Adrenaline

Hi guys, i'm new to the forum so please forgive me if this is something that has already been discussed. Basically I teach/train in wing chun but am very aware that the biggest thing holding me back in becoming 'able' when it comes to self-defense is adrenaline. It can ruin the most technical fighters. So, for you guys that train, how do you train your ability to resist/control adrenaline? What techniques/exercises can work in a class?

Many thanks

hard sparring can induce an adrenaline rush and the more you deal with it the better you can get at managing yourself under it. competetion is another great way of dealing with it. i have expirence with competetion at the national level and i can speak from expirence that putting yourself in that environment can induce an adrenaline rush as well, the more you do it the better you can get at managing it as wel.

another way is to participate in gradings in your martial arts style. the stress and fear from that can also induce an adrenaline rush, again the more you deal with it the better you can get with it.

some people focus on their breathing, others repeat a phrase in their head over and over. its different for different people, you should explore it for your self. the main point is that you have to push or place yourself in stressfull situations to get good at managing them. there's no easy way. good luck.

Yeah, full contact sparring is definitely the best way to train adrenaline but with new students you don’t want to spar them straight away I’m sure you would agree.

One exercise I’ve used before is standing a student in the middle of a group of people holding pads while they spin round to make them dizzy, then after a little while getting them to stop and hit the pads whilst remaining coordinated. It’s difficult but is an attempt to recreate the tunnel vision etc of an adrenaline rush.

Does anyone know of any similar sorts of techniques that can aid training in this way?

cheers

G'day Shauninay,

I disagree with the full contact sparring as being the BEST way to train for the effect of adrenaline. it is a very effective method but it lacks the emotional component of Fight or flight (FoF) in response to a real world attack.

It is great for experiencing the adrenaline, and there are plenty of other drills that assist in acclimatising to the physical effect of adrenaline.


spin drill
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=QndD6M-TOoI

some acclimatisation drills
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GzBWTBL0F3k

Any drill that produces the physical sensations of adrenaline and FoF and requires the student to function under those conditions is beneficial

However this only addresses the physical aspect of FoF, there is a small emotional component, but nothing like the emotions experienced in a real self defence situation.

See the Fight or Flight is an emotional response, even though th physical sensations are similar or the same, the emotion that elicits the response (and the stimulus) dictates the effect of the response. It is the emotional component of FoF that produces the strongest freeze response

Basically not all adrenaline dumps are the same, sparring for eg, produces adrenaline, there is a degree of fear (fear of being hurt, failure, non performance etc) but there is a lack of emotionally elicited fear response. different fears produce different uses of FoF.

If it was all the same then all we would need to do is watch adrenaline releasing movies and we should be able to familiarize ourselves to any danger at all. this sadly isn't the case. A snake elicits a different response then skydiving. the physical reactions of the body and the associated sensations are very similar maybe even identical, but you will experience a difference between the two.

we are not mechanical beings our experiences are made up of not just physical sensations but psychological and emotional sensation. The mind and heart lead the body

Senario training is one of the best ways to link the Behavioural, Emotional and Psychological aspects of violence. the idea is to evoke a emotional response that in turn evokes the physical FoF response. This is how it happens in real world violence it's not just a physical one.

that being said the more familiar you are with the physical component the more resources you are able to use controlling the other components

this is a face book video (you need to be signed up to face book) it shows emotional evocation (warning the video contains frequent course language, and content may offend...but hey this is reality)

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2617010555#/video/video.php?v=27963260740&oid=2617010555

imaging eliciting this response in a student andthen having them immediately perform under pressure (sparring pad work acclimatisation drills etc)

Shove a pair of focus mitts on the aggressor and then start with the emotional evocation, suddenly bombard them with strikes from the pads (have them cover up) and then have them immediately fight back (striking the pads) with whatever techniques appropriate to your system. you could have then straight blast (into the pads) as soon as the attacker stops the barrage (the pad man holds the pads in their centerline.)

Heres an eg of scenario training
Scenario training
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=gWsRTGUYMsI
(read the full description and listen to the break down after the action)


I hope that helps

Just to clarify I am not saying abandon full conduct sparing or hard pad workouts, I'm just suggesting you include the emotional component as well.

good stuff. another drill we do similar to the spin drill is to have a student in the middle of a ring of other students. its like a kumite drill where the people surounding the guy in the middle all attack at random! or you could have some one call out names at random, and the attack starts right away and only lasts a few seconds.

this way the student in the middle can't know which way its coming from, increasing the level of unknown is another good way to learn to deal with it.

you could midify it all kinds of ways, like having the people who attack hold pads and kick sheilds and atempt to rush or tackle the target in the middle. some times you could have mass attacks form here as well. or have some students pull fake knives at random.

Thanks for all your replies guys. Some really good stuff there.

Hey Shauninay, did you get the article I sent you via PM?

yeah, ive just sent you a pm.

cheers

by adrenaline do you mean like excited (high) or other just im new to this sorta thing

The sort of nerves you feel when you anticipate impending danger, stress, challenge. Like when you get in a fight. (if your unkucky enough to do so.)

However this only addresses the physical aspect of FoF, there is a small emotional component, but nothing like the emotions experienced in a real self defence situation.

See the Fight or Flight is an emotional response, even though th physical sensations are similar or the same, the emotion that elicits the response (and the stimulus) dictates the effect of the response. It is the emotional component of FoF that produces the strongest freeze response

Basically not all adrenaline dumps are the same, sparring for eg, produces adrenaline, there is a degree of fear (fear of being hurt, failure, non performance etc) but there is a lack of emotionally elicited fear response. different fears produce different uses of FoF.

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The Fight, flight or freeze response is caused by stress chemicals making the heart rate exceeding 175 bpm. The FoF is an instinctual response triggered by stress. That trigger is different for every person-it may even vary for the same person in two similar situations.
The effects of stress are evidenced by the heart rate caused by the level of stress. Freezing occurs when brain activity shifts ( at around 175 bpm) from the fore brain to the mid-brain and a response has not been programmed into the mid-brain. Since there is no response stored in the mid-brain it "freezes" until it can come up with a response.
Stress resulting in a heart rate less than 175 bpm will have different effects-examples
115-deterioration of fine motor skills
145-deterioration of complex motor skills
Other examples of stress responses-physical and perceptual
auditory exclusion, tachypsychia, vasoconstriction, hyper optic optical shift,

A good reference http://www.killology.com/art_psych_combat.htm

Stress inoculation and deep breathing will help you combat stress. The drills shown look pretty good and have given me couple of ideas. I've already been using the spin drill.