Tips on How to Survive an Armed Robbery
Long story short, I am a guard at a store during the overnight shift. Last week our store was robbed at gunpoint by a masked assailant with a shotgun. And for about two minutes I was staring down the barrel of it, trying to keep everybody calm.
To help cope with the shock of my first involvement in a violent crime - I humbly present these tips as what I think helped me get through the incident.
This one should sound like a no-brainer, but after going through the event I’m beginning to suspect that underneath everybody’s exterior is a monkey. This monkey represents all of our basic and fundamental drives, it tells us when to eat, drink, eliminate, and sleep. This monkey is also the part of you that when it senses danger, tells you to throw caution to wind and hoof it to safety. Now I’m not saying this monkey should be ignored and you have to remain. One of the store associates booked it to the opposite end of the building to hide, and I think she did the right thing.
However, I think a panicked reaction feeds a panicked atmosphere; and when you are dealing with a person who is already tense from having to plan and execute a heist, the last thing I would want him to be is nervous.
So after the associate fled, there was only one customer, the robber, and myself. In that situation, the customer was depending on me to ensure his safety - and the robber was depending on me to get him what he needed (the money). In that situation, I had to push the monkey behind me and project serenity. A soft tone of voice, keeping my hands up, no sudden movements, and direct answers to his questions and demands. No money was handed over, and the robber left of his own free will. I believe that my remaining calm, allowed him to remain calm - calm enough to realize that he could still escape before authorities arrived.
2.) The Path of Least Resistance
Aren’t you a martial arts blog?
Don’t martial arts include self-defense and weapon disarms?
Then why didn’t you try and disarm him?
First, I was some distance away (about the length of a car); and there is no technique that works at a distance greater than your reach.
Second, why fight if I didn’t have to? Every self-defense manual, article, or video that I’ve consumed all agree that during a hold-up IT IS BETTER TO SURRENDER PROPERTY THAN ATTEMPT RESISTANCE. The guy was a thief, all he wanted was money so why not just give it to him? I couldn’t give it to him (I couldn’t open the register), but if I had the ability I would’ve.
In the concepts of Wing Chun, there is a great emphasis on seeking and taking the path of least resistance. You try and use this path to end the confrontation because it is a) usually the quickest b) the most efficient and c) the one most likely to keep you safe. Even if, say 30 years down the road, I’ve mastered both Tang Soo Do and Wing Chun and any other art I might get involved in. If a guy stops me in a dark alley and tells me to give him my wallet, I’m going to give him my wallet; because after I give it to it him, he’s probably going to leave me alone. This is the path of least resistance.
Okay, that’s Wing Chun, what about Tang Soo Do?
Same thing. In the five codes of the World Tang Soo Do Association, the same codes used by the Hwa Rang warriors, the fifth code states:
“In fighting, choose with sense and honor.”
Which I feel can be interpreted as “Fight only when necessary”. And why engage him in combat, if that’s not my only option?
You just told us not to fight back!
No, I said to seek the path of least resistance; in this case it would have been to just surrender property. But even as you calmly conduct yourself in a reasonable manner, you have to be ready.
I will openly admit that even as I calmly talked to the robber, my eyes fixated on the shotgun, my mind was racing. Playing out possible plans of action. Routes and methods of attack, whether this hiding spot would offer cover from buck shot or slug rounds, etc. All of this occurring because I knew things could’ve gone south really fast. I had every possible plan mapped out in my head.
I was ready, but not tense.
Again, a concept in Wing Chun is the absence of tension in the body. Keeping your body in a relaxed state that you only have to use as much effort as you need to (anything more is a net loss). While I’m not as tension-free as my Sifu, I’ve learned that not being tense is a mental game.
If you can achieve a state of mind where you are prepared to do what you have to do when the time comes, you are ready.
If your body is physically tightened and coiled like a spring, you are tense.
A tense body and mind is easy to read. A ready body and mind doesn’t telegraph your intentions as much.
Back to TSD, the difference being ready and being tense is easy enough to see while sparring. When your opponent tenses up a certain limb, it catches your eye. When you have your attention focused on it, you can use information from your senses (it’s relative position to the opponent’s body, which way it is moving, if the movement is synced up with a kihap, etc) to try and guess what it is going to do. If your sparring partner is free of tension, they are harder to read, because their body is ready to do anything.
Be ready, but don’t be tense.
