The current U.S. murder rates have skyrocketed to the highest point in 20 years. The UK appears to have a 7% increase in murders and a doubling of knife attacks in the last five years to a historic level.
If you think it's more violent out there, it's because it is. Given today's environment -- as economic, health, societal, and political situations worsen -- our personal safety is less certain.
It is seemingly out of control. For example those things dominating the news cycle are generally some of our most worrisome subjects. Things like:
Coronavirus infection rates
The state of the economy
International geo-political situations
Domestic political upheaval
Societal fracturing
All of these situations are seemingly adding to the increase in crime and weakening our ability to protect and provide for our families. Yet, we have no control over them.
Can't Control
When interpersonal violence strikes, there are a number of things we cannot control:
The time of the attack
The place of the attack
The number of our attackers
The skill level of our attackers
And, especially, the motives of our attackers.
Can Control
However, there are many things we can control which have a direct effect on our self-defense:
Our levels of awareness
Our knowledge of the moral and legal implications surrounding the use of force
Our fighting skills and abilities
Our level of physical fitness
Our equipment and defensive tools
What to Improve
If we focus on the areas which we can control, then we can make real strides in our self-defense and personal protection efforts.
Some tips:
Realize there might not be anyone coming to save you. It's all your responsibility.
The best weapon is your brain. Keep learning (“sharpen your hatchet”).
Get training. Learn from experts. There is a lot you don’t know about violence in the real world.
Practice religiously. Master the fundamentals to make yourself unconsciously competent. This will take thousands of repetitions. Schedule a way to get repetitions into your week. Fifteen minutes a day is better than two hours once a week. Seriously, practice like your life depends on it.
Test your skills in environments which replicate the real world. That means dynamic, rapidly evolving, unfamiliar, in the dark, and against uncooperative adversaries.
Train physically for speed, strength, endurance, and flexibility. Yeah, all four. Fit people are harder to kill.
Always be improving your equipment and tools.
Always be improving your skills.
Always be improving your fitness.
Never quit. Never. Ever. Stay in the fight.