The attached screen cap of a parking lot surveillance tape tells a haunting story of a parking lot attack, an attack that may have been avoided if the female victim had known of the Color Code of Awareness (see below). The news video (courtesy of CBS Boston) is 2:21. The full attack is not shown, just the first of 39 punches to the young woman. From the photo, it appears she is not paying much attention to the man about to assault her. If the truth is as it appears to be, she is living in “Code White” a “no-no.” Read on and watch the video.
The first fundamental of self-defense is awareness. How can any person defend himself or herself if they’re not aware of their environment and what is in that environment? Check out the Color Code chart below, courtesy of Dr. Ignatius Piazza, founder of Front Sight. The color code for a lack of awareness is “white.” From all indications, the young woman pictured above is in “Code White” - totally unaware of, and unprepared for, the man and his bad attentions who is within feet of her. Sadly, she was assaulted and punched 39 times according to the news report. She’s lucky her attacker not only had no weapons but also lacked any substantial degree of punching expertise, which is revealed in the young woman’s post attack interview. For having been hit 39 times, she’s hardly damaged. Pretty tough kid, but still a lucky kid. And next time? What then? Hopefully for her she’ll learn her lesson and there won’t be a “next” time.
The takeaway from this attack is, of course, that we can never, should never, be unaware of our surroundings, ever. This incident happened at night, as is clear from the video. How many other, but more lethal, attacks have occurred under such circumstances? Too many, for sure.
It’s recommended that you study the following chart for your own safety and those who rely on you for protection. Never be in Code White. Live in Code Yellow. Perceive a threat in Code Orange. Devise a self-defense plan in Code Red. Execute in Code Black. This is an excellent format for one’s self-defense. Read it; learn it; follow it. It may well save your life.
Solutions
So what should the young woman have done to avoid such an attack?
- Never think an assault couldn’t happen to her. This would make her intrinsically aware, i.e., living in Code Yellow.
- Survey the parking lot before she exited the gym and never drop her guard.
- When she exited the gym, she could have asked someone to walk with her to her car for safety reasons.
- If she were to walk alone, she should have had a pen or other self-defense tool handy just in case she was attacked.
- It would have been wise for her to visually check the vehicles around her. She seems oblivious to the attacker in the video until it’s too late.
- Once she saw him, she should have started screaming loudly and, if possible, run back toward the gym.
- Did she know any self-defense moves? Taking 39 punches would suggest not.
- Once engaged in an assault, anyone should fight back. Scream, shout, kick, bite, claw, knee, elbow, stomp. Be mean, nasty, vicious, unrelenting, determined.
Fortunately, this young woman’s attack was not worse. Frankly, the attacker seemed pretty incompetent. She was lucky. Hopefully, she will never experience such a violation again and use this assault as motivation to become better prepared and more aware. It’s a weird world, and pretending that such an attack could never happen to us is foolish. Preparation is always the key to success, as well as a safe life.