You should probably watch this. It could save your life. Do you feel safe? Do you take the sky train? Maybe the subway? Do you ever walk around on town? Do you honestly feel safe out there? People getting stabbed at Starbucks, sword attacks, knife attacks, People getting pushed in front of trains. Somebody was set on fire in the Naima. Just threw gas on her. You know as you do what's going on in Canada. For the rest of the world, for
that matter. Maybe you've seen that documentary by Aaron Gunn. Vancouver is dying. What about Canada is dying. You've seen that. What can you do? What should you do? Get a gun? Take up MMA? Learn to be a knife fighter. I'm a security professional. I'm a career bouncer. Well, the rest of you went off and got real jobs in offices and that sort of thing. Not me. No, I was working in bars and nightclubs and pubs. Running security crews in the early 2000s BC had a serious gang problem.
It was the Wild West. Eventually it devolved into one hell of a bloody war, bodies buried all over the place. How was the doorman at Ground Zero? I learned to be a bouncer and a doorman at Area 51 in Chilliwack, BC, with the home base of the notorious UN gang. Now eventually I became head of security. Then I got fired, but I got immediately rehired by their competition. Good times.
They were more of a hub and included a whole bunch of gangs CUN independent soldiers, Red Scorpions, Hells Angels, Bacon Brothers. I even saw some Bandidos once. No shit. What is this Tijuana? There was a melting pot of violence and insanity. When I look back on it was absolutely bananas. I'm amazed to this day that nobody got killed. If you want to learn more about that time and how truly violent it was, check out Hood Chronicles on YouTube.
Pretty good channel with some really interesting content about crime and crime in Canada. Take a look at Clay Rouge, Bc's King of Bud and the Bacon Brothers. My story takes place between those two. How did I keep my little corner of the world safe? I wasn't wearing body armor. I didn't have a radio. I didn't have a gun or a Taser. I didn't have fifty other guys with guns or Tasers. The cops didn't have teleporters, Not everybody had a cell phone and nobody had a
camera in their pocket. The first thing I realized is that fighting. Is dumb. And I was a champion martial artist. I'd even been in the army. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you've never been in a real fight. You never want to be in a fight. Fights are about ego. You can see fights, you can avoid fights. You should avoid fights. You'd think my job was to basically break up fights, but that's not really why I was there. What was I really worried about?
Predators. How did predators attack? I don't understand. The cheetah tried kicking him in the face and biting him in the head. Can't imagine why that didn't work. Maybe if he just paid attention more in karate class. If your plan is to fight the crocodile after it's bitten you around the neck with respect, you're getting dragged to the bottom and spun to pieces in the dark.
Maybe you think the cheetah's selfdefense situation started when he first noticed the crocodile and started hissing at him. That's so close to the crocodile. Nope. I can understand why you'd say that. And that's probably because you've never really seen a crocodile, even if you know they exist. That cheetah's self-defense situation started before he ever went to the water. Pack of lions, doesn't surround the water Buffalo and then challenge him to a duel.
See, predators, real predators, they don't fight you, they attack from stealth. Always. Buffalo are huge, strong. The last thing the lion wants to do is fight the water Buffalo. They confuse it, they surprise it, they misdirect it, they overwhelm it. That's how predators attack in a world of gangsters, just like nature, the sucker puncher is king.
If somebody smashes a corona bottle up the side of your head and then starts kicking you, unless somebody pulls them off, you're just as dead as the cheetah. That's what you should be looking out for. The people out there, the ones that you're afraid of, they attack the same way. In my experience, one of the best things that you can do to increase your personal safety is cultivate uncertainty. That pack of lions?
They won't attack the water Buffalo unless they're sure you have to make your opponent unsure. If they don't think they're going to get away with it, they're probably not going to attack you in the 1st place. If you encounter somebody that you perceive as a threat, what are you signaling to that person? What are you saying without saying? If they look at you and they see a victim, well, guess what? They're far more likely to attack you. People who look like victims get victimized.
Before the attack, you must appear strong and confident, even if you're not. Even if you're scared shitless. Don't get small, don't stare at the ground. Don't bury your nose in your phone and. Hope they go away. The predator needs to know that you see them, that you're ready for them. If you can do that, most of them will just go look for someone else. Wherever you go, you walk like
you're supposed to be there. One of the simplest and most obvious ways that you can increase your uncertainty is simply by looking around you. It's amazing to me how few people actually do this. Most people blithely wander through life totally oblivious to what's happening around them. If you cross the street while staring at your phone, you deserve to be hit by a car. That's how bad guys think? Do you understand? Don't make it easy for them. It's probably going to get worse.
How can I confidently say that? Because the people with all the money and all the power in the world, the ones who have openly bragged about penetrating governments, including mine, the ones who are directly responsible for the policies that are doing this to our cities, have told us so. And I found one of the best ways to know what somebody's about what they're thinking, what they're afraid of, and what they're planning to do is just by listening to them when they
talk. So before I go on, leave you with one last thing and this last thing will give you some more self-defense options for some worst case scenarios and hopefully go a little way into helping us all cultivate some uncertainty when it comes to the people that are actually doing this to. Us. When you're finished this video, I suggest that you go on YouTube and you look up Israeli limited penetration entry or limited penetration entry. What is that?
Well, essentially it's a super sneaky way that SWAT teams and special forces enter rooms when they're really sure that there's probably going to be somebody on the inside that's going to shoot at them. What? Richard, are you insane? Why are you sending us to YouTube to look up SWAT team entry tactics? Here's the thing. Simultaneously, while I was working in the bars, I was also working in film and I did a very specific type of work. I did military maneuvers and
SWAT team type stuff. I worked with specialized agencies and brought in professionals and exprofessionals to teach and train us to do these things so that we could replicate them on camera over and over and over again as authentically as possible. Now stay with me. If you know what the professionals do and why they do it, you could ask yourself what
could I use it for? If you know that this is the specific technique that the professionals use to go into the room and kill the monster, and they use it because it has the highest chance for them to possibly sneak up on that monster, well then maybe you could use it to sneak by the room in the 1st place. I don't know about you, but if there's a monster in the next room, I want to know how to sneak by that room the second thing you could potentially.
Use this for. Is maybe talking to the monster in the first place. In my experience, you actually can talk to monsters. You can talk to psychopaths and killers, even in the moment, even when they're willing and ready to use violence. But in order to get them to hear you, you need to stack advantages, and those advantages need to meet or exceed whatever advantages they perceive they have themselves. If you can do that. You're going to cultivate uncertainty.
That person's going to become unsure of themselves. And at that moment, if you offer that person an alternative, a way out. They're probably going to take it, but I can tell you in my experience, without question, the people that tend not to get messed with when it comes to douchebags, sucker punchers, and predators are the people who are obviously capable of great violence but choose not to use it. It's like the people who taught me to do these things in the 1st place.
Formidable people, serious serious people. Some of them could kill you in 100 ways before you ever knew what hit you. But they choose not to do that. In fact, they literally save those skills to protect the people that are in their immediate vicinity. That demands your respect. You're literally safer just by being near them, and you can be that too. You don't have to run towards the bullets like they do. You just have to make yourself an uncertainty and pay
attention. And if you do those things, then all the people around you are safer as well, and the more people that do that. The safer we all are. Here's the cool part. You see, you don't even need to technically look up when I just told you to look up is really limited penetration, and I hope that you do. I suggest that you do. But even if you don't, it doesn't really matter. Why not? Because just by watching this video, you've already become an uncertainty. Cool, right?
See, the powers that be, the ones that are watching and keeping track have no way of knowing if you decided to follow up or not. They don't know if you went and watched a whole bunch of videos and then took the time to get good or didn't bother to look in the 1st place. All they're going to see is view count.
Millions of people see a video like this and all of a sudden decide to start looking into things like Israeli Limited Penetration. Well, that sends one hell of a powerful message, don't you think? If you're in the Lower Mainland and you'd like to learn more about my self-defense, psychology, tips, tricks, things
I've learned over the years. The escalation techniques I know to be effective, becoming an uncertainty, how to efficiently move with the firearm and maybe some John Wick reloads. Contact me on any of my social media accounts. I'm willing to come see you personally, or if you prefer, set up a group, find a venue and we'll have a chat.
The rest of you out there share the shit out of this video because the more eyeballs that see it, the bigger statement we make and the more of an uncertainty we all become and this great reset. It only works if we all stay scared, stupid and helpless. So let's stop looking like food, stay safe out there and subscribe for more content. Share the shit out of this video. Welcome to Vancouver True Crime. I have a very special guest. A security expert name is Richard Thompson.
I posted his video because we're in a strange kind of time in Vancouver. Random violence, pepper spraying, windows being smashed, do crazy stuff on the sky train, the buses. From the video that Richard made, I thought he had some real common sense advice and he really broke it down well. And so I thought he'd be a great person to have a conversation with. So, Richard, thank you so much for coming on Vancouver True crime. Amazing video. I really liked it. Got you.
Thanks for having me man. You work in security, you run security crews and nightclubs and stuff, and I had a little bit of that. I was telling about some of the old bars I worked at the Club Paradise. I actually remember Bindi Jo Hold. Came to my club. This was exit with this crew. And yeah, he didn't. He we emptied up the club pretty fast and then I took a night off and then one of his associates shot someone in the club, but I wasn't there.
So that's the closest I ever came to a shooting. Thank God, right? But it's a different time now, isn't? It well, yeah, absolutely. It is okay. So as far as my my background, I started bouncing 2000 and 2001. Yeah, so I started back then and I started in Chilliwack, which just so happened to be like the Nexus at that time for pretty much the drug trade in BC You know, most of the banks were kicked out of the city around that time, and they would congregate out in Chilliwack.
In fact, the UN essentially started there. Right. Home base, so I didn't know any different and when I started I didn't realize how how nuts the situation was. This was just. What I was doing, but I I was, I was a tough kid. I was a martial artist kid. I I was champion martial artist. I wanted a lot of gold medals and and I was in the army as well and and I thought I had a handle on things Right then.
It wasn't until I saw real violence that I realized what the hell the stakes were, that it forced me to become a different kind of bouncer. And so over the next you know four or five years that I was there, I moved to competition and and dealt with their problems there. Essentially ended up downtown and that the lessons that I learned in those, you know, those those first 5-6 years saved my ass. Yeah, not only saved my ass, but
a lot of other folks as well. Those lessons I think now are very relevant to people walking around the city. This one start rough. There was definitely very tough dudes. I try cuz it cuz nothing was worse is that he throws them up and they all come back the next time and then there's like this, you know this just tension right? Your egg shells, right? Generally speaking, like you try to use your.
Words rather than just the OR you know, if you you know if you try to fight every thug and drought that you meet, you're going to get beat real quick or end up in jail. You have to be diplomatic and intelligent about what you do and and very careful about whatever force you use and when you use it. But at the same time, you have to understand that sometimes you're going to have to use it and yeah, willing to do so and be capable.
Because if you're, you know, you're not quite willing or whatever, and you're up against somebody who is you're. In serious trouble when I was talked to, we actually hired a e-mail bouncer like OK, the women were like because they get we had this night. I remember one of the nights I worked at, they had the $2.00 shooter nights and all just.
And then we were near a college, the New West, the Douglas College. So we did all the drunky, you know, $2.00 shot night and just girls are just all over the floor puke. Oh, it was grotesque, right? And that's the same thing. They grab you and the nails. And so we hired this great big woman. She was like 250 pounds and like 6-3. Oh, she was. Hey. Just like soon as they see her, The girl's eyes. Oh, shit. Girl in chill. She actually ended up Co managing with me and like took
all the good times. She was a bodybuilder. Wow. She he was. To be fair she was you know probably the girliest girl you'd ever meet and and wouldn't. Doesn't really throw down. Never did but just would intimidate. Oh. Yeah, her presence. Right, They. Just look at me like, Oh my. God, yeah. And. Wow. Isn't. A true sweetheart. Now, so yeah, it was a different time. Yeah. There was definitely violence. There was gangs.
Absolutely. But generally speaking, if you used your brain and you were he kind of could, you know, navigate, you know, the environment if you were had half a brain. We're now in the city now when we were talking before we started the show. It's a different city like you were mentioning, but a woman just getting pepper sprayed for bumping into someone like that shit didn't happen in Vancouver. Yeah, it wasn't like that. You know, stabbing machete attacks, smashing up stuff.
And the drugs too, you know, we're where we could, you know, the drugs are like off the charts now. This start often, Richard like. When When's like you now in this environment, when people go out and I'm saying regular people, I
want to go and have a good time. What would be like some good practical advice for this new Vancouver Metro Vancouver We're in. OK, so would I tell people when it comes to self-defense, the most important thing that you need to to do where you start is to recognize reality. You know, you have to look at reality. Look around you. What's going on in your immediate area? What are the threats, so to speak? And the reality really is simply this. You live in nature.
Yeah. And people, you know, just because you can send tweets and go on TikTok, we sort of forgot that we're in nature and our world. Our crocodiles wear skin suits, people suits, and for the most part. Most people's environments are are really safe and have been for a very very long time and so they totally forgot that you are surrounded by predators. Given the the current political climb and situation in the city etcetera, it's it's really important to recognize that
that's where you start. Remind yourself when you go out the door you live in nature that if that one thing alone will will go a long way and and do keeping it safe, you know. That's a good analogy because I the way they say that like I like in your video you use that like crocodile in the water pond that cheetah you know it's a pretty formidable you know animal on its own but you know it's having a little sipy of water and all right you know that and the.
Thing is like a video I'm I'm actually working on now is I like that there's another analogy I use and that is in Australia there is a plant called the gippy gippy plant. You ever heard of it? Yeah, now nasty nasty thing. So nasty that if you like, first of all, it doesn't look like a crazy poison plant. It just looks like like a Fern, right? So you never know.
But if you touch this plant, and I didn't believe it until I saw BBC employer reporter intrepidly decide I'm going to touch this plant and you write the tiniest part of his pinky finger. And then he ended the video by throwing up and and like it was shocking how much pain he was. Plant is that the pain that will last for some time years and and it's said to be so bad that people will kill themselves and animals will hurtle themselves off of cliffs and things. Oh my.
The reason killing about this plant is because it's really important to recognize that not only do you live in nature but nature doesn't give a flying F about you and some of the things in nature are shockingly and stunningly cruel. Yeah, you know, every self-defense situation that people get into, you have just been teleported into nature. You know, like there's almost like 2 realities.
People will walk around in their civilization and everything is is safe and wonderful and nice and fine and then you're into a potentially violent situation and pouch just like that. You're in reality, you're in nature. And if you do stay with the rules of civilization and you stay along that thinking. Well, a real predator is going to kill your ass generally, how it is, right? People like people these days, especially will.
And if a guy's challenged or whatever, he might just think he's getting into a fight, right? I'm going to get in a fight, right? But you're not. You might be opposite somebody who's willing to use deadly force. Yeah, like you're in a fight, obviously, but you're in a nature fight, Yeah. Oh, totally does it.
And again, like, and I and I've talked about this a lot because one of the things I've been breaking down a lot in the in my podcast is kind of a, you know, the the dark psychology there is there's something going on with people now. They're a little bit more violent. They're more unhinged. Like wrote, written just warrants you want. To hear it. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. My other job is, if you watch the videos I worked in film for for 20 years or so, and I played it.
I played faceless bad guys. Right. You know, cops, SWAT team, military guys, soldiers, that sort of thing. And one of the things I noticed anybody who knows me is working with me in film, knows that in between every single take, I take whatever helmet I am got on Bella, Claude, whatever's on my hand, I take it off. Right. It's partly because I'm a sweaty bastard and also partly because in film, they'll be rushing you around, right? Well, we've all got this much
time, okay? We'll get ready and they'll they'll get you. They'll stage you. So that they can save time, which means you're going to spend quite some time dressed no face. And now if you get a whole bunch of people all in uniform with no face, the crew props, wardrobe, the guy running the rain towers, the director, they forget you're a human being and you will spend. Sometimes you will spend hours and hours under a rain tower freezing the middle of November or. Right.
And then if the conditions can get pretty miserable and it's not until I early on figured out, oh shit this is the problem, and I started taking my my face mask off, my my headgear off in between every tape so that they could see I'm a human being ever since I started doing that, oh hey, get out, you've been here for a while. Do you need to go to Crafty or? Do you go to the? Bathroom or Hey, do you mind if I adjust your wardrobe? If you were just wearing the
mask? The. Wardrobe for Yeah, they just see you off like a prop, right? And I don't think the fact that these social things going on, but taking away everyone's face for two years was dumb. Really dumb. Yeah, I know. And that's the thing Okay. So I I've, I've had a few conversations about this different people and guess what it always leads back to the pandemic something a lot of pandemic after stop the isolation. People now look at at other people and they don't see
people. It's like, you know, that stabbing that occurred at Starbucks, not. Too long ago, Yeah. Yes. Horrible, horrible. The video was absolutely horrific, but yeah, and the video, the person who was filming. Yeah. People went back the next day and did another TikTok drinking a coffee. Yeah, I saw him on TikTok, just something off about him. And yeah, and he's all. 20 He's got 3. That's a side of people who who some people don't see people anymore and everyone else is the
star of their own TV show. Yeah. So you got it's kind of incentive plus dehumanization plus social, you know, economic drug problems, you know, city. It's better you throw all that stuff together and Shazam. Perfect grew, right? Yeah, that back to that, just quickly to that stabbing. So that was horrific.
And I remember because I posted about it and then that guy is trying to put out some story and people commented to me too because it's like and I don't really quite get this, but I guess when it goes to court, hopefully it'll come out. But that that guy, he's all back at the site and he's filming again, there's something off about him, like the this is to be enjoying the limelight over someone dying, which is strange.
And then he's coming up with the story saying, oh, it was a guy with the toddler that pulled the knife, right. And then it's like, and then the other guy fought over the knife. But you know, I I used to work really in close proximity. I used to work like basically in that same tower of that Starbucks and Civic Center. I worked in the Canaccord capital tower. I know there's heavy cameras around there because there's been always like bag thiefs.
You know, someone's sitting there and put their laptop down, they put their bag down, then they have their coffee and then people come. So there's cameras everywhere. So I think that will no clear it up. But yeah, he he seems a little bit on the sociopathic scale for the listeners that don't know what we're talking about. Just to quickly recap, there was a brutal stabbing at a Starbucks on a Sunday. A man with his toddler asked the man. This is what the story is, He
asked the man. Hey, don't vape around my child And then some kind of confrontation they end up being stabbed it out. That's that's what's on record. The person that filmed it is coming out with a story saying, oh, the man with the with the toddler fold a knife. He's like, you know, I, I and I don't really believe that's true. But I guess the facts. I know. Yeah, so hopefully the facts will come out, court case he comes out. But anyways moving forward, right?
So what we're talking about then is the pandemic, right? It comes back to that. And then then I brought this up to before on the podcast when the pandemic was in its full peak, wear a mask. If you didn't wear a mask, someone's screaming at you. Or if you're unfaccinated, you're going to kill everyone. And people being labeled as anti vaxxers. And it was like it was like us versus them or you know, this black and white division of our society. Right, so.
I think it really screwed us up. It right down to the police. I mean consider that the police essentially when they were masked up, they were dressed like me when I was playing faceless bad guys on TV. You know, that's that's a something that never occurred to any groups of police. But we've had, you know, protests and whatever and you have 5060 police out there and they're all masked up, terrifying talk to. They're not your friend, they are an army. And that's the further.
Wrecking the relationship between society and police didn't help. No currently and now the police are on their back foot and and have a lot of ground to get back, I would guess to rebuild their relationship. You know the cities. We're now in this new environment, Richard. So when you're out and about back in the day, you know, let's say I'm walking down the street with my loved one. I I, you know, I don't cause shit. I don't. I don't go out of my way to get into confrontation.
But like, even back in the day, let's say someone started yelling, raised my typically I wouldn't raise my voice. I'd probably try calmly talking to them. Hey, what's going on? Da da, da, da, you know, are you feeling OK? You know, you try to break down what's going on. Now if someone's really worked up and they're looking at me, I probably would just ignore them and just keep walking. That I caution people against. Yeah, you want to. You want to ignore them, but you
also need to acknowledge them. Yeah, they they need to know, like if somebody is considering using violence and they're angry if they're a predator like a Joe Pesci type or there's somebody like the guy who actually stabbed that, that poor fellow, I don't know, he decided, you know, this is today's the day. This is it. Oh, God, you don't. If you don't acknowledge that person, if they don't know that you see them, they, you know, they they might try to sucker punch. Yeah, that's true.
There's other videos of. You know guy walking into Tim horton's, just somebody walks in, sees him there and when he's not looking, he walks up behind him and starts stabbing him in the back. You know, So there's things like that and and anyone who what I would classify as a predator needs to know that you see them. And if you simply see somebody that that you identify or recognize as a threat and then you avert your eyes, look down and put your headphones in, that
person now sees the target. That's true. So what you're saying is like, look at them. Hey, okay, I see you, right? Exactly. And that's scary, obviously. No. No. Not. Not like crazy not. At all. Not at all. Because people yell that that could be perceived as a challenge, but you at the very least have to let that crocodile know. Hey, I see you. Yeah, I'm on to you, buddy. I'm not the guy. I'm, you know, go pick someone else. I'm going to be a handful.
Women that are, you know, a little bit. Typically, you know, some women are very careful physically, but you know the average woman is smaller than the average man and most women don't want to get in any type of confrontation. What advice would you give, like, say, a woman out shopping, you know, doing walking a parking lot. Most of this shit, excuse my language, happens during the day during like, you know, 123 o'clock in the afternoon. It doesn't. It's not just after the bars
closed on Granville St. anymore. Oh no, no, not. Not anymore, no. It's something that you like I said once you step out your door, you are in nature and you should consider and remember that. And to you know, to all your listeners, I say that and I don't differentiate between men and women when it comes to this sort of stuff. The something that that you should be doing is use your damn eyeballs, right.
You know, one of my favorite stories is from my absolute favorite director, Peter Deloise. This guy is just. You get blood on the stone. He's a he's a super efficient. You know, he used to direct all the Stargate shows and whatever. Oh, because I was done like, he was really, really quick. And he's dumb deloises, I know, if you remember him. From Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah. Back, Yeah, He was at 21 Drum St. That's right. And he's a wickedly funny guy, right?
And he told me the story once of this acting class. He was sitting there in the director's chair and this woman came in and did her audition and. And anyway, so they do the audition. The audition goes fantastic. And she's so engaged with the the director and the producers behind the table that she says her goodbyes and she goes to leave and walks right into the closet. Oh, okay.
So now she's standing in the closet in the in this audition and she's got to now leave the closet and then leave the room, all stunningly and shockingly embarrassed. And the way Peter put it. Which was extra awesome because it turns out that the woman was his wife, Anne Marie. I thought it was just fantastic. But anyway, the way he put it is the best thing you can do is use your damn eyeballs. Yeah. If you're not looking, you're not going to see anything you hear all the time.
Well, it came out of nowhere. Well, no, you you didn't look. You didn't see. Yes, things come out of nowhere like, you know, some ninja drops down from the the rafters somewhere. Yeah, most car there are indicators to any kind of an attack, even somebody who's not just a hot headed, you know, an addict or or somebody who snapped or whatever. But yeah, predators, etc. There's usually indicators. Yeah, absolutely.
One of the things I would recommend to people is people get hung up with situational awareness, right, Situational awareness. To a lot of people, that doesn't mean much. Like what does that even mean? Well, it means to pay attention. Okay. And what am I paying attention to specifically? When I go out, I am looking at the people. Yes. Every person that you get close to is potentially a threat and I'm not spending any time staring at them or anything like that, but it's no looking.
Oh yeah, and the things I am looking for are aggression and deception. Yes, okay. So if somebody is aggressive or has an aggressive energy or they are. Angry. Or you can see those things. You will feel those things radiating off that person and you never very close to that person. They're a threat and you should be on your guard. And the same goes for anyone who's doing anything deceptively, you know, like something like if somebody was watching you and then every
right look away quickly. Well, that's odd. Yeah, you know, if somebody is. Hiding something in their hands or moving their hands to their pockets or trying to say move in behind you or something like that, you'll see these little deceptive cues. And those are the two main things that that I I look for. And I I think that if I think that, I know that if people can't remind themselves, again, you're in nature and start looking for those two things. You're going to be safer right off.
The bat. Yeah, though that's good practical advice. Absolutely. Because I just something. And again, I noticed this with Vancouver people. I'm talking like city Vancouver people because I lived downtown for about 10 years. I lived out. And typically when you move out, you know, people kind of acknowledge it. Like even like around my neighborhood now I'm on like the Surrey, Langley border. You know, I'm out with my kids. People all hide the way of each other.
And it's not like you go and have this big small talk with them. But, you know they kind of look each other. I know. Good evening, Vancouver people. And it's they're weird like it. And I'm. I'm just saying I'm born and raised here. Right thing. It's just and again, I've tried. I've had jobs where I've traveled in 40 cities throughout North America. I don't know what it is They do this thing where they look at you, but you're invisible. Does rub you the wrong way and
I'm not. And then what? I was saying and I brought this up on a podcast. If someone's acting arrogant, they deserve to be a victim and blindsided and beaten to a cult. You're. You're touching on something else that that like, and this one's a super obvious one, but I always, I always make if you're traveling around the world and everywhere you go you run into an asshole. Yeah, you you're the asshole. Yeah. Does that make sense? Oh, for sure, for sure, you know.
You would be surprised. Most of you would be surprised that the energy that you bring into as situation will often determine whether or not it goes violently or not. Oh, yeah, sure, absolutely. If you. Are just a genuinely friendly person, you know, of course. And obviously with this the attitude hey, don't mess with me, I'm not a victim. But if you were a genuinely engaging and friendly person and you're when you talk to people, your goal is to build instant rapport.
Then you will you will lessen the amount or likelihood of any violent encounter you could possibly be. Oh, for sure. I totally. Agree. Simply being an asshole. Yeah, but you know what I'm talking about though. There's like this. Fine. It's hard to like again. I didn't really notice it until I started traveling to other cities, like even New York. I'd be in New York, yeah. Thank you.
You were in Toronto by fine. Yeah, like, I'll be in New York and it's like, so crowded, but people kind of work with each other, you know what I mean? You kind of acknowledge, OK, I'm going out this way. You're gonna go that way. You know what I mean? Like, you kind of. Yeah, it. But here it's a straight, like,
there's a strange. It's just like one of the, you know, I do a podcast series too, called Vancouver the Beautiful and Ugly. And I talked about the strange little corks that I've noticed, you know, the city. Yeah, it's weird. It's. Strange. Yeah, like like I remember. I'll tell you a quick story it'll be the digress but I'll tell you a quick story. So my family all to Gaston.
So I was working at this job on water St. was this high tech startup job and there was one of those float tanks in Gaston so I bought one of those float tank packages and and my my motherinlaw was my my wife passed away. My my wife was alive. My motherinlaw had my baby in a stroller. And I told her, I said there's nowhere downtown that you can push the stroller around, especially in Gaston, because of the Cobble Street, right. I would recommend that you go to the Harbor Center.
It just got renovated. It's air conditioned. It was like hot. It was summertime. And then it's it's, it's it's stroller friendly, you know what I mean? Yeah. Of course she didn't listen to my advice. So she's pushing the stroller, having a hard time trying to go and cost her. No one would open the fucking door for her. And she's struggling with a baby, you know, old lady with a baby with a stroller. No one would open the door for her.
No one would. We're we're out, you know, out here, that wouldn't be an issue, right. So when I got him out of the float tank, you know, you're in there for like almost like 90 minutes. You're kind of aft up and she was really upset. She goes. She called. My God, everyone was rude to me. No one would help me. I was struggling with it. That's why I told you to go to the Harbor Center, you know what I mean? But that that's like an example, right?
So imagine, like, again, I'm not saying that if someone's an asshole, they deserve to have the snot beat out of them. I'm not saying that. But imagine this if you're kind of like you're effed up and you've been doing math and you've been doing this and that and. You know you're you're having a really bad day and then finally this guy just rubs you the wrong way. He's wearing a fancy suit. He won't look at you and who the fuck do you think? You know what I mean?
Like I'm them trucking like the from the. You're correct, though I I think the the empathy cup kind of gets full and some of these people have decided already, you know, fuck yeah, so to speak. And that's what you're running the risk of encountering. Out there, in in, in just regular life these days. For sure. Yeah, you could avoid those people because they would be in certain areas at certain times and you know, that's not the case anymore. For sure.
I I feel for for people like I, I not too long. We went to Subway up the street. There's two young girls working there close to close 11 or 12, and they just got to talking. So I I I tend to chat with people. When Yeah, these. These poor girls were are terrified because they have to go home via the Sky train. Oh my, take me. Into surring.
So you've got two you know 18 year old little with girls yeah it's just making the way through the sky train at night time ending up in in I guess Surrey Central and they're scared to death. I don't blame them and they and then every day they go to work. Oh my God. Every day. Wow, quickly again. My partner, current part of her, She has a teenage son. He was on the Sky train during the day.
This is like during the day. Saturday afternoon not only got robbed once, he got robbed twice, Got robbed at Waterfront Station, knife pulled on him. And then when he came back to Surrey Central, he got robbed by a group of teenagers. Stole his backpack and stuff. Right. So yeah, like you said, out nature predators is a perfect, perfect thing. But just to revert back or what I'm saying like again, if you're an asshole, right.
For me, even if I wore a suit tie if someone, I'd always try to acknowledge people even if they were homeless. You know what I mean? They'd open the door for me. I'd say thank you. You know what I mean? Like I like, like you're saying, right. It's like you acknowledging people could probably lot of times save some. You look at some. Oh he's it looks like a junkie been. Doing dope all day. Get you know, get away with your body. Get away from the peasants. Right. It's the it's the subtle
interest. Like a lot of people never consider how they appear to other people. Yeah. So but when I say that. You know when you're walking around with the attitude of you know, don't be the asshole. You may still be portraying A standoffish and combative looking person you you think if the peasant was, the other person sees.
Yes, and that's it's really important to one build rapport with people, but also at the same time to protect yourself because you can utilize what you look like or how you're presenting yourself to deter various crap, the spur. All right, so let's talk then. Now let's get into, OK, you're in the situation that you think is gonna get violent, right? Like, you know, again, Like, right. So let's say this. You're on those two girls on the Sky train, right? There's some sketchy dude.
Hey, girls want to come to my place and party or whatever, whatever. They operated, right? Like, like, what were some practical, like, common sense advice you'd offer? Because again, people listening. They have teenage daughters, teenage sons, you know? You know, well, the common sense stuff is, is you know this at the beginning. Recognize reality. OK, so look at the things that could possibly happen.
You know, obviously you know you're going to stay within the realm of reason if you're like, oh God, I have to come up with a plan for aliens. Well, OK, that's ridiculous. But oh, what if I get attacked by ninjas? You know, like, you're not going to have a plan for everything. No, I know. Run it through in your head first. Yeah. If you think that you're going to be, you know, you could be approached by somebody, you could mug, whatever. What does that look like? Yeah.
Do you have any idea? We live, we fortunately live at a time where you could go online and look up practically anything you know you like. For example, what is a home that you could look like? You know, they said they tend to play out the same way. So I would recommend to people if that's something that you're you're particularly worried about. Look at some of them and. See what they look like. Other things are if you are not particularly capable and even if you are and and your plan is
okay, something happens. I'm going to run okay well that's that's good running is a good plan. You know run you live for another day etcetera, etcetera. But where are you running to? How far are you running? What are you going to find when you get there? What obstacles are in your way between here and and your you know your salvation escape route kind of thing knowing all of those things. In advance puts you in a different frame of mind, right? Right.
It's like I I did mention to you that that when something happens, when there's a violent incident that is happening or about to happen, you've been teleported back into nature. Yeah, right. So rather than be teleported back into nature, be there beforehand. Yes. Makes sort of sense. Oh, totally. But just a recap for the audience is like map out. You're, you know, like these poor girls. Okay, have a plan. Okay, you're going to be taking how many stops play out the
situation in your head for. Exactly like, are you going to get off the train? Okay, there's somebody there that's bothering you. Get off the train, they get off too. Well, then get back on the Damn. Train, yeah, or the safe time. There's also the safety stops there. Exactly. Exactly, but the more that you know. And the more that you have sort of an idea in your head like a rough plan, you're never going to have a perfect plan in your place. You're probably going to fall
apart in the 1st place. But the last thing you want to do or the worst place to be, I mean is reactionary. Yeah. If you are more proactive in your self-defense approach, you are far, far safer than if you are reactive. You want to be what I call a cooler, not a bouncer. I am and explain to people that I make cooler and. Essentially, that's to keep cool. But the the cooler, If you remember, like Patrick Swayze, I wrote, he read the script.
That makes sense. That character was unassailable. He saw everything right. He was a very proactive person. Whereas all the other guys are bouncers, you know they're. Reactive. Oh, there's a guy. Well, you know, they're just fight. But the safest, smartest place you want to be is. A proactive self-defense plan strategy, so to speak, as opposed to just oh God okay this happened.
Now I'm reacting to it because the problem is even people who are accomplished martial artists, people who I've spent some time fighting or etcetera, If you are scared or you are hurt or you are exhausted you forgot, you will forget that you're a martial art artist. You'll catch it and you have to keep that into account. Keep that link factor. Oh shit. Okay. That might happen to me. And so that's why being more
proactive will save your butt. Because if you're reactive, you might forget that you've already know stuff, and you might forget the the martial arts you know or the plan you know. Or yeah, if you can freeze, right? Absolutely, you freeze that, right? The shock as he had naked, but for someone who's never been in a violent confrontation. I'll tell you a quick story. So I remember it was round Abbott Street. There was a sky walking kind of, you know, slim guy.
He's wearing a nice suit. Mean is minding his own business. And this big raw just came out of nowhere and I kind of watched to see if it was going to get violent And the guy was, it's almost like it was almost a mugging. And this is sort of like hey give me somebody kind of like we're in this face and and they're lucky there was a lot of people and the guy just whipped across the street and this kind of like. But but if the you know a different circumstance people
weren't around. If this guy was able to corner him, oh absolutely. It would have probably gotten violent. This guy was like a big dude. He just looked like he had an all nighter and kind of you know kind of freaky, right. And it'll and probably too much for the smaller man to handle right. But he just. Kind of. Reacted and this bolted out of there. But. That's what I'm saying that I think that's kind of about your nature analogy.
There's a perfect example. Maybe if he was a little bit more like looking down and say, OK that guy, maybe I should cross away, you know what I mean? That's the. Thing right is is people like you know you got a martial arts class whatever it is and somebody will teach you all this how you disarm a knife on their 9000 different ways you're going to first of all I think 99% of. Our nonsense, yeah. Try to make the knife itself doesn't teleport out of nowhere. You know, it's, you know.
So yeah, unless it's the, you know, the Super sneaky, you know, ninja assassin that's coming into you. For the most part there is going to be indicators and clues and things that will tip you off. And so if there is any kind of a threat, that's why it's so important to be paying attention only for for. The majority of your list what was the last time when you were going to, say, the convenience store before you got out of the car, you just looked at the
parking lot? You know, or you're about to leave the store? Do you look out the door first or you just walk out? Oh for sure. I see so many just in my own neighborhood. Just you know. Again, luckily my live in a very high crime area. Today. I'm grateful. But I like walking on the sidewalk, you know? I take my kids out for walks all the time. I see women ear buds and buried in their phone. Walks buried in their phone, thinking. You know, even if I was just an
asshole, I could trip them. You know what I mean? Just ho, ho, you know what I mean? Like they're. Ignore it. Those are people who are who have forgotten that they live in nature. They've forgotten about the Guinea pig plant and the and the crocodiles for sure. And their world is safe until it's not. No. That's why it's really, really important to just open your damn eyeballs and use them.
For sure. I I wanted to talk tell you quickly popped in my head when you brought up the knife thing. I remember one time I was at English Bay and I was just feel chilling beautiful day and there was like this great big. I don't know I you've probably seen them all over your lifetime. The the fake martial artists, right? And this guy just looked like a big fat tub of you know what right.
And he had like these younger kids and he's all showing him the stick work and Boo Boo Boo and he and he's like doing this fancy rolling stuff. And I just, I was watching. I just wanted to grab the fucking stick out of his hands and it's okay let's let's let's see where you're going to do this. You know what I mean? Because that's the reality of it. No one, no one's going to do some fancy woo.
You know what I mean? Like something And and so that's what happens is like sometimes and I've seen this and I've I've actually seen this. Someone you know takes a martial art class and then they're looking to fucking use it. Yeah, Which, which again is, See, The thing is that most people have never seen violence and so they don't have the proper respect for it. Yeah, all movies and videos.
It's not a real. And so real violence is incredibly startling and it will, it will cause most people to freeze. Yeah. That leads me into it. If I'm sure that some some of your list, there's many of your lists are probably taking some kind of self-defense or whatever. And I and I caution you, I tell you whatever it is, keep it simple, stupid. It's got to be simple.
It's got to be way more simple than you think because it won't be there if you really, really truly need it unless you have the opportunity and the dedication to train it to reflex. Most people don't after it has to be. And you're back back to the bar. Yeah. Scariest guy. The guy that was the most dangerous. Who cops warn you do not pepper spray him. Do not try to fucking wrestle with him. Don't. Do you know what I mean? He was nothing that you thought he was. He. His name was Randy.
He was whole skinny, maybe 170 pounds. Look like a like a redneck cowboy. Long blonde hair, big mustache, wore cowboy boots. This guy was a world class kickboxer and he loved fighting like big steroid guys because it just kind of made him, you know, ha ha ha. He could go like he could get his nose as close to the guy he'd get. He'd get right in the guy's face because he was tall. He was like 6, two at 170. So he would get right in his nose and his foot would come up. Boom.
Right on the on the chin, right. But this guy was like a world, but he would pick fights. He was, you know, the guy was the guy was nuts, right? But like I said, he was not like the big cartoon tough guy. He. Would you know would? Totally underestimate him 100%. Never know. Even people who are trained who take some kind of thing and and and Archite, our fighters, first of all, real fighters, are very, very rare, yeah. People who are exceptional fighters.
Whoa BT with whoever you know, accept a dominance challenge from one and get sucked into a fight like a dumbass. There was a real pleasure. I'd love to have you to come on again and we could talk more like. There's so much this. There's so much more. Oh totally. Even if we talk crazy stories from back all day because people love them, they do like what I do. Like the Vancouver beautiful, ugly because it brings up the nostalgia.
And the clubs were, believe it or not, they were a little bit and I don't know, I don't really go to clubs as much anymore, but they seem to be a little more fun back then, right? There were a little more. I agree. I I I think back in the day they they were, well, it was, it was just a different time, yeah. For sure. Yeah, and there was a lot more variety too. There was a lot of like, there was more variety of different clubs and back and you'll make God.
And then remember when Vancouver had like a strip bar, almost like on every corner, every corner, all. Over the place. Yeah, yeah. So even that was a kind of a fun, you know, crazy stories I've I've seen in those places. Hey, like, for example, do you remember a place called Champagne Charlie's like it was in downtown Vancouver. Champagne, Charlie. It was rough. It was a rough far. It became Doulans. OK that. Yeah. Yeah. So back in the day, it was champagne Charlies.
It was kind of like, OK, it was like the the B level strippers, right. You know what I mean? But apparently David Lee Roth, when he was in town, he would rent the whole pop floor and he would party there for like a month and, you know, have a rotation of all that. So, you know, even those kind of crazy stories like, you know that. Oh, I. Found. Yeah.
For sure, say maybe. Do like a Vancouver beautiful, ugliest, the the crazy kind of reminisce of the crazy city that used to be. And I hope it comes back to that because again, I I was born and raised in the city. I've, you know, I've been here really since like 1977, and this is the worst version, the Vancouver I've ever seen. The most expensive, the most douchiest, the most violent. The most Vidido distilled. Suck. God, yeah, man. They like every act. Everything. You just said.
Yeah, I'm on say, hey man, this is, yeah, I don't recognize my city anymore. No to. Be fair. I think it's going to get worse. Yeah, I don't. You'll see it getting better. I see it's going to get worse. As far as I'm concerned, the policies and reasons that this is happening, that the people who have implemented them have told us and warned us, it's going to get out. They want. Yeah, I think, and I don't. I don't think you need to go down any conspiracies or rabbit holes.
Just listen to them when they talk and they've they've pretty much told you. Yeah, yeah. And then there's no, like, again, I'm used to, like, back when I grew up in Vancouver, I was used to like having a really good opposition, even if it was NDP and the Conservative or whatever they're called, the Liberals or Social Credit or whatever name they change themselves to, they keep changing their name. But. There was always like opposition and balance and there doesn't.
Screen these and. Talents. No. No. And the and the politicians in my opinion, just seem so lackluster and they're we're cutting the ribbon. We're we're here, you know, waving a flag. You know they're just like they do all their phone talks. They're just like. Manic. Yeah, like Kobe. Kobe. Showing, showing this. There's really no difference between any of the parties helping the same damn thing.
You know, I mean now of course they're running for elections, so they're saying different things. But what did they do during? Well, this didn't matter what province you're in, so or at all. They certainly seem to be of 1 mind on this stuff. And the problems happening in Vancouver are happening in Calgary. It's run. Yeah, I know. It's not just, I said in Vancouver and. American cities, too. You know, yeah. Yeah, all the West Coast cities
are, like, scary as hell, too. Like, especially, like LA, Portland, San Francisco. Yeah, Seattle. I pulled a lot of down on Seattle. You. Know cuz they hurry down on policies that didn't work for them and we're like, oh, that's gonna work down there. Well, we'll try it. We'll do it even more ridiculous and it's just not didn't work there, it's not working here. Yeah. And it's not safe. It's it's becoming dangerous, right. So, yeah.
We'll continue the conversation. Richard, thank you so much for coming barred and for having. OK, take care, but.