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"Fear"
It can turn the most practiced martial
artist into a rubbery jelly, frozen, unable to act person. It makes him
or her vulnerable. That’s fear with a capital “F”.
I’m not talking about the normal run of the dojo trepidation or the
stress and anxiety of competition or demonstration. I’m talking about
deep wrenching fright – the terror felt during an actual attack –when
you fear for your life.
It can totally incapacitate. Your legs tremble, heart pounds, you sweat,
you want to run and you can’t seem to move or know what to do. You see
the danger, you see the attack but you don’t respond effectively.
It was a few years ago. I knew a guy who was a student AND also an
instructor for a local school here in Southern California. I wont
mention the school though :) Anyhow, he was quite good. He prided
himself on his showroom full of gleaming trophies. He thought he was the
“Man”, you could tell it by the way he talked and held himself.
One day I saw him on the street, and he was all banged up. “What
happened to you?” I asked. He didn’t want to talk about it. A few weeks
later I saw him again and this time he confessed. He had been attacked
by two guys who demanded money, he said. “I just stood there. They hit
me and then stole my wallet. I didn’t do anything.” He was so
embarrassed.
His martial arts training had failed him because it had been incomplete.
He had not learned to use fear, to use his reactions to his advantage.
Instead fear and the stress of the moment had become his enemy. He had
trained in technique but he had never trained in how to deal with his
emotions and body reactions that had gripped him. And he is not alone.
This is an unfortunate limitation to most martial artist’s training.
If you want to make your martial arts training credible, learning to
deal with fear is critical. Some say it is the number one factor in
responding to any attack or self-defense situation. (Of course, if you
are just training to get in shape, meet friends or build discipline,
this might not be so important.)
Fear and stress are natural responses to danger. They are the body’s
survival response. But, if you don’t understand these responses, learn
what to expect and how to deal with them, these same responses can take
you by surprise and paralyze action.
In intense, threatening situations the body reacts – increased heart
rate and breathing. The blood stream is flooded with adrenaline (the
adrenaline dump). Blood flow to the extremities is reduced and diverted
to large muscle groups. Body functions not critical to survival are
reduced, such as digestion. The breath rate increases and you sweat.
At low stress and fear levels, the body feels infused with added power
and strength. Senses become more acutely aware. The ability to run,
jump, and hear is enhanced. Reaction time is decreased - as your body
shifts into action gear.
At moderate to high levels of stress and fear, the legs often begin to
tremble. Some people feel nausea and their vision tunnels (peripheral
vision is reduced). Hearing can also become impaired. For many, events
seem to shift into slow motion as fear itself floods through their
thoughts. They want to run (fight or flight syndrome). There is
indecision.
Some people actually freeze at this point. They are unable to process
the threat and response options effectively. Some react irrationally,
become disoriented, and can’t respond well physically because their
abilities deteriorate (fine motor skills). At extreme stress levels even
more complex motor skills can fail – such as those involved in
combination techniques.
Law enforcement has studied officers’ reactions to extreme stress and
fear. Studies have found that reactions vary greatly – from total
irrationality (in one case an officer actually threw his gun at the
attacker and then turned and ran) to total control and poise even after
having suffered multiple gun shot wounds.
These same studies determined that the ability to react optimally could
be traced to proper training: rehearsing of, and training in, the proper
methods of dealing with a variety of threatening circumstances so events
would not take officers by surprise. Likewise martial arts instruction
should teach and condition students on how to deal with adrenaline and
fear induced stress through drills, proper rehearsal of self-defense and
other means.
How? On a basic level, free fighting, competition, demonstrations and
promotions (especially before seniors) can introduce students to their
emotions and reactions and train them on what to expect from low to mid
levels of stress and fear. This is why participation in competition and
demonstrations can be useful to students (who often naturally shy away
from participation). They learn about and are forced to deal with their
stress/fear reactions. But, this is basic training only. Often what is
at stake in these situations is the ego, fear of losing or not looking
good. The chance of getting hurt in point scoring competition is
minimal. Full contact is more stressful, but still the consequences are
limited to losing and perhaps getting temporarily hurt. Having your life
at stake is something else.
Even contact free fighting, however, can create dehabilitating body
reactions. I know because I experienced them myself.
Many years ago while practicing my Kenpo under a pretty well-known Kenpo
senior, I found myself hurt virtually every day in free fighting. The
anticipation of being hurt actually affected my ability to react. Every
day I dreaded practice fighting – I would get knocked down, punched and
often really hurt (I went to the hospital four times in the first few
months of practice).
One day I talked the situation over with one of my friends at that time.
He said, “If you fear the blade, you will die by it.” He said you have
to get to the point of ignoring danger. For me, daily meditation was the
key. When I finally could accept the fact that I would be hurt, I was
able to calm my mind and the effects of the danger on me were reduced. I
reacted better and suddenly I was no longer getting punished.
He also reminded me that I really was not in real danger, at least in
terms of my life. A couple of weeks after our discussion, he took me
aside one day to talk. We talked about my fear again and various
solutions. He said that he wanted to emphasize the point about really
being in danger.
“Let me show you something, “he said. “ And whatever you do, don’t move.
Don’t move. Right?” We had been talking in his room and he reached down
into a small separated area where he had a little desk, books and
assorted other things. In his hand I saw a short knife blade in its
sheath. “Don’t move, and for God’s sake keep you hands down and hold on
to your belt.” he said again. I froze as his hand whipped out. I felt
the air separate an inch over my head as a razor sharp blade whizzed
past --- whoosh.
“Now that’s fear,” he said. I knew.
I was all too aware that if the blade had been just a little off I would
have been dead or severely injured. It was bone chilling. For from some
deep reaches of my soul, an icy cold fear and trepidation had exploded
upward. I felt totally focused and super alert – riveted by the
experience, but my limbs trembled – as if I had no control. (Note: This
stunt should never be attempted. It was foolhardy even though my friend
was an expert with knives.)
“That is the emotional difference between a fight and life threatening
danger,” My friend said. I understood. That is why practice fighting,
even if it involves contact, may not provide enough mental conditioning.
Students who are interested in learning realistic self-defense should
also practice how to respond to forceful simulated attacks and multiple
confrontations – drill situations where they must respond with force and
without restraint. This can be done by having attackers dressed in full
body protective armor actually attack with force. I know this is hard
because not all of us or any of us for that matter have full body gear.
If you're tough enough, hands, foot, headgear, mouthpiece, etc etc will
have to do :)
Another method is mental: to use kata for training. But this requires
mentally making kata real and also learning realistic moves within your
kata (something which is difficult to do). Richard Kim (the famous
karate teacher, historian and writer) used to advocate using past
experiences of fear, and dredging up new images (like seeing an
attacker), feelings of threat and fear – visual and mental incantations
used to induce fear reactions in order to learn how to respond to them.
In this way, Kim often said, karate kata could provide a link to the
spirit and intent of the Japanese classical battlefield martial arts.
Using kata this way, you can experience and practice self-defense
situations within the context of real (but self-induced) stress and
fear.
There are other methods as well. Of course some people go out and look
for fights (to test themselves which is not practical for most students
or advised). Others take up boxing (one method I used), full contact
kick boxing, become bouncers, or use their experience within the
military or law enforcement. Another less intense method is acting or
public speaking (because this can cause fear that has to be controlled).
What is important is to become mentally conditioned through the most
realistic, stressful training possible. Without it, all the physical
capability and technique you have learned may fail you at the very
moment when they need it most.
With training and conditioning you can actually learn to recognize the
signals and use the adrenaline and fear response to heighten capability.
Once you are emotionally and mentally conditioned to respond to physical
confrontation and attack, you
will be able to respond better. Your body will be trained in response,
and be powered and speeded by the adrenaline pumping though your veins.
Fear which was once your enemy can in this way become your ally.
Sincerely,
Mr. Maurice A. Gomez Sr.
American Kenpo Karate 2nd Degree Black Belt
USA- Head Instructor
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