WE WILL NOT BE OURSELVES.

 

HOW WE THINK AFFECTS HOW FEEL. HOW WE FEEL AFFECTS HOW WE THINK.

 

This semi-lockdown period is a perfect time to challenge ourselves, a time to step into the dark corners of what we do.

To seriously think about the unthinkable, and prepare ourselves for the one thing we all would rather not face.

Thinking about violence is not easy, it is uncomfortable and more than a little alien.

To a very large extent our training is non-violent, this raises some questions such as ‘Can there ever be an equivalence for violence in a non-violent setting’?

We need to find a way forward and the only way forward is through understanding much more than training.

All training is task-specific, what are we training for?

To be able to maximise our training to accomplish the task of responding to violence we need to have some IDEA about violence, how it happens, where it could happen and who is likely to cause it.

We do well to use our imagination to create templates of the kind of people we think we may be facing.

Facing a tall person requires a different approach than a short person, different techniques to provide answers to different questions posed by this person, the same goes with heavy or light people, fast or slow people, kickers, grapplers or any other stylistic method.

Thinking that a one size fits all approach can work requires a deep, deep understanding of what our training has taught us.

And a big bag of luck.

We should engage in the mental exercise of “Who will we be fighting” in this way we can form the basis of a plan that we can enact instantaneously the moment something happens and not be left like a Deer in the headlights.

There is another important aspect, a possibly more important aspect to be considered, and that is who will be doing the fighting?

HOW WE THINK AFFECTS HOW FEEL.

HOW WE FEEL AFFECTS HOW WE THINK.

THEY BOTH AFFECT HOW WE WILL ACT.

Something I know from experience is that the body and mind that we inhabit during training is nothing like the one we will inhabit in a violent encounter, even in a Boxing or Judo Match everything changes, been there, done that.

There is a lot of talk in the Martial Arts about remaining calm, controlling our breathing, staying focused on the task at hand, all essential if we hope to get out in one piece but does our training give us any idea how to do this?

In my opinion, Traditional Martial Arts do not.

Do we have any clue as to how our body will react if we get hit in the face? When it happens in training everyone stops what they are doing to see if we are O.K. In a Street Situation, this is usually just the first shot of a barrage.

Will we be able to pull off our smooth moves as our heart rate hits the accelerator?

Here is a snippet from an article by Rory Miller, a man well worth listening to.

 “Note that this is a hormone-induced increase in heart rate. BPM increases caused by other things, such as aerobic workouts will not have the same effect. Also, be aware that a hormonal jump in heart rate can be almost instantaneous.

Here are the rules of chemical fear:

If you get scared enough that your heart rate goes over about 115 BPM, you will start to lose your fine motor skills. That means your precision grabs and locks are gone.

About 155 BPM, complex motor skills deteriorate- you lose your patterns, combinations, traps and sweeps.

About 175BPM, planning and thinking are severely compromised. You lose your near vision, peripheral vision and depth perception. Your hearing will deaden or be lost.

Above 175, if there is anything in your bladder, you will lose it. Most will freeze or curl up in a ball and wait for mommy to save them. Only the grossest of physical activity is possible- running and flailing.

In short, the more desperately you need your skills, the less you will be able to rely on them. If you ever hear or say or think, “If it was for real, I’d do better” know that it is a lie. When it is for real, you will do much, much worse than in practice. The belief that people improve under stress is a myth.”

 

Here is a link to the article… LINK 

It is well worth reading.

This passage should be taken to heart.

Note that this is a hormone-induced increase in heart rate. BPM increases caused by other things, such as aerobic workouts will not have the same effect. Also, be aware that a hormonal jump in heart rate can be almost instantaneous.

No amount of S.L.T. can control our hormones.