Training Awareness – It’s Not What You See – It’s What You Notice.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on APR 23, 2025

Training Awareness – It’s Not What You See – It’s What You Notice.

(Approx 2 minute 25 second read)

My recent article on awareness someone asked me, “But how do you train awareness?”

They expect a drill. A pattern. Something they can rehearse on the mats. But awareness isn’t a technique you run through a few times before bowing out. It’s not something you add on top of your training. It is your training. It’s a habit.

You train it by noticing. By observing people – not staring, but paying attention. Who’s close to you? Who’s watching? Who’s too interested?

As an example. I was teaching drills to my senior students, watching them intently as they ran through the movements. I could see in the eyes, in the body posturing of one of my students, they were going to ‘let rip’ on the other student. I noticed it before they even knew they were going to do it themselves, and stopped them.

Yes, that takes experience to see, but by practicing noticing the small things in and out of the dojo it builds this experience.

You train it by watching eyes, not just faces. Listening to tone, not just words. Watching the body, not just the hands.

You train it in the car, scanning mirrors and the road ahead – not just for traffic, but for the unexpected. Even when the light is green you’re checking that no one is about to jump the red.

You train it walking down the street, by noticing the rhythm of movement around you.

You train it at the shop, by spotting tension before it erupts.

You don’t wait for danger to practice awareness. You use everyday life as your dojo.

This isn’t about being paranoid. It’s not about jumping at shadows. It’s about being present. Switched on. Harder to catch off-guard.

Because real self-defense starts before the first move is made. And the best kind of fight is the one you saw coming – and avoided altogether.

So how do you train awareness? Every day. Everywhere. Eyes open. Ears open. Mind engaged. It’s not easy. But it’s necessary.

But it goes a little beyond just visual perception. It’s less about the eyes and more about the mind. I’m talking about awareness as a habit – something you train by deliberately paying attention to your surroundings, people, tone, body language, and the little details that most overlook.

It’s not so much about how you “look” at things, but how you notice them – how you observe, interpret, and stay switched on in everyday life. That kind of awareness can’t be reduced to just the mechanics of vision. It’s a broader mental discipline that helps you avoid danger before it starts.

And if that still feels vague to you – if you’re still waiting for a list or a drill – it might help to reflect on this: learning awareness isn’t just about doing, it’s about understanding. It’s not meant to be spoon-fed. You have to want to see. And that means thinking, questioning, and applying yourself beyond the dojo.

And for those of you that tell me self-defense isn’t necessary and a waste of time training for if you never have to use it, I would argue that what we’re truly training here goes beyond reacting to an attack. It’s about cultivating a constant state of self-protection, aiming to avoid the need for reactive “defense” altogether.

This awareness, practiced diligently in the everyday dojo of life, is a vital skill that helps us navigate potential dangers and safeguard ourselves in countless ways, often without a single physical technique being needed.

Written by Adam Carter