courage

hey guys,

on the bus rides back and forth from my home town to the place where i go to school i get plenty of time to think. and one topic that seems to come up a lot in my head is weather or not i'd actually have what it takes to defend myself in a number of situations i'v come up with. needless to say that the spectrum of self defence situations is huge and its really not pratical to train spefically for them.

for example, i have a friend in school who i got interested in the martial arts and were allways fighting somewhere, and hes in serious shape, hes got 5 inches on me and 30 lbs, but i still manage to take him out quickly. but the mood is fun and not really threatening. in the style of karate i praticed we'd train quite often in placing our selves in these threatening situations, by fighting 2 or 3 people, or just making thigs very very intense, and in class i can handle myself. same in judo, i've tossed and choked powerlifters and blackbelts. but again....no matter how hard we train or how intense we get, im convinced that the dojo is worlds away from the gut twisting and light headedness of real life.

im not sure if this makes sense to many, but humor me please, is there a way to prepare for the feeling of being alone, outnmbered afraid? i've been in fights, and that feeling has always been there, almost like a pre fight high, and the after feeling is similar. and i know that it makes me tense and lessens my potential so im trying to figure out ways to deal with it.

any answers are welcome, ive already explored every thing from medatation to "more training" and my last expirement is to just wait till it happens again......

yours in life

The "high" you speak of is adrenal response, kicked in by flight or fight mode when you are endangered. The trick is to incorporate this into your training. In particular, to your sparring. There are two ways to do this. Perhaps more but for me there's two key things. The first is mentality. Think of a situation you may have been in. If you have been in a real fight, go back to that. Think of every detail of the incident with as much clarity as possible. This will often create an adrenal dump. The second thing to do is, after having triggered the response, is to have an intense sparring match. This should create a situation thats about as close to the feeling of actual combat. However, make sure that you have established a level of contact with your partner and make sure you do not take it to far while being fueled by your adrenaline.

so i spose like medetation it has to be praticed in a controlled invoriment before you can turn it on and off when you need it?

Yes. This is something Ive been experimenting with for about six or so years. I can now illicit the response at will, but I havent quiet gotten to where I can stop it immediately. Though I have found that remaining still and taking slow, deep, breathes does help slow it quickly.

thanks

Very insightful about fight or flight syndrome Chen! I felt this way tonight before sparring because I was worried I'd get my ass kicked bad. And of course that's what happened...

Daily meditation can work wonders in your life. By having a good schedule of daily meditation, it allows your mind and body to "disconnect" in a manner of speaking. By this, I mean that in a real fight situation, your mind will be clear, and will follow the rules of "letting nature take its course". By constant meditation, your body responds without your mind having to think it first.

Chen gave you some great advice. It is necessary to feel fear to be courageous;otherwise, you are just fearless which means you don't recognize danger because you are naive, ignorant, impaired, or overconfident. Fear and anger (rage) can both produce an adrenalin dump and you have to learn to function during it. When you have an adrenalin dump it is helpful if you avoid intricate moves and stay with gross motor skills.

Again, in battle the heroes aren't the people who don't feel fear, a hero experiences fear and then does what needs to be done inspite of fear.

Hope this has help some.

all the replies help. but i'm far from a hero, i don't even have a cape.

I have never realised what I do in these situations, I guess I go by instinct. When I think about it, I look through them so that detail on their face is not clear, only the nessisary body language is clear. Instinct carries on from there.

I really haven't thought about it much, great topic though.

like i said, i've read things on fight psychology, adrelenlin dumps, ive traind hard, ive been in real fights, ive even competed in tourniments. i don't know, i guess im just worried that when it counts i'll wuss out and get bowled over. and nothing i've read on philosphy seems to send a shiver of confidance through me, or anything like a seret word that some people repeat to psych themselves up.....i guess i just need the right motivation??

or a nice warn cup of man the *%#$ up you sissy,lol.

yours in life

Well, if my response had no influence, then search for whatever suits you.

Good topic student. I remember that a kid was going to fight me after a class about a month ago, and I had that feeling all through the class. I also get it when I spar in front of a large crowd such as in tournaments. I think its just adrenaline and nerves. I don't think full contact sparring helps much because the video I did with my friend was pretty hard, and he is a hell of a lot bigger and stronger than the kid that wanted to fight me. But I didn't get that feeling when I fought him. I don't know exactly how to make that feeling go away, I guess you just have to be confident.
But if its a school fight, you have a whole lot of stuff rushing through your head. (will I win, will anyone jump in etc) and then you have the crowd of people. So I suppose its not just you. Bottom line I guess is to not get into fights you cant win, and then maybe you wont be so nervous.

Hello Student of Life:

I agree with Chen Zen and others concerning the adrenal response

<<the dojo is worlds away from the gut twisting and light headedness of real life.

True, but do you really want/need to train often in a heavy rain, in a crowded parking lot, over a parking spot with some angry moron(s) that you were definately ahead of him in line for it?

<<is there a way to prepare for the feeling of being alone, outnmbered afraid?

This will sound deliberate/malicious somehow but I do not mean it that way. Perhaps more friends... or a special someone would help ease those feelings in time? Love does wonders for insecure feelings... As for the specific feelings you described, speak with your instructor(s). They will be able to help trigger them again and by definition should help explore them deeply as well.

Good Luck,
Jeff

I think that the best way to train for “the what if “scenario is to know what you practice. If you know your material and have a calm mind and an encounter happens, you will prevail, that is unless weapons are involved than things can get dicey, but if your self defense is good then you wouldn't be in a bad situation in the first place. Of course sometimes things just happen.

I also feel that training for this one “what if” encounter is counter productive. If you do this you will be too focused on doing things just the way you practiced. So when I say know your material and know what you practice I mean know how to use it and be comfortable enough in your knowledge to just let your body and mind move you. This means not just doing, block, strike, sweep that you may have learned but knowing or feeling that this is a big person and after your block, strike you need to off balance this person first with another strike then a throw instead of a sweep. Be open and have an open mind and do what needs to be done as the situation warrents.

The adrenaline dump comes after all this is over and if you relax and control your breathing it will go away in no time.

like i said, i might just need the right motivation, if i had to fight for a loved one....i would

try this one out then, last summer i went to my first competetion and all the while building p to the fights i thought make the people that love you proud mark, don't you ever bek down!! and all the typical stuff. then as i was in the ring looking across at the other guy and the judge was about to call hajime. i thought, if they love me they want me to be happy, and i decided to fight for myself, i figred after that in that kind of scenariao that fighting for some romantisized ideal was foolish. so i did what i thought was approiate and did it for myself, i had to see for myslef weather or not i was up to my own mental scratch. \

as it worked out i won, but .....how can you say this without sounding childish??, i wanted more? i expected more of myself?? i wanted to fight the black belts and see exactly where i stood i guess, maybe thats some kind of inferioty complex, who knows.

oh well, i'll keep up with medetation and heavybag work.

yours in life