my shoulders are normal and fully functioning, no worries Alex.
infact my girlfriend says they're rather nice.

as for the negs issue, well i'm very inexperienced with them.
this was the first time i've been in that state of consciousness and felt a presence i didn't like the feel of.

i've kinda deliberately not paid too much attention to the self defense forum.
i get the feeling that some folk are too focused on the idea of negs, and i'm sure that in itself can only make them more likely to appear.
i'm not saying that anyone's experiences are in-valid or anything, but it seems that some forum members only talk about their negs issues, and while i understand that they're seeking help and advice, i can't help but think some people are possibly doing themselves more harm than good.

but like i said, i'm totally inexperienced with this side of things, so i really don't have a solid frame of reference where negs are concerned, and for that i'm very grateful.

i don't mean to insult anyone who does have problems with attacks, i can see that some people do have a bad time of it, and i sincerely hope i never have to deal with that kind of problem.
i gave myself enough dark times during my 20's and would hate to end up back in a negative place again.
thankfully i know i have some good guys looking out for me, so i'm positive it won't come to that.