Personal Defense Framework

Getting a handle on the topic of personal defense can seem like an uphill battle; especially for those new to it. There's an overwhelming amount of information available making it easy get lost in the minutia and lose sight of the big picture. To help keep things on track I utilize what I refer to as the Personal Defense Framework. It's a way to organize the aspects of personal defense in a hierarchical and progressive manner loosely based upon the timeline of a theoretical attack. 

Visualize a hypothetical attack represented on a timeline with the physical assault happening in the middle. Everything left of the assault are the things that must first occur before it can happen. Everything to the right is the aftermath that follows. If personal defense is the act of preventing or defending against attacks then it's clear that you should be learning skills which increase your chances of both preventing an attack from ever occurring and surviving attacks which can't be avoided. Additionally, it is necessary to have an understanding of the psychological and legal issues which follow an attack.(1) 

Hence, the subject matter can be conceptually broken down into three broad categories of Preventing Attacks, Responding to Attacks and the Aftermath

I. Preventing Attacks
II. Responding to Attacks

III. The Aftermath of an Attack

These three broad categories are then broken down into various subcategories of related material with the goal of making the topic of personal defense easier to understand. It also provides a method of easily adding new material by sorting it into already established conceptual categories.

I. Preventing Attacks

  A. Avoidance
  B. Deterrence
    -Victim Selection

    -Confident Self Projection

  C. Awareness/Identifying Potential Threats

    -Why Awareness Is Important: OODA Loop

    -Color Codes of Awareness

    -Intuition
   D. Managing Known & Unknown Contacts

    -Types of Violence

    -De-escalation

    -Assertiveness (Boundary & Refusal Skills)

  E. Limiting Access/Target Hardening

  

II. Responding to Attacks
  A. Unarmed Defense     

  B. Armed Defense

  C. Psychological & Physiological Effects of Combat
  D. Legal Aspects of Personal Defense

III. The Aftermath of an Attack
  A. Legal Considerations

  B. Physical & Psychological Treatment

Personal Defense Resource List

(1) This timeline approach originated with my reading of the book "Left of Bang" which I highly recommend.

Notes:

Consider combining Avoidance, Deterrence and Awareness into one heading.