Awareness: the best self defense

Seniors learned various safety tips Tuesday evening at the Senior Safety First event. Ryan Fotheringham, owner of Freestyle Combative System in Rock Springs lead a demonstration on self defense.

He stressed the importance of being aware; aware of one's surroundings, aware of other people, and aware of how you present yourself.

Criminals and people who want to hurt people are looking for people who aren't paying attention, Fotheringham said. The reason that is, he said, is if you're not paying attention, you make the easiest victim.

"They don't come walking up to people that are looking around, being cognitive, and paying attention, they look for the guys on their cell phone," he said.

Another key factor is kids. If a senior is in public with their grandkids, or any adult with children, they make the biggest target because an adult will pay closest attention to the child, defend the child before themselves. Children can be distracting from a persons surroundings, but a person must stay vigilant.

"I have four kids, so when I go out in public it is a heyday for me, I mean it's crazy, but I pay attention," Fotheringham said. "So if you're out and about with your kids, your grandkids, pay attention to people."

Fotheringham says self defense starts with your mind. It starts with how you think, he said.

How a person presents themselves in public contributes to a good defense and offense.

"We tend to look at who is inferior to us, who is the easier person to get to," Fotheringham said. "If you look down at the ground, most people think that you're not paying attention, you don't care, you're not communicating with them. So keep your eyes up, keep your eyes moving."

A person is more likely to target someone they can catch by surprise, don't let them.