There are as many knife fighting systems as there are cultures. Spanish with the Navaja, Native Americans with their belt knives and Italians with the Stiletto. There are cases where the knife dictates the technique with its abilities, its strengths and weaknesses and sometimes such as in cold climates, the dress affects the system as thick deep covers force different techniques and tools to get a job done.

Still, the most important moment in each fight is the one before the fight begins. A man who is pushed against the wall with three knife wielding people around him got there somehow and we all make choices to increase or decrease the likelihood of this happening.

One choice is to simply pay attention. Pay attention to yourself first. Be less of a target by standing straight, being healthy and clean and dressing well for the circumstances. This can mean different things in different locations and positions but a person usually knows if they are drawing attentions and what type of it.

Paying attention means listening to what is around you. The people on the train or in the street are talking, waving, looking and turning and everything is information telling you how the mood is and where it is going.

Paying attention means you know where you place each foot when you walk. It means your eyes are open and not inside a paper or a phone screen and that you are aware of everyone in your immediate circle.

Ideas for better awareness so you are the one in the right place and time and you are the one who uses your tools if the need arises.

Fight pre-awareness:

1. Always know how to take out your wallet, your pen, your ID and your tools if you carry them in different positions from standing to sitting to squatting down on a toilet seat. You may need them swiftly to throw toward a gunman or to press against the carotid artery of an attacker.
2. Mind the clothes and imprints on others around you. A knife or handgun shows itself in the print of the clothes and in the movement of the person.
3. Mind the angles the person is choosing with the body when close to you or your loved ones. Most will change the angle to secure a tool or to hide their limbs as they plan to enact their attack.
4. Mind the location and changes in hand positions. A hand hovering over a coat can mean a person waiting to draw and a hand changing from straight to half bent and straight again may have pulled the gun or knife out already.
5. Mind the group activity and the flow of people in your location and at the bottlenecks. The toilets at the mall and the gates to the underground are notorious in being a great place to be mugged when you are just trying to lighten the load of the day.

Presentation and non presentation – What you show and what you don’t

1. Keep your mouth closed when you are not speaking or dining. Breath from your nose. Keep your mouth relaxed but closed and
2. Always have your eyes up and avoid reading or watching screens when possible. Know that places where tourists look up at fancy clocks and airports where there are signs with flight information are some of the best places for pick pockets and bag grabbers.
3. Your dress, coat and other clothes all tell a story. Position your items on yourself so as to be a less attractive target. A watch can hide under a shirt sleeve, a phone can rest inside a secure internal pocket and a wallet with cards and cash can be inside a RFID protective sleeve inside another secure pocket. Keep a bit of cash in another pocket and fold the different bills so you can take out exactly what you need without taking a bundle out to breath and to be seen.
4. Choose footwear you can run and change direction in swiftly. Flip flops are called so for a reason. Avoid them if you can.
5. Walk as quietly as you can so you are aware of where you place your feet and this takes a lot out of the guessing on the intruder side.
6. Start each day with a few minutes of mobility so your body does not freeze when it needs to move.