Books
The first R.E.A.C.T book
‘Think Safe, Act Safe, Stay Safe with R.E.A.C.T’
What’s in a name?
We are all familiar with the following phrases; self-defence, anger management, personal protection, conflict resolution, unarmed combat, confrontation management, physical intervention. The list goes on and on, and I’m sure you can think of a few more, but what are they? ‘Names’. That’s all, just names. We live in a ‘have to have it yesterday’ megabyte world that insists on everything being appropriately packaged and labelled. Everything must have a name and that name should communicate to us exactly what it is and what it’s supposed to do. I believe many of the names given to the subject of personal safety are confusing. Is conflict resolution the same as unarmed combat? I don’t think so. Is confrontation management the same as self-defence? Could be. Is personal protection the same as physical intervention? I don’t know. What do you think?
I have spent almost forty years of my life working as a professional communicator. I have been the creative head of several international, blue chip companies designing promotional and marketing material for products as diverse as ethical drugs, beer and guided missiles. In 1986, I established my own consultancy specialising in the design and production of promotional, training and educational material for the law enforcement, defence and security industry. This is how I make my living, but I have another life that runs in tandem. In 1956 I was introduced to the art of jujutsu, which marked the beginning of a lifelong love affair with the martial arts. The profound thoughts and skills of the ancient masters have fascinated me all my life. Over the years, I have had the privilege of training with some of the world’s most eminent authorities in martial arts, self-defence and personal protection, and as a civilian working in a highly sensitive field, I have been given privileged access to many aspects of close protection as well as some of the more militaristic CQB (close-quarter battle) systems used by law enforcement professionals and special forces.
Years of working with organisations and companies, helping them to sell their products and services, has taught me many things; one of the most crucial lessons has been the importance of the product name, and what message that name conveys to the reader. The world of commerce is strewn with the forgotten remnants of failed products, as a result of some advertising agency or marketing consultant getting the name, and therefore the message, wrong.
Years of studying, training and teaching people how to protect themselves has also taught me many things and, I have to say, mostly about myself. Watch out, here’s some more names; Krav-Maga, Karate, Chin-na, Judo, Aikido, Pak-ua, Jujutsu, Kempo, Hapkido, Silat, Aikijutsu Wushu. You may recognise some of the words, but do you know what they really mean and whether they would be truly relevant to your personal safety? Do you know the difference between Aikido and Aikijutsu? Is Karate a deadly fighting art, or just a sport played for points? Do you care? Preconceived ideas of what the names mean could be the difference between ending up in hospital and ending up in court. When it comes to your safety, or that of those in your care, there is no room for misunderstanding the meaning of a name, and that is why I invented the REACT system, based on a word that cannot be misunderstood in any language.
Huge amounts of ‘claptrap’ is talked about self-defence and personal protection. Most of what martial artists practice in terms of self-defence is not realistic. The moment there is a contest, there is awareness, which means there is preparation. These psychological components completely change the mindset. In a real situation there are so many emotional and psychological factors that the sensory overload can negate all those years of training. Most systems focus on the offensive. In other words, they fixate on what they will do to the attacker after the attack. Following the logical sequence of the REACT system is a perspective shift that increases perception speed and decreases reaction time. REACT equips you to Recognise a potential threat, Evaluate its seriousness, consider your Alternatives and Concentrate all your physical and mental actions in order to Terminate the situation appropriately.
I conceived and refined the REACT system over a twenty-year period. My original concept was to enable anyone, regardless of their age, gender, strength or level of fitness, to understand that they possessed the ability to recognise danger and defend themselves without years studying martial arts or fighting. People loved it, everyone I trained immediately recognised the power of the system and just how easy the concept of the REACT tactical toolbox was to understand. In 1995 I submitted a synopsis for the idea of a REACT book to Harper Collins Publishers, (sadly no relation). They seemed to love it too, and subsequently commissioned me to write the manuscript and design all 160 pages. As I constructed the layouts and committed all my thoughts to paper, it became more and more obvious that REACT could be adapted to suit practically anyone in any situation; from your Mum handling a mugger in a car park or a teacher controlling a disruptive child in school to a special forces solider dealing with an armed terrorist. The only thing that changes within the formula is the method of termination.
REACT has no ego. There is no conflict of interest with any other training system. In fact, it dovetails perfectly with all of them. You could say REACT is every body’s friend. I set up REACT Tactical Solutions Limited in 2002 specifically to offer REACT training to a professional market. Since then, the system has metamorphosed into something that 20 years ago I could have not imagined in my wildest dreams.
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‘Avoiding and surviving a knife attack with R.E.A.C.T’
Knife crime touches us all
There are many determined and desperate people in this world who are more than happy to maim and kill in the pursuit of their cause. Their motivation can be anything from just gratuitous brutality, robbery or rape to the most heinous acts of international terrorism.
The vast majority of these acts of violence will involve the use of a weapon. It is a fact that weapons-related crime is, and has for many years been, on the increase. It would be easy to fill this book with government statistics that show how incidents of shootings, stabbings and beatings are escalating out of control in many areas of our society. The carrying of offensive and deadly weapons is now such a massive problem throughout the world that, like it or not, each and every one of us has already been affected by it. Weapons-related crime has permeated the very fabric of our communities, it degrades the quality of all our lives, and no one is immune. Even incidents of our children carrying weapons and committing horrific crimes of violence, murder and rape are on the increase. Bizarre as it may sound, some communities are literally living in fear of the local children. Although all weapons are becoming increasingly familiar, it is the knife that is still the most common and the weapon by which you are most likely to be confronted.
Nobody, not even in their wildest dreams, would ever choose to be faced with a situation where they had to deal with knife-wielding attacker. However, every minute of every day somebody, somewhere, is faced with exactly that. No choice, no options, no alternatives. They are there in the moment and, sadly, all too often dealing with a set of circumstances that are a matter of life or death.
Unfortunately I can speak from bitter personal experience. I have been one of those people trapped in the middle of your worst nightmare.
One bitter cold, damp, and pitch black December night, I was ambushed from behind by a common street robber in the car park at the rear of my offices. One second I was on my own minding my own business and the next I had company, vicious company. There he was, and dressed to kill, black balaclava, heavy black leather coat and gloves, the complete intimidation regalia.
The guy pushed a Stanley knife (box cutter) against my throat and told me, in no uncertain terms, to give him all my cash and credit cards or… “I will cut your fucking eyes out!”
He could have opened me up from ear to ear in less than a heartbeat, and there was absolutely nothing I could have done to stop it at that point. However, he only wanted money that night, not my life; and it was that very fact that gave me time to compose myself and start the thought process of what the hell am I going to do now? My brain was racing at a million miles an hour REACT, REACT, REACT. Come on Steve you teach this stuff you write books and give people advice on what to do when shit like this happens REACT, REACT, REACT. Although it all happened in the blink of an eye it seemed to take hours, but to cut a long story short, ‘training’ kicked in. He ended up in prison and I’m still here to tell the tale, but make no mistake I was lucky - very, very lucky.
Despite what you may believe about knife defence, the difference between the stylish techniques performed with pinpoint accuracy and elegance in the training hall and the real thing is staggering. Just remember one simple thing; put a knife in the hands of an eight-year-old kid with violent intent, or an eighty-year-old grandmother who thinks you are going to harm her grandchild, and you have a problem that could snatch the life out of you in a blink of an eye, no matter how well trained you think you are.
NOT FOR THE FIGHTER
The thought of being stabbed or slashed with any blade fills us all with trepidation. Throughout history, criminals have always known that the knife creates more physical and psychological terror than any other weapon. This is why knives are often the preferred weapons of the armed robber and, as 9/11 showed us all, the use of edged weapons can create such terror and control over others that the end result can be so catastrophic it doesn’t bear thinking about. However, this is not a book about knife fighting nor is it a book for the martial artists who are looking to hone their technique in the dojo. The pages are not crammed with fancy defensive knife tactics and techniques that in reality probably wouldn’t work without having had twenty years of dedicated study and training. This book is not for the knife fighter, because real knife fighters learn their skills in the field, on the streets and in the prison yards.
A BOOK FOR YOU AND ME
Attack from an edged weapon represents the most likely form of violent threat that any of us faces. Police, security professional or civilian alike, the knife is the weapon you are most commonly going to encounter in a violent confrontation.
There are those amongst us that attract violence and therefore put their lives at risk every day by the very nature of their chosen career. One example would be police officers. You only have to read the headlines. ‘Police officer killed in frenzied knife attack’. ‘Custody Sergeant seriously injured by prisoner in cell’. ‘Officer stabbed by twelve-year-old youth during routine stop and search’. ‘Female police officer has face slashed by girlfriend of suspect during questioning’. Stories like these occur daily throughout the world invoking outrage and indignation. Sadly, however, by the very nature of the job, these types of tragedies will always be with us. These people do get some training on how to handle this type of violent attack, but all too often it is woefully lacking in any reality or substance. What about all those others out there, people like you and me, we may not court violence, but are nevertheless still in danger from it.
Teachers, Doctors, Fire-fighters, Nurses, Shop assistants and ParaMedics, I apologise to all those I have missed but you get the picture and you know who you are, this book is for you. This book is for all of you who recognise and accept that one day it may just be your turn to face the reality of a knife attack, no matter what your profession or lifestyle.
