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A few weeks ago you will have found me at Glen Smith’s Red Corner Gym in Coventry, filming the long overdue follow up DVD’s to my very successful Fence Concepts DVD.

And it was whilst discussing these DVD’s with a friend that I was prompted to write this article.

One of the DVD’s is entitled EFFECTIVE PRE-EMPTIVE, a title that I toyed with for a while and actually, when looked at grammatically, doesn’t really explain very much.
I chose it because it rhymed and was catchy, no other reason.

So, talking with my friend, I explained that the DVD was focused solely on the physical act of Pre-Emptive Striking in a self defence situation, and what makes some techniques more effective than others.
You see – Effective Pre-Emptive. Genius in its simplicity, a little like my own brain.

My friend then asked,
“So what’s your favourite Pre-Empt?”

“A Pre-Empt?” I thought....
Obviously, knowing the subject theme we were discussing, I knew exactly what my friend meant but again, as with my new DVD title, the actual phrase doesn’t really translate to anything meaningful when read out of context.

It’s actually something that has niggled me for sometime, perhaps because of my “Engineers Brain” that likes Detail, Precision and Accuracy.

I’ve noticed more recently that this act of Pre-Emptive Striking has been abbreviated to things such as “Pre-Emption”, “A Pre-Emptive”, or even, “A Pre-Empt”.

You’ll be glad to know that I am over this now and am more than happy for people to shorten the term Pre-Emptive Strike to any of the frequent varieties, as it’s inaccuracy to the Self Protective act that they probably are referring to, means it could be applied to many other things. That is exactly what this article is about.

The dictionary may describe the act of Pre-Emption as
“(of a military strike) made so as to gain an advantage when an enemy strike is anticipated”

Obviously this definition has focused on the act of a Pre-Emptive Strike, a physical act to hit or strike out at an individual when you feel you are about to be attacked physically yourself.

When people talk about a Pre-Emption, they usually mean hitting first. Striking an attacker before they do the same to you. For me, this seems a little limited. I mean, how about we consider simply shouting or throwing something, or even, running away, as a form of pre-emption.

Harlan K. Ullman, a political author, commentator, and a retired United States Naval Commander said this about Pre-Emption;

“Preemption is and always will be a potentially useful tool, but it's not something you want to trot out and throw in everybody's face. To have a strategy on pre-emption and make it central is a huge error.”

To apply this message to personal security I would suggest it means that the act of a Pre-Emptive Strike should still be a last resort and not the core or centre of the overall protection strategy.
If my primary strategy is to always hit first, then I will most likely be hitting alot of people that I could perhaps have avoided entirely.

So yes, if we have to go physical, we should always try to hit first and pre-emptively strike, but let’s take a step back and look at how we can avoid this situation altogether.

What if we were able to employ a pre-emption, so effective, that we weren’t even there in the first place. That’s real Pre-Emption. That’s the most effective Pre-Emption money can buy. Guaranteed every time to give 100% satisfactory results. After all, even a well placed, well executed and well timed pre-emptive strike isn’t always guaranteed to give a KO result.

True Pre-Emption is far more versatile than simply physical striking. Pre-Emption means we have taken charge of the situation and have acted rather than re-acted. We are being pro-active instead of in-active and we are controlling the situation instead of it controlling us.

Once we look outside the box that contains only physical pre-emptive action, we then start to access the process that is Pre-Emption.
This process is very simple – the act of acting first. Being pre-emptive means being first and by the shear nature of this action you must, by default, have taken charge of the situation.

Now let’s take this very simple and very basic concept and apply it elsewhere in our lives.

Anything that confronts you or challenges you can only do so if it has an element of control over you. By acting first and taking charge you are being pre-emptive.

Making the call to an old friend instead of moaning that they haven’t called you in a long time. Taking the steps to find a new job instead of remaining unfulfilled and unchallenged in your present one. Making the first move to make up with your partner after an argument. Calling your landlord to tell him you’re going to be late with the rent instead of putting off the uncomfortable conversation.

Yes, these things have all happened to me in round-about ways recently, and I’m sure I could fill pages more with other examples. And believe me when I say that I am still learning massively every day. Whilst I may have gotten down to an auto-pilot level the act of a physical Pre-Emptive Strike in a confrontational situation, other areas in my own life where pre-emption would be advantageous are still in their developing stages and I’m proud to say that I am still learning and growing.

The only way to take charge in all of these situations, gain some control and have some management of your future direction, is to be pre-emptive.

Just as in a self protection situation, the longer you leave your decision to become pre-emptive, the worse the situation gets. Often it will spiral to a point where it is simply too late to be pre-emptive and you are then left with no options but to react.

“Having No Option” is not a good place to be.
Conversely, the sooner you act, and the sooner you are pre-emptive, the more choices you have open to you. Choice is great because when you are in a position to choose you are in control.

Pre-Emption isn’t just about hitting first, it’s about Acting first, whatever the situation and whatever that action is.
So if you wish to call it a “Pre-Empt”, feel free to do so because if someone asks you what that applies to – tell them it applies to Everything and not just physical self protection.

Stay Safe and Have Fun

Al x