by Nick Byrne for The Saker Blog
“Russia is such a dangerous country! Why did you come here? How have you managed to survive?» I’ve heard these and similar comments from pessimistic locals, when they learned that I moved from Canada to Russia nearly six years ago. While St. Petersburg is a very safe city by any standard, I’m an active traveler, outdoors sports enthusiast, and I’ve lived in and visited many different parts of the country that are far less wealthy and developed. Most of my perambulations have been entirely without conflict, although on a few occasions I ended up in situations where I had to defend myself. Analyzing these conflicts may provide useful lessons for those interested in self-defence. Taking a cue from Sun Tzu, I will start with a few words about myself before describing the environments in which conflicts may occur, and «the enemies».
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Yours truly is a reasonably successful, self-employed English tutor who mostly works from home, although in pre-quarantine times spent two or three days of the week in the St. Petersburg city center with corporate clients. I do not own a car, and I take public transport (commuter trains, metro, busses) to and from most of my meetings. I’m a good runner and cross-country skier, I served in the army 10 years ago, and I trained in Shotokan Karate as a teenager. I’m tall and on the strong side of athletically-built. Also, I do not engage in any high-risk lifestyle activities, I never visit nightclubs and only occasionally visit the local pub for a couple of pints with friends. I’ve never had any issues with the police, either here in Russia or while living in Canada. So, who I am as a person and my lifestyle precludes many problematic situations that other people may be faced with.
My living environment here in Russia is suburban, approximately middle-class, family-oriented, and (pre-coronavirus) economically stable, although not particularly wealthy. There’s no obvious criminal activity or racial tension around, no gangs and only minimal trade in illegal substances, and violent crime, muggings and burglary are rare. Beautiful, natural parks are within a short walk of my apartment, and they’re mostly used by locals for fishing, walking alone or with friends, barbecue parties, bike riding, fitness and dog walking. When I commute to the city center or travel further afield, most of the people around me are students, a mix of blue- and white-collar workers, parents with children, and the elderly. Commuter trains are well-kept (although simple), and monitored by train conductors and security guards. Prohibited behaviour like smoking (between wagons) and drinking openly or covertly is uncommon and increasingly rare. Weapons are generally restricted, and laws against violent behaviour are enforced. Because of my living environment, conflict is also unlikely.
So, who is my «enemy»? Who do I really need to watch out for here? Speaking from experience, the enemies are dogs, drunk people, and mentally/emotionally unstable people, in descending order of likelihood multiplied by danger. I got bit by a dog once (the owner, also a total b****, walked off to avoid getting in trouble, even as blood was flowing down my leg) and I vowed to never let that happen again. The pain was one thing, but repeated scheduled visits to the hospital for anti-rabies vaccinations messed up my work and travel plans for months afterwards. I have also had several close encounters with dogs since then, in which I successfully defended myself using pepper spray and a walking stick I carry.
Enemy #2, drunk people, not very dangerous but worth keeping an eye out for. Most drunk people here are lazy, somewhat friendly and conversational, and even philosophical, but from time to time they’re aggressive if you somehow catch their blurry eyes. I’ve never had to fight any drunks, simply because I’ve just been able to walk away from the most aggressive ones. In enclosed spaces, like when I was on a city bus in Tyumen, it was a bit more difficult. A drunk guy heard my accent as I was speaking with friends in Russian, and started to make aggressive antisemitic remarks at me. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, so I assumed he was, I asked some disarming tourist-type questions about the city, and he got off at his stop. As I was looking at him I saw a security camera on the bus and thought that it might end badly for me (legally) if the conflict escalates.
Enemy #3, mentally and emotionally unstable people. Rare, but this is the type that I’m more concerned about. Once I was on a bus in Cherepovets, speaking in English with a colleague of mine, and was attacked by a random crazy guy who probably got triggered by the presence of a foreigner. He was trying to choke me (unsuccessfully), and my colleague and I managed to push him out the open doors when the bus stopped. Thankfully everyone was alright, although the situation could have turned out much worse. If I was to re-live that situation, I would deal with him much more quickly and forcefully instead of hoping for a peaceful outcome.
So, given who I am, the environment, and who the likely enemies are, what’s my self defence strategy? First, avoid the conflict before it begins, not out of cowardice but because of risk management- even tIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battlehe best, most well-armed fighter will lose sometimes, and losing may mean permanent health or mobility problems, or death. Secondly, if a conflict is going to happen, go in to win it without holding back. Thirdly, fighting empty-handed reduces the chances of success, so having a weapon is useful. Deadly weapons such as knives and guns are restricted here in Russia, but you can carry pepper spray (just not on trains and planes- I’ve had mine confiscated before) or a walking stick. Walking sticks, if you know how to use them, are nice because they increase your range and striking power, aren’t affected by wind (like pepper spray is), and can be carried absolutely anywhere.
As our world enters into ever-more interesting and unpredictable times, I’d encourage you to think practically and realistically about self-defence, considering who you are, the environment you live (and mIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battleay have to fight) in, and who your enemies are likely to be. There are no guarantees, but with a solid strategy you will have the confidence to properly address dangerous situations and keep yourself and loved ones safe.
Does anything change security-wise in the current environment of coronavirus? From my perspective in Russia, I honestly don’t know. Russia has many strengths, culturally and institutionally, that can help her to weather crises. But, in the event of international economic collapse, and multiple internal economic sectors facing hard times (restaurants, fitness clubs, tourism-related businesses are in trouble now), exactly what will happen with internal social stability is difficult to predict. To date, I haven’t seen or heard of anything troubling connected with this crisis- there is a quarantine in place, but people still go for walks in local parks (this is St. Petersburg, and Moscow is more strictly locked down from what I’ve heard), church services continue but with reduced frequency, and there are no noticeable shortages of products in local shops. The mood on the streets here is somewhat concerned, but quite calm.
Does the police post crime statistics maps so you can check various postcodes with the type of crime details….
They do. You can Yandex search “статистика преступлений в россии по регионам” and get different websites with analyses. The official source is MVD Rossii, posted here: https://мвд.рф/Deljatelnost/statistics. It’s all in Russian, though.
“f I was to re-live that situation, I would deal with him much more quickly and forcefully instead of hoping for a peaceful outcome”
Ineresting piece, thanks for writing it. I was particularly interested in this comment quoted above. It’s something fure of us think, but it was curious to me to learn how much most of us carry an internal “brake” and it’s operating more than we realise.
We have this inhibition against hurting, I think; partly inborn, very much encouraged by our civilisation and it’s rules.
Yet if we can release that, we can be so much stronger. You realise if, in Emergency, you’re watching some skinny little 16 yr kid totally off his head on some street drug, and 4 burly policemen struggling to hold him down. He now has no inhibitions at all, and the police do. They dont want to hurt him, but this isn’t a conscious thought.
I wonder – does martial arts training help you to release that? I know I thought, “it’s no use trying to release it when under duress. You’ve got to think here and now how to do it, visualise it from time to time, so if the occasion does ever come, you can let go more easily”.
Good to know that there’s little to really worry about in Russia though – how I wish I was there.
In my opinion, some types of martial arts teach some techniques that might be useful in certain, but not all, situations. But, all the sparring (dancing?) done at half or no contact level may reduce your potency in a real fight. Visualizing your response, and watching real videos of real attacks will probably help. An attack will come fast and hard, and you’ll have to keep your mind functioning and come up with an effective and hard response on the spot. Pepper spray or other simple weapon will help.
Self defense?
Martial arts training will (may) help only if the teacher and the system used are of that rare kind of quality that are practically never found. Worse, most of those hard-to-find good schools train for competition, thus sports, and a real fight is another kind of animal and has nothing to do with sport at all.
Good martial arts training is done in several very distinct and important stages, from kihon ((creation of) basic techniques) all the (long) way to kumite (application of techniques). For instance the first technique to learn in judo is how to fall without getting hurt, in karate it is exactly the other way around, the first technique to be learned is stance or ‘how not to fall’.
The way of karate (karate-do), which means nothing else than ‘the way of the empty hand’, which means every possible technique or system without the use of any other weapon than your body and mind, is a very, very long one because one has to unlearn many natural reactions and techniques that are hindering the quite unnatural but very optimized techniques of the art. Between unlearning unwanted natural ‘techniques’ and making the new techniques one’s own there comes a period that one may very well be effectively less strong than before when one was using just natural strength and capabilities.
The idea of eastern martial arts is that by using technique (body and mind) one can overcome natural weaknesses caused by one’s physics, mind, age or health. But before a technique becomes truly part of you, muscle or motor memory, and more so, control of your reactions to fear and anxiety, many lessons and tens if not hundreds of thousands of repetitions of consciously and well performed techniques will be necessary and that will cost many years of training. Outsiders think that a black belt is the ultimate goal while the black belt only shows that one has mastered just the basic techniques of the art, can perform them in kata (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kata), and can reasonably show correct techniques and control of self in kumite. It is just the true beginning of the martial art, somewhat like having finished elementary school and having passed the tests for reading, writing and arithmetic to be allowed to go on to high school.
The fact that many martial arts schools have incompetent teachers does not make the choice of school an easy one and only a truly good teacher may lead to good results. I once witnessed a karate lesson in the dojo (school) of the former olympic karate team leader of the USA by the guy himself and this dear fellow was mixing up the most basic knowledge of the importance and uses of stances and when, after the lesson, I asked him if he could explain to me the difference between creation and application of technique he mumbled some nonsense and then got angry. Watching his lesson I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The teenage karate experience of the author has quite probably given him a false idea of his own capabilities, something that one day when it counts most may cost him dearly. I’m a true believer in the way of karate, as well as that of jiu jitsu and several other useful martial arts, but would not easily advice anyone on this list to put their eggs in any of those bags for it is a very long and difficult journey.
If one wants more expeditive self-defense solutions I’d say pepper spray, disguised stun gun or stun cane (the dogs will run, fast!) and if possible some adapted classes on situational awareness and on how to use these defensive weapons most effectively. In a country where fire arms are allowed I’d get myself a .22LR pistol of good quality and lots of training and classes on how to use this fire arm most adequately.
Why the 22 with such low (according to most gun nuts) ‘stopping power’? Because even extensive training will remain very affordable because of the very low cost of the ammo, and good and much training is truly essential. A well-aimed shot will stop anyway, and even a non-lethal hit will hurt plenty, but because there’s practically no recoil one can immediately take another shot. Mossad assassins seem to be very fond of the .22LR and that should tell us something.
Osu and stay safe!
JC
Very interesting and informative, JC, thank you very much.
I’m reminded of the mantra I was told by an ex Intelligence {US} man that they were taught for handling for trouble’
1. dont be there when it happens [i.e. forward plan, antennae alert at all times]
2. if No1 fails, try to talk your way out, ie, use any tactic you have to in order to just walk away
3. if 1 and 2 fail, pull no punches, dont hesitate, go in as fast as you can and inflict as much damage as you know how. I did a security guard course once, and we were taught, always hit first – you have the advantage of even a few seconds, and it’s invaluable.
I kept them in mind, plus another from an ex Danish WWII underground guy, for getting out of trouble when walking. It was simple — he said to me “just lengthen your stride, without going faster, nor breaking your rhythm. If you do the latter, the person following you will pick up and start to run, and as a woman, you are never going to out run a man. But keep your rhythm and lengthen the stride, you put a fair bit of distance between you before he realises you are getting away.”
Might add, I did have reason to use this latter, late one night in dockside Wanganui NZ. It saved me a horrible attack.
But the No. 1. is best, if you can do it I think. Loved reading the things you told us, but clearly they are an expert who has spent a lifetime building up these skills.
Did you read the article, beyond my mention of Karate?
About Karate- good luck to you if you try to use it at a moment’s notice on someone highly aggressive and possibly wielding a weapon of their own. Pepper spray, a sturdy walking stick or other improvised weapon (directed right at the opponent’s head) will serve you better. About the .22LR pistol, it’s worse than useless, unless you’re a sneaky assassin coming up behind someone and shooting a vital organ at point-blank range. If someone’s charging you it won’t stop them and, like any gun, you’ll have legal and practical problems trying to transport, carry it around, and especially use it. As for stun guns and stun canes, you better hope that you charged the battery before going out! Here in Russia, they’re also subject to transport restrictions.
Yes Nick, read your article and think I understood it. Remember, your worst enemy is… you yourself. When I started reading the article for the first time I thought it was humor written by Scott but then realized you were dead serious. As you know, most people reading the Saker are not Russian and only a tiny percentage of them live in Russia. But in their countries they can and do run into the same kind of situations you may encounter in Russia.
The differences may be in the rules and regulations that may allow for more and other means of self-defense than in Russia. But most important above all is situational awareness as I mentioned, it’s necessary for Pamela’s rule No 1. She could have added ‘run and get out of the situation AFAP’ to that rule. Pamela’s No 2 and No 3 are also very true, but lack of physical strength may become a problem. That’s where a stun gun may do wonders, and I have witnessed that with my own eyes.
The aggressive people that have charged at me and could not be talked out of it have all regretted it, some other got to their senses in time to behave near decently and two even offered me a beer. Cute.
If a truly strong attacker charges at you neither your stick nor your army training nor your pepper spray will help you other than making the person more angry. And when he’s all over you you’d really wish to have that well-charged 150.000 volt stun gun in your pocket… ;-)
Cheers!
P.S. Not only batteries, your can of pepper spray can also lose pressure or be (near) empty. Don’t worry, such is life. :-)
JC- I second Pamela’s comment, but not yours. Fighting is a practical science, and anything that gives you a reach or striking power advantage over your opponent will help. Also, the whole premise of trying to find an ideal dojo, a perfect instructor, and then spending years trying to internalize ideal fighting techniques (that may be worthless if your opponent has a weapon or otherwise fights dirty) is flawed for 99.99% of the world’s population. Then, your insistence on stun guns or other borderline/ restricted/ illegal weapons is baffling, because you can’t take them with you past security checkpoints, and shockers don’t work too well through heavy winter clothing. You may also not have the second it takes to get the stun gun out from your pocket and into application. Finally, stun guns have a dismal real effectiveness rate:
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/27/729922975/despite-widespread-use-police-rate-tasers-as-less-effective-than-believed
If you are, as you claim, a serious practitioner of Karate, then you must have tried training with Bo or Jo sticks. The Jo, analogous to a walking stick, was the weapon of choice for many Japanese masters, exactly for those reasons I mentioned. Jo “masters” that I’ve found on Youtube use the stick in a bit of a funny way, as if they were fighting with samurai swords, but the concept of a simple, transportable and effective weapon is nice.
You mention a “truly strong attacker”. Yes of course, there are always stronger opponents out there, no matter who you are (but, 90% of the guys who start fights on the streets are drunk idiots who can be put to bed by anyone with rudimentary boxing skills- see Youtube). That doesn’t matter though, because if a fight’s going to happen you have to be 100% committed to winning it, hitting hard using whatever you have at your disposal.
Nick,
Did you read my replies, especially my mention of Karate? :-) In your last reply you are confirming what I wrote but accuse me of exactly what you’re doing yourself. “flawed for 99.99% of…” yawwwwwn, you’re tiring: “but would not easily advice anyone on this list to put their eggs in any of those bags for it is a very long and difficult journey.” My error, I should have written ‘baskets’ instead of bags.
Then this: “Must have trained with..”? I explained so you should by now understand ‘Kara Te’ or ’empty hand’, right? Empty hands are usually without a bo, jo or anything else. Period. Old Japanese expression: He who runs after two hares will not catch any. Besides, if your opponent comes with a stick or other weapon, than that’s what he’s quite probably going to use, making matters only easier for you.
But tell me, if you walk back home from the grocery store carrying two bags full, where do you keep that cane? Hmm, not always practical, is it?
The matter is that you’re looking for trouble as well as a discussion with me where there isn’t any. Russia is practically safe, as is dilapidated Ukraine and most of the rest of this planet. There definitely are some places in the world that people should avoid, but sometimes one is unlucky enough to encounter a jerk or two as you did. Wise people are aware of that and will be prepared for that occasion. You feel good with a stick in your hands and apparently with success, good for you.
Stay safe Nick! Cheers.
JC,
Yes, I read everything. You’re clearly on some kind of long and difficult journey, and we both agree that it’s not for everyone- especially those interested in self-defense, exactly for the reasons you mentioned. To return to what I originally wrote, my mention of Karate was not to make myself seem like a master (which I am not) but to imply that I can place a punch or a kick in the right places and with enough force, if necessary. I haven’t really had to, because of factors related to who I am and my place of living. But, life’s full of surprises.
You’re quite right about coming from the grocery store and being unable to carry a stick. But, with bags in one’s hands any open-handed Karate techniques are also unsuitable. If the bags aren’t too heavy, then maybe you could throw or swing them into the opponent’s face and either get out of there or follow it up with a swift kick to their lower regions. If the bags are heavy, then probably better to drop them and yell “Happy New Year!” or “this alcohol is now yours!” and get out of there. I’d like to say something about pepper spray, but dropping the bags, reaching into my pocket, and employing the spray would take too long.
You’re quite wrong, though, when you say that a stick or other weapon makes your job easier. Any weapon is simply an extension of one’s arms, and with a weapon the other guy’s arms are longer and function in a more devastating way. An opponent who knows himself and his weapon will also set up the situation to be advantageous for him, and it’s even worse if he knows who you are and what you’ve got (paraphrasing Sun Tzu again). This video of knife attack training illustrates the point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E61jnJe_1SI
Another point you’re wrong about are the regular assumptions you make about me- of my capabilities, that I’m looking for trouble, and that I want to discuss anything with you. I’m just tired of all the BS on the internet about fighting and self-defense, since it causes people to be delusional.
@Nick
Excuse me I have some experience in Karate. The value of martial art is NOT the physical techniques and fist power, but psychological.
Well trained you are calm and secure about yourself in heated situations and get an instinct of avoiding and walk away from heated situations.
In these very very few cases if any where you cant avoid physical defense, off course a rapid punch or two helps a lot to chock off the attacker.
Hi Pamela
Suggest you look at Systema – an extremely effective and beneficial Russian martial Art. Please go to this link.
https://russianmartialart.com
Thank you very much Yuri, I will.
Pamela, My family are citizens of Russia and I am the ring in from Australia, having lived there 3 times for long periods if i could speak Russian i would live there.My first time was some 25-30 yrs ago that was dangerous times , in the evening I went for a walk in Moscow, a man approached me and advised where not to walk and safe places to go. The last 2 times the only incident was on a train with 4 of us in a sleeping carriage my wife and i had the bottom 2 bunks and had made them up when this drunk came in and said he will sleep on mine.When he came through the door iwas standing back to him and not understanding Russian my wife told him to go away and not come back or he will bashed,never saw him again, his bunk was atop mine so I don’t know where he slept. In general a good country very friendly people,and no they don’t smile all the time, think about it it is mainly to give you your space. They are a hard people they have to be, they are Russian and any traitor does not deserve his or her life. Yet if you are with them fear nothing just enjoy it,It’s a wonderful ride.
Quite adequate description. In recent years, especially in big cities the streets are very safe, Small towns or suburbs with some economical decay might be bit drunk. I live in Germany and Russia, do not feel any difference.
Visit Russia, don’t be afraid.
Interesting insight into the life in Russia. But nothing too surprising. I’m a Canadian myself wanting to perhaps start living in Russia (not strong or tall like the author though, and not ethnically European). Is teaching English the best way to get a visa? Anything else I should know about when considering moving there? Obviously it’s not possible with the situation at hand, but I’m trying to figure out what my first step needs to be. I can either visit first with a tourist visa or just jump in with a one year work contract.
A lot depends on you, your talents, financial situation, age, etc. I wrote an essay for the Saker site last summer, about coming to Russia that might answer some of these questions: /emigrating-to-russia-here-are-the-observations-of-somebody-who-did-it/
What is really striking about Nick Byrne’s account of everyday life in Russia 2020 is how things have improved there. During the Yeltsin years, there was this horrid Krokodil pandemic with young people shooting up poisonous industrial chemicals causing their skin to fracture, accompanied by total lethargy, similar to opium addicts. Will this be the ”new normal” in the West as its rot proceeds?
If I was younger with the means to do so, and if they would have me, given my current way of looking at life, Russia would be one of my choices to spend the rest of my life.
Russia has a deep history and culture. After a long period of darkness, they now have another chance. They must not let the poisons of the west take hold in their country. From what I have read I realize there are some who are infected. These are the ones who, with the usual western backers try to create disturbances with violent demonstrations. Thankfully, the police seem to know exactly how this playbook works and they know how to stop it early and round up the real trouble makers.
I would have liked more elaboration on the dog attacks. What is it about him the dogs did not like? With the cover story, there was a picture of a bear and I was afraid I was going to read some nonsense about how dangerous bears are. Thankfully not. I’m much more wary of the two-legged predators than any animal.
The dogs don’t like it when I run or ski past them in the parks- it gets them excited. Pepper spray and a sturdy stick to wave at them have proven effective in stopping further attacks. But, nothing can cure the stupidity and carelessness of the dogs’ masters, unfortunately.
Much the same as Canasta, I guess. But this is a rural community of only ≈ 8000. After a couple more months of this “house arrest”, I would not take a chance in one of our cities.
Do you have a Youtube channel? If not, pity, I think that insight of regular Westerners in Russia would be golden, especially the comparisons (west/Russia; Russia before/Russia now; expectations/reality).
Nice read
*Canadian* in Serbia.
I don’t, although people keep telling me that I should start one! Generally I’m too busy with work and life to blog or vlog actively.
a small plastic bottle with a narrow outlet to squirt out an ammonium hydroxide solution is better and safer than pepper spray.
Dear Moderator(s)
i posted a comment here a day ago and it is not here.
Would you know why that is?
Thanks
response sent to email you provided .. mod