By Alan Bell, from the Scottish Centre for Personal Safety.

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IN my last article, I explained how we had been asked to provide our empowering personal safety/self-defence courses to groups of female runners in Aberfoyle, Milngavie, Glasgow and Cumbernauld following incidents of males stalking, chasing and flashing, lone female runners in wooded areas.

I explained what to do if you think someone is following you either in a secluded, wooded area or in a deserted street, and how to turn around to face your stalker and put doubt in their mind by pretending you recognise them.

This time, I want to tell you about warning signs and danger signs – the subconscious body reactions every human gives off before they attack.

At the end of the day, we are all animals. Once you understand this, you’ll understand how alike we are. The bear stands on it’s hind legs when threatened or about to attack – why? To make itself look bigger. The bullfrog blows its up to twice its size. Cats and dogs raise the hair on their backs. And we are no different. We will do things, subconsciously, to make ourselves look bigger and more of a threat before we attack.

These are what we call warning signs and include: direct, prolonged eye contact, breathing accelerates, facial colour darkens (flushing), stands tall to maximise height, head is back, arms outstretched to maximise width, feet shuffling or kicking the ground.

If you see a warning sign, and remember you may only see one of these signs, it’s time for you to escape. Leave the room, cross the street, run away.

READ MORE: The Ardross-man: How to defend yourself against a potential attacker

This quickly changes as your attacker moves to an attack position. Their danger signs include: stance changes to sideward to protect the vital organs, head drops forward to protect the throat, eyebrows drop to protect the eyes, lips tighten over teeth, facial colour pales, hands rise above the waist, shoulders tense, fists clench, aggressor looks at body targets instead of your eyes.

If you see a danger sign, it may only be one of these, you don’t have time to escape. You’re about to get hit and you need to defend yourself.

The perfect example for witnessing all of these signs simultaneously is the drunken brawl where, in an inebriated state, we lose our civilized inhibitions and revert back to the basic instincts in us and every animal.

Warning signs are displayed as the drunk shouts and gestures wildly, throws his arms wide and pushes his chin up to make himself look taller (pictured top left).

As the drunk commits to striking, his body will involuntarily turn to the side to protect its vital organs, the fists will clench and the fight is on.

READ MORE: The Ardross-man: Spotlight on Tai Chi and Qigong

Once you realise that everyone displays these warning and danger signs before they attack, it becomes easier to prevent or avoid it happening to you.

Deja-vous, sixth sense, instincts, intuition (especially if you are a woman); whatever you want to call it, your subconscious brain will invariably help you ‘feel’ good or bad about a situation or a person. This may even be you subconsciously picking up on the other person’s warning and danger signs.

Learn to trust this feeling and use it to your full advantage. If a person or a situation makes you feel unsafe or uncomfortable - get away from it. Your intuition may be trying to tell you something, so listen to it.

Next time, I’ll tell you about the t-zone. Where to strike if all else fails and you have to defend yourself. But, in the meantime, if you would like to come to our weekly Krav Maga self defence class for women and under 18s, pop into our Barony St John Centre on Princes Street, Ardrossan on a Thursday at 6pm.

You can check our website, www.ScotCPS.org.uk or search for ScotCPS on your social media pages. Stay safe.