This page is dedicated to a few resources that will help you as you cycle through "tools" and decisions. As you dive deeper into the subject of "decisions", you may see slightly different styles but the core values are the same....get to safety! 

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Anthropologist Edward T. Hall defines four distance zones maintained by healthy, adult, middle-class Americans in his book, The Hidden Dimension. This is an intriguing book explains “proxemics” and the difference in “distance awareness” among many cultural groups. There are several “aspects” of proxemics. The one that Hall writes about is the distance maintained between people when they are communicating. He named these distances or zones Public, Social, Personal & Intimate. Because of Halls framework, we KNOW people can FEEL the pressure of whether the person belongs in that ZONE/SPACE. People have a hard time managing distances so in IBDD we will touch on pairing the decisional process with the lack of time and managing space. We need to think about how fast violence happens, limited choices and making the BEST decision based on the space and time available. Standing still is a bad idea but we are presenting this way to help you understand how TIME and SPACE effects your ability to respond. In self protection distance management, we can use Hall's research to our purpose by measuring the violence options available to THE BAD PERSON and measure the options available to US to react + act = respond. We have named these spaces  "Reactionary Zones", MOST time (25 feet and beyond), SOME time (12 feet to 25 feet), LEAST time (6 feet to 12 feet) and NO time (under 6 feet).
REACTIONARY ZONES – IMAGE ABOVE = YOU ARE THE PERSON IN BLUE SHIRT & BROWN HAIR ON THE END
 
MOST time to react: 25ft & BEYOND
  • No one can control this distance. You can't “manage” him.
  • People have a right to be there, until they don’t.
  • Usually in no danger. No threat.
  • ROUGHLY 1.5 seconds or more to sprint that distance.
This distance GIVES YOU:
  • MOST time for early warning decisions.
  • MOST time to decide what to do like be prepared w flashlight or pepper spray IN HAND.
  • MOST time to gather more information. Can you see their hands? Weapons? Movement towards waist? Hidden hand position?
  • Make the distance come ALIVE by walking or running away from that person. Do they care? Follow?

SOME time to react: 12ft - 25ft
  • Still hard to control this distance. You can't “manage” him.
  • People still have a right to be there, until they don’t.
  • Could be in danger. Could be a threat.
  • ROUGHLY 1 -1.5 seconds to sprint that distance.
  • Dennis Tueller’s “Principle”
This distance GIVES YOU:
  • SOME time to decide what to do like to have pepper spray IN HAND, avoid, etc.
  • SOME time to tool cycle.
  • SOME time to gather more information. Can you see their hands? Weapons? Movement towards waist? Hidden hand position?
  • Make the distance come ALIVE by walking or running away from that person. Do they care? Follow?

LEAST time to react: 6ft - 12ft
  • At this distance. You do have the opportunity to “manage” him.
  • In reality, HEALTHY ADULTS still have a right to be there but they are MOST defiantly encroaching on your PERSONAL space per Hall.
  • Could be in danger. Could be a threat.
  • ROUGHLY .75 - 1 second to sprint that distance.
At this distance “A DECISION MUST BE MADE”:
  • LEAST time OR “just enough time” if you are READY for the fight.
  • Do you have…decisional training? Tool training? Pre-need decision in place?
  • Can you see their hands? Weapons? Movement towards waist? Hidden hand position?
  • Without training and practice, probably no space or time for “tool cycling”
  • At 6ft you can BOTH extend your arms and touch each other.
  • A stride length is roughly 3 feet so at 12 feet they are only 3 strides from you to reach out and grab you.
  • Not enough space to run at 6ft. Possibly enough at 12ft.
  • Movement and barriers gives you distance which equal TIME.
  • TOOLS: Verbal commands. Pepper Spray. Force on Force. Escalation of force.
 
NO time to react: 6ft and UNDER. This distance is also a “NO CHOICE” Zone.
  • You have no choice but to “manage” him.
  • He has NO right to be there.
  • You ARE in danger. This IS a threat.
  • NO “sprinting time” for you and NO time to deploy a weapon safely because they are THERE!
  • This is FULL ACTION time. The fight is upon us.
  • Where are his hands?? Fists? Weapons?
  • HOW did he get this close? Maybe we did not manage the space in the zones that were further from us OR we were attacked from behind or ambushed.
  • Can you ACT first, not second? Get a turn?
  • Force on Force is a MUST. You have NO CHOICE.
  • NEVER STOP FIGHTING. SCREAM. KICK. HIT.
  • Now, you have to EARN THE SPACE to get away so you can make decisions to get “tools” into the fight or even run to safety.
"Every single day we post a real defensive encounter caught on camera and perform an after-action report on it for lessons learned. We educate the public on what we see that works and what we see that doesn't in real robberies, muggings, carjackings, and other defensive situations. Our approach is evidence-based, meaning they try hard not to have a pre-set dogma but to go where the actual evidence leads towards more positive outcomes for good people."
Active Self Protection


​William Aprill of Aprill Risk Consulting
Personal Defense Network's WILLIAM APRILL TRIBUTE PAGE By Editor
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"William Aprill was a unique educator in the personal defense training community. He saw things through a slightly different lens than most instructors. He communicated differently, challenged people to think differently, and had a huge impact on the way people prepared to defend themselves or others. His work also motivated many people to begin self-defense training as well. His focus was on changing the way people thought about violence. He wanted to help people accept both the reality and the irrationality of the potential for extreme violence in all our lives. His work was a critical addition in a field that is filled with a focus on physical techniques and defensive tools. He knew that our mind is our most important tool and our techniques of observation and thought were the most important to develop. He will be missed… but, we hope that his contributions will be celebrated, shared and appreciated through this tribute page". 
Personal Defense Network

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