MA and Situational Awareness

Posted by: RangerG

MA and Situational Awareness - 10/25/05 09:58 PM

Do you feel that your Martial Arts training enhances your situational awareness?

I think most us would agree that in LE, situation awareness is critical to our safety and that of the public. The hint of a move..a reach for a weapon..a move towards escape. The odd noise when you are manning a security post..a gut feeling something is not right.. Do you think that your MA training makes you aware of those slight moves that become something more?

My specialty for years was footprint tracking in woodland situations. Lost people, escapees and those subjects looking to get away by fleeing into the forrest. I learned to be aware of any slight noise or movement..anything that would betray the location of the subject I was hunting.. When you are on a security patrol..the odd light that is out that creates just enough of a shadow for somone to get under or over a fence..

I feel that I have become even more aware due to my regular MA training.. What has been your experience?
Posted by: globetrotter

Re: MA and Situational Awareness - 10/26/05 03:47 PM

R,

did your MA experience increase your situational awareness more that what you got in the military?

I would say the SA I got from MA is a little fraction of what I got from the military
Posted by: RangerG

Re: MA and Situational Awareness - 10/26/05 11:29 PM

Quote:

R,

did your MA experience increase your situational awareness more that what you got in the military?

I would say the SA I got from MA is a little fraction of what I got from the military



I feel that the SA I get from MA enhances that which I learned in the military, and that which I received from years of experience in tracking. I have to think about that for a while... I feel they are different SA's, but related in a way..
Posted by: RangerG

Re: MA and Situational Awareness - 11/03/05 08:06 AM

Quote:

Quote:

R,

did your MA experience increase your situational awareness more that what you got in the military?

I would say the SA I got from MA is a little fraction of what I got from the military



I feel that the SA I get from MA enhances that which I learned in the military, and that which I received from years of experience in tracking. I have to think about that for a while... I feel they are different SA's, but related in a way..



OK..done thinking..(Hey I'm old..gime a break).

The SA from the Military and MA are about the same with more experience coming from the Military end. The different SA that I experience comes from my Criminal Footprint Tracking experience. In the Footprint Tracking...I am not only aware of a potential ambush or attack, I am also aware of all the woodland sounds and smells. What sounds I hear from people and wildlife are key indicators of where my subject is headed in addition to his prints. I guess more of my senses are involved on a higher level as he is attempting to hide or escape, while I am somewhat exposed looking for him.

Does that make sense?
Posted by: Fletch1

Re: MA and Situational Awareness - 11/04/05 01:22 PM

"Experience is the hardest teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson after."

"In a real fight, experience is something you get shortly after you need it."

I believe that you learn far more from experience than you ever do from training. Of course, this is why so much training these days is geared toward providing the student with a synthetic (scenario) experience from which to build.
Posted by: globetrotter

Re: MA and Situational Awareness - 11/06/05 03:18 PM

yeah, that makes sense.

when I was in the military, we used beduin (arab nomads) trackers. you couldn't get the job if you didn't grow up in a tent, and have family who had done the job. they would do basic with infantry, and then do a long course with the tracker unit. they were fantastic, but had very high mortality rates, because they would walk into so many ambushes.
Posted by: Tolyn1007

Re: MA and Situational Awareness - 11/09/05 04:20 PM

Quote:

Do you feel that your Martial Arts training enhances your situational awareness?



I think experience plays a bigger factor in situational awareness then MA training although training certainly helps build on that experience level. My veteran patrol officers will generally pick up on more of what's going on around them then the younger (in terms of experience) officers. I do think that there is an aspect of situational awareness that MA training factors more heavily into and that's body positioning. Those officers I have with some MA training tend to be more conscious of where they are in relation to the subject they're contacting. Things like distance, stance, triangulation, etc.