Training Insights:
Target Hardening
The term target hardening, mainly used within the security industry, usually refers to a building, a warehouse, or a piece of infrastructure that’s been made harder to break into. What most people don’t realise is that the exact same concept can be applied to people as well. Yes, including you.
What is Target Hardening?
The principle is simple: the harder you are as a target, the less likely you are to be singled out. In the security world, that’s about locks, lighting and cameras. Applied to you as a person, it’s about the signals you project — behaviour, body language, even your posture — consciously or not, every time you’re out in public: in an unfamiliar area, travelling overseas, alone, or with a group. This kind of presence is usually a by-product of long-term training. After years on the mats, you naturally carry yourself in a way that reads as capable — you can’t cram that overnight. But the good news is you don’t have to wait years to start benefiting from it. The traits can be practised deliberately, and they add up.
Studies involving convicted offenders found that when they watched footage of strangers simply walking down a street, they consistently picked out those who looked distracted, unsure, or insecure as preferred targets.
Carrying Quiet Confidence
How you hold yourself does a lot of the work before any confrontation ever starts. Good posture — shoulders relaxed and spread, moving with purpose — signals self-assurance without tipping into arrogance. It’s confidence, not swagger. Self-assured, not insecure.
If you don’t feel confident, your body tends to show it — which is exactly why deliberately setting your posture can help, even before the confidence catches up.”Power poses” (arms on hips, shoulders back, taking up space rather than shrinking) have been shown to shift your mental state — a bit of “fake it till you become it.” It’s a trick worth knowing: stand tall going into a stressful moment, and your body helps get your head in the right place, whether that’s a self-defence scenario or, just as easily, a job interview.
A few habits worth building:
- Use reflections. Shop windows, glass, train windows and mirrors let you check what’s behind and around you without ever turning your head or staring anyone down.
- Take corners wide. A wider angle around a corner buys you reaction distance, lets you spot a problem earlier, and gives you a natural, non-obvious moment to glance back the way you came.
- Take mental snapshots. You’ll rarely get more than a glance, so train yourself to register a couple of standout features — shirt colour, shoes, a bag — rather than trying to memorise a whole face.
- Choose your stopping point. If you need to check a map or your phone, don’t stop in the middle of foot traffic. Find a wall to put at your back, but avoid corners and doorways — people naturally cut corners tight, so standing right on one puts you within arm’s reach of everyone who passes.
- Don’t broadcast. Loud conversation, flashy valuables, an unsecured wallet or phone — all of it pulls unnecessary attention. Staying low-key is often the simplest way to stay off a predator’s radar altogether.
None of this is about being paranoid. It’s a handful of small, practised habits that, together, make you a noticeably harder target — and for someone still building that instinct, it just takes a bit more conscious effort until it becomes second nature.
Key Takeaways
- Target hardening isn’t just for buildings — the same principle makes you a less attractive target for crime..
- Confidence, alertness and positioning can all be trained deliberately. Long-term practice makes them automatic, but you don’t need years of experience to start applying them.
- Small habits — checking reflections, taking wide corners, choosing where you stop, keeping valuables out of sight — add up to a real reduction in risk.
- Blending in matters as much as looking capable. The goal isn’t to win a confrontation — it’s to never be selected as a target in the first place.
