BE THE PAIN, BABY!
When we talk self defense, be you a woman, girl, man, or boy, we need to talk (think) about mental conditioning. My SD 4 Women classes are dominated by physical movements and techniques – you know, strikes, headbutts, escapes, evasive footwork, and the such, but – and I tell my class this – the truth is that, if I can somehow influence them to work on three non-physical elements in their everyday lives, I can do more to help them stay safe then I ever could in a classroom during my 8-hour course.
THE THREE GREAT ELEMENTS OF SELF DEFENSE
- GET MENTALLY CONDITIONED – Conditioning yourself psychically is actually easier than it sounds. Matter of fact, your mentality is one of the few things you can exercise control over before, during and after a physical confrontation with a predator, bully, abductor or assaultive attacker. Also, understanding that there is an unmistakable and crucial connection between body and mind should motivate you to spend some private time getting your mind and body (spinal) tuned to fight to your maximum ability – or, in many cases, above what you now consider your maximum skill level. Simply put, you can Spinal Tune (a Warrior Science term for being mentally conditioned) yourself by thinking actively, not reactively. Do this by forcing yourself to be AWARE of your surroundings at all times, to sense (see, hear, smell, touch, your instincts) changes, subtle and major, around you. You must make yourself ASSESS what you see, hear, smell, feel and sense. Assess body language and trust what your instincts are telling you. ANTICIPATE. Meaning, simply, you need to ask yourself questions (I’ve talked about playing the “What If Game” in previous blogs to tune your mind in your relaxation time in order to create a “Warrior’s Mind”) challlenging yourself to decide what you would do if a worse-case scenario exploded in your face. Always have a Game Plan and even a Failure Plan.
- MAD DOG IT. Consider these facts. (A) Self Defense Is Not an Injury Free Activity. (B) The Bad Guy’s strategy often involves hurting you immediately, scaring you and intimidating you immediately, and causing you humiliation straight off, so you will be frozen or cemented to the spot on which you are standing! A rapist might order you to take off your shirt, blouse and/or dress/pants in order to”freeze you in humiliation.” A man seeking to control you might slap you hard across the face to stun you and scare you into frozen surrender. What I ask you to consider, if you choose to defend yourself, is to Mad Dog It. Reach deep inside you (see the last post) and find that Bad Ass Beast that lurks within you. It is there inside me, I know. It is there inside you. Mentally accept the fact that punches, kicks, grabs, slaps, and tackled are going to hurt like hell, but you can stand the pain. You can prevail over the hurt and deflect the pain & the fear – cause you have no time to be reactionary. Understand that, if need be, you can fight in a state of undress instead of feeling embarrassed You only have time to shake it off and fight!
- BE THE PAIN. Seconds after the strike, the slap, the attack, you have to realize that you are still alive, probably still standing. I have done this. I have mentally conditioned myself to take the pain and make it part of me, of my fighting agenda. Believe me, there is hardly anything more liberating and empowering than that feeling!
Until the next post, stay safe. “Okay, Now Your Spinal Tuned. Now, Kick His Ass With the Fighting Arts.”
Hammer