and or exit the scene. One indicator I always teach my students is to look out for the one hand behind the back. I mean who walks around or engages in a conversation with someone with one hand behind their back? (no one but it certainly is a great place for a knife, etc.) They must be hiding some thing right?
Brian
September 2, 2009 at 9:28 am
I agree with you that the key with this stuff is simply recognizing the cues and then DOING something about it.
Me “getting into a fight” in this clip was one clip of a set. There is one where I get clobbered…one where I survive (this one) and one where I draw OC and gain compliance through verbal commands. The idea was to show a progression. This is the clip that is most “finished”, and is the most descriptive of the listed cues.
August 29, 2009 at 5:47 am
Good tip Brian, but that isn’t exactly thing that the video is illustrating. Basically ‘threat indicators’ on the video are subconscious behaviors that give away a bad guys intent. The point of reading the subconscious threat indicators is to be able to break the wind up cycle.
If a guy is reaching behind his back or into his pocket I would definitely agree that it is an indicator of a potential threat, but this is a conscious act that the bad guy is directing to happen – which means he’s planning mentally not building up emotionally.
August 30, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Hey Paul,
No doubt about that. I was just illustrating another threat indicator albeit a conscious one!
August 31, 2009 at 1:07 am
And it’s a good tip.
The difference between a conscious act and a subconscious act for the defender is how to deal with it though.
If the guy is consciously reaching for a weapon (potentially), then you, as defender, have to plan your action/reactions based on his conscious ‘intent.’
If, like in the video examples, though, the person is subconsciously “leaking” behaviors that hint at he/she is winding up in ways that he/isn’t aware of himself, you have to make different choices/plans.
With conscious actions/intent, you’re dealing with someone who wants to hurt you. You can’t really diffuse/de-escalate that so much as position yourself to escape/evade or pick the best ground to make a defense and an avenue of escape.
With the subconscious stuff, you have the possibility of breaking the wind up cycle and diffusing the situation before it goes to blows.
August 29, 2009 at 11:58 am
OK, the geek in me is coming out now. Did you use a Mac to produce that? maybe Garageband for the soundtrack? some of the sound clips sounded familiar.
Not a bad thing… I’m a Mac guy myself. 
On topic tho, that’s good material. Check out Shivworks’ stuff for “practical unarmed combat” which includes SouthNarc’s stuff on “managing unknown contacts.” A lot of good stuff in the same vein (and SouthNac’s an FMA guy too).
August 29, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Actually, it was put together by a “film guy” my friend Paul and I know….I dont really know what he used to put it together.
August 29, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Well, however it was done, it’s good production. Good camera work, just well put together overall. Kudos to all involved in making it!
August 30, 2009 at 12:17 am
It was shot on a Canon Digital Video camera (Pro level, but I don’t know the make) and post was done using Final Cut Studio Suite tools. The music was made there too. My GB has the same loops too. I think the pro level tools in FCS Suite have some of the same loops and then some in the library.
Dom did a bang up job on the camera work too, I totally agree.
August 30, 2009 at 11:31 am
[...] here is a great post by Tgace a law enforcement officer over on his blog The Things Worth Believing In! I have also brought the video clip over here to The Instinctive Edge because I believe this is a [...]
September 1, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Outstanding Video!
September 4, 2010 at 9:55 pm
Great post!
September 21, 2010 at 3:16 pm
[...] http://tgace.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/threat-indicators/ [...]
March 6, 2013 at 6:06 am
Good reminder! Following the theme of some of the comments, one of the conscious indicators would taking out the front teeth and putting them in a shirt pocket was one I personally experienced.
Sure appreciated the honor of you sharing my article on the Dorner case. Just saw your blog today and realized it was too late to comment on it.
Thanks and keep up the great work!
March 14, 2013 at 8:10 pm
Outstanding video. The actions or expression is very great. Thanks for sharing this video. Martial Arts
April 9, 2013 at 1:16 am
It is a great video. One that I repost on my blog just about every year. We all owe you a favor for making it and making it available to anyone interested!
April 9, 2013 at 2:32 am
Thanks Brian. We’ve been intending to do a vid on “armed indicators”…just never seem to get around to it.
April 9, 2013 at 11:28 pm
That would be really cool!