The Hunters Mindset

Posted by: Gavin

The Hunters Mindset - 10/25/06 09:38 AM

“You don’t do that do you?” said my Instructor as I parried off an attack from my training partner and then countered with a strike to his face.

“What do you mean “I don’t do that?”? I just done it didn’t I?” I respond very confused.

“On the Door when you’re working. You don’t do this!” he replied cheekily mimicking my “tappy tappy” parries.

“Well… erm… I was avoiding the punch and setting up the counter!” I explain.

“Throw an attack!” he commanded.

Before I managed to raise my fist just above the waist level and shift my weight forward to deliver the power he was on me. His fist was occupying the space my stomach had previously happily sat in and my body was spinning into a heap on the floor.

“Does that resemble something closer to what you would do on the Door? Would you generally let someone try to hit you before doing something?” he smiled.

“When you put it like that… “ I ponder.

“… then why train something you don’t do?” he interjects.

“Errr… “

“You’ve been there, you’ve done it and you know what works! You preach pre-emptive watch-a-ma-callits all the time yet you don’t train the right mindset to be pre-emptive! You’re training yourself to be a victim!”

“Training myself to be a victim???” I bleat whilst trying to process the bombshell I’ve just taken straight on the noggin’.

“It’s a mindset thing. You’ve got the tools and drill them, but you don’t drill the mindset needed to use them. Let’s take your stereotypical self defence application. I throw a big haymaker… in fact let’s even make it a ‘reality’ based one and stick a big stonking boxing glove on so I can hit you really hard… so I swing at you with total spite and venom. What d’ya do?”

“Well… I’d jam the arm up and go for the throat, eyes or something vital to take you out quickly!”

“So you’d wait for me to throw a huge swing at you before you took me out of the game?” he asks.

“Well… “

“You’re a victim! He’s got control of the situation and forcing you to react! That’s not pre-emptive! That’s training your body to become a victim!!!!” he interrupts.

He gives me a few seconds for this to sink in.

“You see we have to become the Hunter not the prey! You know what the definition of prey is, don’t you?” He grins.

“The one who’s being hunted?” I reply.

“No… the one who is eaten! At the beginning of combat there is a split second where the fight can be taken. There is a unique window of opportunity where your opponent switches into ‘Fight mode’ just prior to an attack. That’s where 99% of fights are won and lost. It’s that window that we hunt. In combat it is the only thing we are concerned about. We become predators and that unique window is our prey!”

“When I train I’m not the prey though… especially when we go hard!” I proclaim in defence of my own training.

“Really?”

“Well, I think so?” as I feel my faith start slipping.

“You train to respond once your opponent has attacked you. The mindset of your training is set up to respond and work off attacks. Sound about right?”

“Well, yes. I guess.” I sheepishly answer.

“Then your training to fight off the back toe aren’t you?” he says softly.

“Yeah, well… I never really thought of it like that before!”

“We should train to control the conflict, not respond to it. A predator hunts his prey and the prey responds. The ball is in the predator’s court. You see all this talk of pre-emptive striking is fine, but few train the intention and mindset to do it. They’re lambs pretending to be wolves. The hunter will act swiftly, cleanly and decisively when taking out its prey. The prey, well… gets eaten!” he laughs.

“OK, I think I understand but can you ‘Hunt’ when the adrenaline is kicking and you’re totally crapping yourself?” I ask as his cheery expression changes to one of quiet consideration.

“Well… “ he pauses, “You’ve got to understand what causes you to ‘totally crap yourself’ as you put it!”

“Which is?”

“The unknown. Not knowing what’s coming next. If you’re busy thinking about every possible thing that they could throw at you then of course you’re gonna be scared. When I hunt someone I don’t worry about these things as I already know the outcome!”

“And that would be?” I ask the obvious question.

“They get eaten! The only thing in my mind is taking them out. I pick my target and take it. There is no thought or hesitation, I just take it. With that simple and powerful thought in my mind nothing else matters. I don’t give a damn what they say or what they do, I just hunt!”

“And what happens if they don’t need taking out?”

“They don’t get eaten!” he chuckles.

“OK, how do you know whether they need eating or not?”

“You’ll know! Train hard and train your Hunters mindset. As you become a better Hunter your confidence will improve. You’ll no longer be governed be your fear and anger, but instead by clarity and confidence. Most people lash out uncontrollably out of fear or anger. The Hunters actions on the other hand are purposeful and controlled…. “ he pauses as my eyes start glazing over.

“Perhaps we should just concentrate on teaching you to hunt for now. I’ll leave the deeper stuff once your ears have stopped smoking so much!”

“Cheers!” I smirk just as my brain starts approaching critical mass!
Posted by: Xibalba

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 10/26/06 03:58 PM

Great post, Gavin!

Your instructor sounds like mine..."I am not worried about what you are going to do to me, I am only concerned with what I am going to do to you!"

Mike
Posted by: MattJ

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 10/26/06 04:36 PM

Excellent, thought-provoking post, Gav. The question of "mindset" is very important, and something that I fail to train in a meaningful way. Much to ponder!
Posted by: Gavin

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 10/27/06 06:36 AM

Glad you liked it Matt. To be honest I don't think very many of us train this mindset properly. We'll say we do, but until we feel the difference. I'd say hand on heart that 95%+ of my training prior to this very recent insight (of which Bossman from the forum I have to thank for it!) was wrong. It just wasn't the way stuff works in the real world. I've been fortunate (unfortunate???) enough to have had a few opportunities to try my stuff out, but still trained it wrong!

It sounds like such an easy concept to put into practice but mentally and emotionally it takes a lot of training to uncondition the "victim state" we've already trained ourselves into. When we hunt it engages a different part of the brain one that our concious brain struggles to supress. Our concious brain likes to be in control so it can process and evaluate everything... it thinks in terms of techniques and what if's! It's extremely clever but in terms of taking action it's about as quick having a board of directors decide what to do next. The part of the brain we need to utilize in combat is often referred to as the reptilian... it's small and stupid but bloody good at getting things done fast. It doesn't feel fear or anger just responds instantly to what is.

Also once you start training to hunt and look for that window of opportunity you'll start spotting the microscopic reactions that an opponent gives off just prior to attacking. We have a natural in built ability to spot these reactions, but unfortunately our training and lifestyles seem to inhibit these instinctive talents rather than hone them.

A friend of mine who studies Yiquan sent me some interesting stuff after I wrote this article which is pretty much along the same lines (albiet from a much deeper understanding!). Yiquan actively trains it's guys to spot and react to this subtle reactions given off prior to an attack and minimise the window reaction prior to their own strike. Again many of us will say we train likes this, but in honesty it is a by-product of our training and could be developed to a much higher level if specifically drilled. An great quote from one of the pieces went along the lines "The attacker should throw first, you should land first!". They've taken the level of research down to studying how the Central nevous system fire's up prior to attack.

Sounds very deep, but if start looking at the way people move just prior to launching you'll start noticing the tell tales signs, shoulder dipping, posture adjustment, and other physical attributes. With time you'll start spotting change in breath, eye movements, muscle twitches and other more subtle stuff. It all has to be done at a subconcious level though otherwise it is useless for actual combat, but by shutting off the big slow thinking brain the non-thinking part can process and react so quickly that you'll develop what will seem like a pre-cognitive ability. Nothing mystical about it, just developing and training the body to higher performance. Again most of us can already spot these things as a matter of course, but we are drilled to wait for the attack to come in before we do anything. We have this self imposed step that delays our combat ability - mental when you thing about it isn't it?

Perhaps I'm waffling a little too much now! I can feel people nodding off... now you see why I've switched to writing stories rather than standard articles!
Posted by: Ives

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 10/27/06 07:11 AM

Nice one Gavin!

We had a discussion like this last week during class.
Posted by: shaolinmonkuk

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 12/12/06 12:05 PM

Nice article. I enjoyed reading it.
Posted by: kyokushinkai

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 12/18/06 05:21 PM

I can understand how the hunters mindset could work on the battlefield.. but in S-D.. If for example your in school or a bar and your walking through a crowd you bump into a guy and he pushes you.. You can A) wait for him to swing
then counter and attack. Or you can B) Notice him begin to swing and send your hand barreling into his face cart-wheeling him into the crowd.

Now look at this from the eyes of the witnesses.. They may or may not have seen the guy push you and even they did. They still seen you hit him first.

Are you going to try and convince the Judge and Jury that you've trained your subconcious brain to pick-up muscle twictches and subtle body movements and you knew without a doubt he was going to assault you.

I suppose however you could trap his incoming arm and put him to the ground.. actually that being the predator by waiting for the hunter to move.

I don't see how you can be the hunter unless it's a life or death situation; without being the initiator of the attack ( in others eyes ).
Posted by: Chen Zen

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 12/18/06 11:08 PM

Often, a pre-emptive strike is allowed by self defense laws. You DO NOT have to wait to be attacked.
Posted by: Gavin

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 12/19/06 04:50 AM

If you control the situation from the offset you'll act appropriately. Once an attack has been initated you'll be on your back toe, swinging from the rafters and from pure panic with a total lack of control. Remember being pre-emptive doesn't mean that you have to punch, kick or elbow. Locking, holding and other subduing techniques mean you can pre-emptively subdue and aggressor before they get a chance to start firing. When you feel threatend that is when you legal right to self defence applies. For the benefit of witnesses always tell them you don't want to fight. Use phrases like "I don't want to fight you, I really am not comfortable with you standing the close to me. Please back away." etc. Most people at this stage slip into panic mode and their movements become stuttered, weak and nervous... this is picked up by your attacker and will probably fuel his aggression. Using the Hunters mindset completely changes the energetics of a situation your body language changes, your whole intent changes... your attacker will also pick up on this. A large proportion of the time this alone is enough to convince someone that they are better off hassling someone else and you get the back peddling threats "You're a f*cking dead man!" or "You're lucky!"... I always feel lucky when they threaten me whilst walking backwards.

Having work the Door for nearly five years week in and week out I've never once been arrested *touches wood* and have seen this mindset work 1000's of times. Both myself and colleagues switch to the role of dominate alpha when we are taking control of a situation, which is what you need in any self defence situations, regardless of the level of threat. Remember we are dealing with the primitive part of the brain here and this needs primitive tried and tested methods to get through.

Most Martial Artists I've ever meet can't hunt in the dojo, let alone on the street and as for life threatening situations. And besides I'm not stupid enough to presume that a situation isn't life threatening. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Make sure you're training to be the wolf and not the sheep. The confidence this gives you should be enough to disuade your casual trouble maker that you're best avoided. Coupled with awareness and common sense you should avoid the majority of trouble.
Posted by: jamestkdkungfu

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 12:44 AM

I know excatly what you mean, i never really had a name for it but you just turn off your thoughts but you still think. Its like in the words of Bruce Lee "I don't hit, it hits all by itself". In competition this happens too, and also sadly to say in a few street fights this has happened to me. the ones where it didnt happen i lost, i thought too much and let my fear get the best of me. Fear is the greatest battle you will ever face, weather it be competitions or in serious life threatening situations and we have to train with intent or it will not be as helpful as we believe. When I trained in some self defense classes the inscructor would always preach to strike like you mean it. It was surprising to see how many people don't attack with meaning when they train i hate to admit it but there was only a few times i hit that bob hitting bag thing like i thought i was in danger. It is indeed true it is hard to train this way both emotionally and mentally. I suppose its our way of thinking, it will never actually happen to me, which so many of us are acustume to believing
Posted by: bigbair

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 10:16 AM

Gavin I agree with you when you said "being pre-emptive doesn't mean that you have to punch, kick or elbow. Locking, holding and other subduing techniques".
You can take control of the situation by having a stance where your hands are up (and open) while you have one of your feet slightly behind the other (in a small sneaky kind of front stance) where the back foot is ready to deliver a quick but powerful front kick. While in this stance you can yell out something like I don't want any trouble so that everyone can hear. Now if the attack comes your hands are already up for a quick strike/front kick or parry/block followed by a strike. This is one way that I consider to be a hunter as well because you have covered your butt legally and physically. You have control of the situation from the start but the attacker thinks he is in control and commits to an attack and gets taken out.

but what about the situations where the guy squares up with you in a boxers kind of stance but not in range to do any harm. Now it is too late to deliver the first blow without the attacker "commiting". By commiting I mean stepping in your range or coming with an attack. His hands are up but the attacker is not in range so now you have a waiting game going on. What would be suggested in this case??? I think that this is when noticing little shoulder dips and subtle movements are nice to know because you will be able to determine the attack that is coming and react accordingly.

This is a very good post but everyone must keep in mind that everything is situational and sometimes when an incident happens you will not always be in control from the start and will have to find a way to swing control back in your favor.
Posted by: Gavin

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 10:39 AM

Hi Bigbair,

People do get caught off guard, no matter how much training you do. However its your reaction to being off guard that counts. I work as a Doorman and have been not always been able to get in before someone has raised their arms and have even been caught off guard, but then I hunt harder. I stopped parrying and blocking. I now train smoothering, jamming and offsetting. Everything I do be it defensive or offensive is designed to break your structure and take your balance. Looking at from a reactive point of view, I'm attacked I hunt for my feet first and foremost. Getting my balance and structure becomes my soul mission in life. Once I have that I'll hunt for my opponents structure jamming (or wedging as my Tai Chi instructor calls it) with anything I can, head, shoulders, elbows, fists, knees, etc. The only thing I'm concerned about is positon and destroying my opponents. As soon as you start thinking like a victim you become one. That's the whole point behind the Hunters mindset, it is the mindset of the fighter. They always say a cornered animal is more dangerous... this is the mindset I use if I'm caught off gaurd.
Posted by: bigbair

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 11:17 AM

Gavin, I agree with you. I don't know how tall or how much you weigh, but what about the 5 foot 5 inch 150 pound guy who is being bothered by a 6 foot 3 inch 250 pound guy. In this case the little guy wouldn't want to just go in and Jamm because of the other guys strength. This is when the little guy needs to "play" the victim and can get the balance advantage by use his small stature to get the big guy to commit or "over commit" to an attack. When this happens the little guy is actually in control (if trained) because he will be balanced and can use the bigger attackers momentum and lack of balance against him if he knows any throws or takedowns. This smaller person can also get in a good front kick to the groin or knee especially if the attacker underestimates the smaller person.

One question I have is when you go in to jam or wedge in has anyone tried to take your knees out or send a strike to your groin. I ask this just because when I read your response I immediatly thought about you jamming punches and not low kicks (I could be wrong but that is just where my mind went when picturing the situation). These are just my assumptions because I don't know your background or size or size of people you are getting rid of. like I said before everything is situational.
This is a good post that can go on and on. Because when I think of hunters mind set I think of just being in control. In control of my emotions, movements and the attackers movements. Ex. if they are in a strong stance and inching in then maybe I will move to the left or right so that I can get the edge in postioning and then begin my strikes while they are somewhat out of position. I believe that I am in control and hunting even if I am moving backwards. I keep my center of gravity and stances correct and move back on angles (not straight back) and make the attacker move the way I want them to which will benefit me during the situation and when there is an opening I take it. Whether it be knee strike groin strike, punch elbow or whatever.
Posted by: Gavin

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 01:26 PM

Quote:

Because when I think of hunters mind set I think of just being in control. In control of my emotions, movements and the attackers movements. Ex. if they are in a strong stance and inching in then maybe I will move to the left or right so that I can get the edge in postioning and then begin my strikes while they are somewhat out of position. I believe that I am in control and hunting even if I am moving backwards. I keep my center of gravity and stances correct and move back on angles (not straight back) and make the attacker move the way I want them to which will benefit me during the situation and when there is an opening I take it. Whether it be knee strike groin strike, punch elbow or whatever.




This is exactly it! It's about taking control. I'm not a big guy 5'10 and about a 180lbs. My background is Kempo, although I'm mainly training in more of a combative manner and studying Tai Chi now. In Tai Chi the first thing we do is root, find our feet. Then once we have our own centre of gravity we a basis for a strong structure (this is the strong stance you mentioned!). In Tai Chi we find an opponents structure by yielding around our opponents force/power/energy/etc to get their centre. Many Tai Chi people mistake this yielding as a passive action and "over-yield" going all floppy and loosing their structure, root and power. Yielding is a very subtle and actually highly agressive action in my opinion. It's the old adage of "An ounce can move a ton if applied correctly!". This is why the Hunters mindset alone is not enough, it needs to be backed up with skill.

Regarding the larger against the smaller person. My Tai Chi instructor explains it as such, "A large persons bulk is an advantage when there are on balance and can use it. When there off balance it's a total disadvantage!". It's all a matter our responding skillfully with a Hunters mindset.

Think we're singing from the same hymn sheet here!
Posted by: bigbair

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 01:37 PM

I agree we are on the same page. These are the nice, calm intelligent "conversations" that I like to see in forums. Thank you for this post!!!
Posted by: shadowkahn

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 02:27 PM

Quote:

Gavin I agree with you when you said "being pre-emptive doesn't mean that you have to punch, kick or elbow. Locking, holding and other subduing techniques".




Trouble is, the jury probably won't agree with you. to the average jury (especially when helped along by the prosecutor) "big-bad-martial-arts-experts" are jedis. They watch Karate Kid and think they know about fighting. If you so much as TOUCH the other guy before he makes an obvious move (shoulder dips don't count since the witnesses won't pick up on them) you can plan on at best spending a night in jail and at worst getting sued out of everything you own.

Quote:

You can take control of the situation by having a stance where your hands are up (and open) while you have one of your feet slightly behind the other (in a small sneaky kind of front stance) where the back foot is ready to deliver a quick but powerful front kick.




I agree with you except for the front kick bit - - if you use the back leg use it in an oblique kick to the knee. It's faster, harder to stop, and the laws of physics say it will stop the guy's advance.

Quote:

While in this stance you can yell out something like I don't want any trouble so that everyone can hear.




Good advice.

Quote:

Now if the attack comes your hands are already up for a quick strike/front kick or parry/block followed by a strike.




There should be no such word as block in your martial arts vocabulary. If you're blocking, you're on the defensive. Parries and destructions should be your responses to strikes - after all, if you block, the other guy just has to hit you again and again and eventually something will connect. If you render the arm he's punching you with useless then he has a maximum of 2 strikes before he's out of fists.

Quote:

This is one way that I consider to be a hunter as well because you have covered your butt legally and physically.




Never EVER think you've covered your butt legally. You haven't. If you can get away with it, don't admit to ANY martial arts training, and make very sure it's bleedingly obvious that he attacked you. And even then you could still be screwed. Some years ago a cab driver in New York got sued because he pinned a jewelry store robber up against a wall until the cops got there. Another case had a burglar trying to sneak into a building via the roof access - - fell through a skylight, got hurt, sued, and won. The criminal justice system in the USA (and probably other western countries) is insane, and is often weighted toward the criminals. Unless you're a cop, you will almost certainly have legal troubles if you get into a fight.

Quote:

You have control of the situation from the start but the attacker thinks he is in control and commits to an attack and gets taken out.




If you have control of the situation then it goes the way you want it to. If it degenerates into a fight, you do not have control.


Quote:

but what about the situations where the guy squares up with you in a boxers kind of stance but not in range to do any harm. (snip) His hands are up but the attacker is not in range so now you have a waiting game going on. What would be suggested in this case???




I dunno about you, but I'm gonna run away as fast as I can. I'm not going to fight unless there's absolutely no alternative. I have nothing to prove, so I don't need to stay and fight the guy just to show that I'm macho or whatever the kids like to be these days
Posted by: shaolinmonkuk

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 02:37 PM

Hello, this is one of my favourite topics and keeping up to date with it.

I have a question and always curious though why this is:

If you study martial arts and you do get into a fight, meaning you have to defend yourself because someone is going to hurt your body or your wife/kids physically...then you should have a right to stop them/disarm them and perhaps knock them out.
Now in court, I don't understand why you shouldn't say you know martial arts if the judge asks you...because I was under the impression if you say that then the judge knows that since youre a trained martial arts expert you are wise, trained in defending yourself, trained in controlling your actions/emotions and obviously trained NOT to attack first/start fights first.
This is what I don't understand.
thank you.
Posted by: bigbair

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 03:47 PM

Shadowkahn you make some very good points. I just need to clear some things up. The way we Train a block is a strike. So with that said the attacker punches and we "block" which is immediatly followed by a strike. Our block is a full force say shuto, ridge hand, or cantoured wrist ....etc block, and we expect the attackers arm/hand to be of no good use after we hit it. We consider this to be an offensive move.

Also if it is a big looping punch that can be seen coming from a mile away we have the option of blending with it and taking the attacker down using their momentum
Posted by: shadowkahn

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 01/03/07 03:52 PM

Quote:

I don't understand why you shouldn't say you know martial arts if the judge asks you...because I was under the impression if you say that then the judge knows that since youre a trained martial arts expert you are wise, trained in defending yourself, trained in controlling your actions/emotions and obviously trained NOT to attack first/start fights first.




Because unless the judge has himself trained in martial arts, he's going to have the same preconceived notions that most of the public has about martial artists. Many of those notions come from watching the Cobra Kai scenes in Karate Kid.

Oftentimes the judge's first question will be "then why the hell didn't you just put him in an unescapable lock instead of punching him. You're trained, you shouldn't have to hurt him."

Obviously, WE all know that's a load of bunk, but unfortunately judges do not know everything about everything. Obviously if you are asked you must tell the truth because otherwise you are guilty of perjury, but if they don't bring it up, YOU shouldn't bring it up.
Posted by: ken harding

Re: The Hunters Mindset - 02/28/07 06:51 AM

" I stopped parrying and blocking."

Next you'll be saying that you have started doing Wado Gav.!