Evolutionary Self-Protection

Consterdine, Peter and Thompson, Geoff. The Pavement Arena Part Two: ‘The Protection Pyramid’. Legend Video Productions. 1993.

Review: The Pavement Arena Part 2: ‘The Protection Pyramid’:
by Josh Nixon, ESP

This review is part of a series. Part one can be found here, this is part two, part three can be found here, part four can be found here and part five (sort of – it follows on from part four but isn’t part of the Pavement Arena series) can be found here.

’Confidence […] from simplicity of approach’ – that sums up the efficiency of Peter and Geoff’s approach to self-protection, and indeed the approach of this series. Early on in the video Peter Consterdine advises people that if they bought a self-protection video that’s just a series of ‘physical tricks’, they should go and get their money back because that’s not what self-protection’s about. He’s spot-on. This video in the series deals with the psychological and conceptual side of self-protection; the proactive, preventative aspect that is often missing from or inadequate in many approaches. Going beyond the often-heard and easily-said ‘just stay aware and run off if you can’ that some still consider enough for this area, this video introduces the ‘Protection Pyramid’.

This video goes through concepts around personal security (as an umbrella term for threat awareness, threat evaluation and threat avoidance), attack scenarios, fear, types of attack, assessment (numbers of attackers, weapons, etc), perceptions, reaction (tactics, response and environment), lineups (‘the fence’), adrenaline switches, ranges and tools, targets, pre-emptive striking, multiple attackers, strategy and tactics in that order. As I’m sure is evident, this video is a highly useful and well-thought-out resource for anyone to learn from. The concepts above may sound complicated or even confusing at first glance, but the way they are explained makes the information readily accessible and easily understood.

The ‘Protection Pyramid’ is a graphic and visually illustrative way of presenting the complex problems and solutions of self protection. The Protection Pyramid continues the ‘no nonsense’ theme established in part one of this series and with re-constructed ‘street attacks’, the viewer can see clearly the reality of how traditional, unabridged martial arts systems will not work in such confrontations.

Each section of the pyramid illustrates a separate concept and build up to a comprehensive system for defensive tactics. This video does not only cover the physical aspects of self defence, but tackles the often forgotten aspects such as fear and how not to be psyched out by opponents. (Information taken from http://www.peterconsterdine.com/arena2.htm, 31.12.2012.)

I can’t recommend this enough. If you get any of the Pavement Arena series, get this one. The amount of information packed into this video really is phenomenal and it is essential for students, instructors and untrained members of the public alike. If you’re not well-educated in the theoretical side of self-protection then I recommend you invest in this video. If you are, I would anyway because you could learn something regardless. I did.

This video is available on DVD or for digital download (much cheaper, understandably) from http://www.peterconsterdine.com/store.htm. Further information and a download link can also be found at http://www.peterconsterdine.com/arena2.htm.