Understanding Speed, Surprise, & Violence of Action

Speed, Surprise, and Violence of Action are 3 of the most important factors in any violent confrontation.

If you want to come out on top you need as many of these factors on your side as possible.

Problem is, these factors are usually used by the attacker…not the good guy. Predators know how to win, its time to take a page from their book and fight fire with fire.

From a self-defense standpoint (where the attacker is choosing where and when to attack you) it would seem as though you’ve already lost one the most crucial of the 3 factors, “surprise”.

At first glance, this is true. But it’s not the whole story…

Surprise

The criminal element usually starts the confrontation with this important tactical advantage.

The value of a surprise attack cannot be overstated. This alone is the biggest source of anxiety regarding a violent attack like a mugging or home invasion. If you knew when or where you would simply take steps to avoid it…right?

So how do we prevail when we seem to be at such a distinct disadvantage?

Speed And Violence of Action

To start with, we can focus on the other two elements, speed and violence of action. To achieve speed you need to have a few go-to defensive moves that you can default to, so that you don’t have a “deer-in-the-headlights” moment.

If you are surprised and freeze for a moment you are pretty much toast. To counteract this, play out scenarios in your head and decide beforehand what you would do, so you don’t think — you just act.

The next factor, violence of action, can be an incredibly powerful psychological tool that is at your disposal no matter what other advantages your attacker has taken.

Truth is, most attackers aren’t out to murder you. An attacker may not hesitate to dispatch you if you are what’s standing between him and what he wants, but they most likely want to take you money, car, jewelry, etc. with as little violence as possible. They are also used to good victims, who capitulate at the first sign of violence.

If you react to their initial threat or action with a greater degree of violence than they displayed, you can gain a very powerful psychological advantage. They are suddenly the victim of your violence.

This can be a bit tricky to understand so here is a quick example.

You are walking down a sidewalk and suddenly a guy steps out in front of you, aggressively shoves you backward and says “gimme your wallet and keys.”

He has displayed that he is willing to use violence against you to get what he wants. But on a scale of 1-10 his show of violence is about a 3. If you, in response, lean in and viciously attempted to bite his nose off of his face, you have responded with greater violence of action. Biting someone’s face is at least an 8 or 9 and the psychological effect of biting is huge.

Similarly, if someone swings at you with a punch, and in response you close the gap and drive your thumbs into his eye sockets, you have once again responded with greater violence of action. He attacked you with a 5 and you responded with a 9.

Okay enough examples, you get the point.

By raising the level of violence you  have taken control of the situation.

The situation has changed from some thug imposing his will on you through violence, to a situation where he is less interested in your wallet and has begun thinking “this crazy mother f**ker is trying rip my eyes out.”

The attacker is now psychologically “on-his-heels.” That’s exactly where you want him to be.

So of the 3 factors you have complete control over your speed of response, and your level of violence (so long as the attacker doesn’t start out at a level 10).

Using these two factors you can take the offensive position, land a few strikes and escape. These concepts are universal to any fighting style, art, or situation. Someone always has the factors of speed, surprise, and/or violence of action. You don’t need all of them to win, but take as many as you can get.

I hope you found this useful. Let me know what you think.