If you're walking alone down a dark street, and you notice a suspicious person starting to approach you, what should you do? Should you wait until they have their hands on you to start preparing to fight back? No! What you do before the attack begins can have a huge impact on the outcome of the attack. If you know an attack is coming- or just have a gut feeling that you might be in danger- it's time to start mentally preparing yourself. If you have a stun gun, pepper spray, or another self defense device, it's time to make sure it's immediately accessible, not buried in the bottom of your bag.

What if you're face to face with the assailant, and you know you're about to get tackled? What should you do then? If you have a self defense device, it's a wise idea to pull it out so that you can get away quickly. But what if you're completely unarmed? If you plan to hit and kick your way out of the situation, should you be the first one to strike?

Martial arts teachers are divided over the issue of the pre-emptive strike. On the one hand, most traditional training begins with the “assailant” attacking the student. As a result, many students think that they can wait for someone to attack them, at which point the student deftly escapes the attack using their martial arts techniques. Although these strategies work well in practice, will you really be able to escape such a situation by beginning to fight back only after the attack has already begun? These techniques may not work, because fighting in a martial arts competition and real fighting on the street are two completely different things, requiring two completely different techniques.

As a result, many martial arts teachers are beginning to encourage the pre-emptive attack in real self defense situations. In other words, hit them before they hit you. Many people, however, shy away from making the first move. Maybe they're not very confident in their fighting skills. Maybe they're worried about the law. Won't they get in trouble for initiating the attack?

The short answer is, no. Whether you use a self defense device, or protect yourself using your fists, as long as you can show that the attack was indeed imminent the law allows you to protect yourself physically. If you can show that there was nothing you could do except fight back physically, the law should be on your side.

In the end, it is often unwise to wait for your attacker to get his hands on you before you put up a defense. Once you're already grappling with an assailant, how easily will you be able to pull out your pepper spray or get into position for one of the martial arts moves you know? You will find it very difficult to defend yourself if you wait until you're already in this situation. By allowing the attack to happen without putting up a pre-emptive defense, you lose control of the situation. It's always best to run away from the situation, if at all possible, but if not, you should be the one to make the first move. If the attack is truly inevitable, you have no reason to wait.