I AM ASKED about the role of fitness in self defense and subject control almost every time I conduct a law enforcement (subject control) or citizen (self defense) training.  Truth is, I believe there are  several issues more important than fitness; and I think I have discussed many of these in past blogs, including, but not limited to:

• Willingness to fight (even over the ability to fight).
• Heart.  The true fighting spirit.  Courage, in other words.
• The Survival Psyche, or mind-set.  What many call Mental Conditioning or Spinal Tuning one’s mind and Central Nervous System to be aware of potential danger, to assess potential attackers and oneself and to anticipate - have a plan of action, and - this is crucial - to be (willing and) able to carry out this plan with “SPEED.”
• S.P.E.E.D.  The ability to improvise under survival stress by doing the unexpected (Surprise),acting decisively and quickly (Speed) while delivering strikes and countermeasures with Power and Explosiveness in order to allow one to Escape and Evade the attack by using Distance.

 The SPEED Fitness Program

I forget who said fatigue makes cowards of us all, but the words ring true to anyone who has been in a serious fight or critical incident and has hit The Wall.  You feel drained, weak, ready to give up.  Too many of us do give up.  This is where Survival Fitness can save your life.  A Survival or Fighting-Specific Fitness or Training Program can and will build up what I call a Heavy Survival Envelope that one can keep pushing so that in a life or death (fighting) situation, he or she will be able to call on crucial life preserving energy reserves in order to stay in the fight longer and with a higher level of confidence. 

DO NOT under value confidence.  The higher one’s confidence, the less chance one has of going into a semi-debilitating state of SNS activation.  Confidence also overcomes the energy sapping phenomenon of fear, and, subsequently one will be able to perform survival motor skills quicker and with more power (S.P.E.E.D.).

A person committed to developing speed, power, explosiveness, the ability to escape and evade by gaining distance should rely on a regimen that includes:

• Nutrition involving a mixture of carbs (slow burning), fats, proteins and proper hydration (water).  Proteins are a group of amino acids that maintain and build muscle used as energy sources during time of (survival) stress.  Proteins also increase mental performance.  Fats are a primary source of energy for the body and a transporter of amino acids.  In future blogs, I will get into more detail regarding nutrition, hydration and their role in the Fighting Arts.
• The 3 Energy Systems:  Our bodies rely primarily on three fuel or energy systems to perform high-intensity acts, such as fighting for one’s life. 
  1. The ATP/PC System.  The Adenosine Triphosphate/Phosphocreatine consists of small energy bundles that are stored in our muscles.  This system is what we primarily rely on when we are involved in high (survival) stress activities such as survival (self defense) fighting.  When the ATP/PC System is engaged, one is able to perform at 100% of his/her maximum output for only 10 to 15 seconds, tops.  After 10-15 seconds, a person fighting for his or her life can expect as much as a 45-50% decrease in maximum output. 
  2. The Lactic Acid and Aerobic Energy Systems.  Once the ATP/PC Energy system is depleted, the fighter relies on an the Lactic Acid System, which provides an intermediate energy system that can last from 15 seconds up to 90-seconds, where the fighter will be able to fight at about 35% of max.output.  The Aerobic Energy System is the final dominant system and it provides another several minutes of fuel, but the fighter will now be struggling to fight at 30% of maximum output.

• A Fighting-Specific Program. 

Ø       Mix a Combination of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Exercises (Aerobic) into your program.  More on this in the next blog, but, in the program I use and also suggest for my readers uses exercises that build our Fast Tic Nerves which are so crucial for the speed, power and explosiveness needed for survival fighting. 

1.        Work sprints, variables and fartlecking into your routine.  Spin Routines on the bike.  Speed routines instead of an easy running pace, such as my old LSD (Long, slow distance) regimens when I ran marathons.

2.        Cross-Train your aerobics.  Running, biking, hills, flats, etc.

Ø       Develop an Anaerobic Weight Lifting Routine.  Strength conditioning is crucial to the fighting arts.  Strength, power, speed, confidence.  Also, don’t discount the fact that one looks more formidable after only a few months of this type of program.  In the next blog I will get into some specifics about my program and others I know.  A couple more things:  By building one’s explosiveness, one will feel - as I do - untapped power surging through his or her veins, arteries, muscles, limbs.  Not only that, one will be able to withstand more strikes and blows in a fight without sustaining serious, debilitating injury or trauma.  I suggest a weight lifting cycle featuring a complimentary series of strength and power exercises with little rest in between to develop that (SPEED) speed, power and explosiveness so critical to self defense.  More about this cycle in my next posting.

Ø       BE A ROCK.  No kidding, folks, tune in for the next blog and I will turn you on to the fighting-specific type of program for which you may have been forever searching.  I will say it again:  I kid you not.  I have been in scores, maybe hundreds of fights and, although I would admit that I have never been a great fighter, I am virtually unstoppable.  Hit me, kick me, drive a two-by-four as hard as you can across my chest (Okay.  Hit me in the head and I slow down considerably), and I keep on coming.  It is all in your mind, your heart and your Fighting Arts-Specific Fitness Program.

Next Blog:  Details and specifics about my Survival Fitness Program.

Harry Hammer

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Action Against Violence Home Page, Safety and Survival, Strategies and Tactics, Uncategorized, Violence Prevention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.