When thinking about self defense and personal protection I think it's important to be really clear on what your objectives are.
Too often we attempt to rationalize that we will have to develop the mind set to expode in a rage to take out a violent attacker without first breaking down and analyzing what we are really after and what the likelyhood of certain events is as well as the awareness necessary to often avoid those events.
Personally, I feel that inner peace is the formost priority on my mind.
I therefore do everything in my power to become a force for peace by taking an objective look at my surroundings and especially situations that arise.
If ever involved in an emotional situation I find it's best always to not get emotionally involved in the situation and try to maintain a calm but strong demeanor.
This is especially true early on in an altercation and serves to de-escalate or prevent the situation from escalating.
By refusing to take an emotional part in an altercation you can be the stronger force.
Keep in mind that violence rarely occurs spontaneously and usually has a build up, the only real exception to this is is you are ambushed which is very rare and can usually be pre-empted if you keep a strong awareness of your surroundings.
It's important to also write out a checklist of what a self defense altercation will look like.
Anything you can walk away from is NOT self defense.
In other words, If you can walk away from the situation then any violence that transpires, you are taking part in and NOT defending yourself in the eyes of the law.
A self defense situation is one where you truly have no choice but to be violent against someone in order to protect your physical safety, that violence can only be enough to stop the violence from the other party, that is to say, when the other person is no longer capable of inflicting damage, you have to do your best to get out of the situation or alert authorities. Anything else can be seen by the eyes of the law as you assaulting someone else.
I think anyone thinking about complete self defense needs to think about these factors and develop the inner qualities necessary in self protection, and that has alot more to deal with then just fighting mindset.
