I have lived in Manila, Philippines for the past 4 years. Working at a call center can be quite dangerous. Sometimes we go to work at midnight, or 2:00 am.

Literally 1 out of 5 on my co-workers have been mugged, or their purse or bag snatched from them.

My brother was held up. I have lost count of how many of my girlfriends have had their cel phones snatched from their hand or purse.

Since crime is so rampant I became obsessed with self-defense as well as how to prevent it.

More than half the time, if one fights back, they usually get shot or stabbed, usually by someone in the background who you thought was a bystander.

It really gives me pain and it hurts me inside when a friend, co-worker, girlfriend or loved one gets mugged or their things snatched.

The only thing I can do is to make sure this never happens to me, or be prepared if it does.

I thought I had rehearsed all the possible scenarios in my mind and prepared for attack in every situation, bus, alley, overpass, jeepney, fx, taxi, street. Then the news shows a bus getting held up and the criminals had grenades! No way you can defend from that.

What helped me from not becoming mugged is pretty simple. Training. With training I was able to go from 135 lbs to 165 lbs ripped. 165 lbs ripped in Manila is huge. Muggers generally avoid someone who looks intimidating. But I found out its still not big enough.

I was in a Quaipo overpass at 3:00 am. Two low-lifes were walking towards me.
As soon as they passed me, they turned around and started to follow me but stopped. They were shocked to see that I was staring them down. No way would they try to mug someone adrenalized and prepared. They went about their business and I went mine.

Tynan, you should gain some weight so this doesn't happen to you again.

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