Physical Courage training?

[Lumpy]

I haven't been in a physical confrontation since high school, and frankly my first reaction to assault is to cry like a little girl. Situational awareness is vital to hopefully not get blindsided in the first place; but if it does happen, how do I not freeze up or go into shock? If one punch puts me down on the floor too traumatized to react, a firearm may be worse than useless. Do any self-defense courses address this?

[jshuberg]

What you need to do is to take as much realistic scenario training as possible. Just as important is to visualize various threats, and what your response to that threat should be. Make a point to change what the bad guy looks like when visualizing various threats and encounters so you don't get locked into a particular stereotype badguy your subconscious creates for you.

I've seen a number of stress inoculation classes from time to time, but nothing specifically for choosing the more correct or desired option in the fight/flight/posture/panic response. The more training and scenario visualization you do, the greater the likelihood that if a similar scenario actually occurs, you'll replay your trained response like a movie. The phrase I like to use is to willingly surrender yourself to your training. Don't fight to stay on top of or in control of what's happening, you most likely wont be able to, and fighting to mentally stay in control is what can cause a person to panic in a chaotic and extremely stressful situation.

The more actual training you can do the better, but visualizing various scenarios is just as important. If you need confirmation of this, try the following:

Sign your name with both your strong and weak hands. Your weak hand will be slower and less fluid, and it won't look right. Then close your eyes and imagine yourself signing your name with both your strong and weak hand. What you'll find is that your ability to imagine yourself signing your name is just as slow and just as awkward as it actually is. Each night, close your eyes and imagine yourself signing your name with your weak hand. Don't move your hand when doing this, it's an entirely mental exercise. Imagine it in the greatest detail possible - how the pen feels in your hand, the writing on the side of the pen, etc. The more realistic the visualization, the more effective this "mental training" will be. After a certain period of time your ability to visualize signing your name will become more fluid, less awkward, and just as fast as with your strong hand. When you get to this point actually pick up a pen with your weak hand and sign your name with it. It make take several tries, but very quickly you will be able to sign your name with your weak hand just as easily and naturally as your strong hand. The mind leads the body, and visualizing a training exercise is almost as productive as the physical training alone.

In the case of a defensive scenario, unless you're taking a force-on-force class with simunitions, it's pretty much impossible to realistically train to fight with a pistol. Even in this type of class the number of scenarios you'll be able to train on is limited, so preparing yourself for more than what you've been able to physically train on is entirely a mental exercise. Again, take as much scenario based training as possible, but mental preparation and scenario training, and a willingness to "let go" and allow your training to kick in is just as important. The name signing exercise (besides being pretty cool) can help you with your confidence in trusting yourself that your mental training is effective and can be trusted.

Hope this helps.

[hunterfreakhd]

I agree. .To me It's about muscle memory. Take defensive shooting classes ,practice dry fire exercises. When the situation arises for me I'm banking on muscle memory to save my ass! Because like you I'd be scared sh#% less that's just reality. But as the op stated it's about situational awareness and not going there in the first place. If something feels wrong it is. . Train as much as you can afford, learn practice techniques that don't cost you anything.

[farmerj]

Imagine the guy whom you just snapped at is a wanted felon for double homicide.


Then imagine talking to a cop a week later to find out he escaped from the local jail after you helped get him arrested from being a fugitive.


You never know who or what you'll be confronted with or when.

Your ability to deal with sudden stress and not loose your wits about yourself is continuous and fluid.

Its not just about being aware of your surroundings, but also how you present yourself. Present weakness, you'll be a target. Present confidence, you'll less likely be a target.

[20mm]

I'll ruff you up for free, or I'll find a few people who wouldn't mind.

[Ironbear]

When I was younger, I did some wrestling and some martial arts. The aggressive, physically confrontational nature of tournaments can get you pretty amped up! While marital arts aren't the complete answer, and you would have to be careful about falling into "sporting" traps, I would think that any martial arts that included tournament sparring would be a good step toward "norming" physical confrontation, particularly if you run with a bunch that plays on the rough side.

[UnaStamus]

Scenario based training and any type of mindset training (i.e. Grossman) are worthless if you have no fundamental basis for the type of defense you wish to employ. If you have no experience behind a gun, taking a force-on-force firearms scenario training course is basically wasting your time. You have to develop competency in your skill before you can develop confidence in your skill. You can't win a gunfight by learning how to react to people attacking. You win a gunfight by learning how to shoot a frickin' gun. You can piece together the "courage" training later once you know that you can hit your target with a bullet, or once you know that you can employ martial arts or MMA moves or sheer brute force with effect.
Don't waste your time with martial arts that take forever to become relevant (Karate, taekwondo, Tae-Bo with Billy Blanks). Take something that matters and actually works in a street fight, like boxing, Krav Maga or Brazilian JiuJitsu. The same with shooting. Learn the fundamentals, but then take a gunfighting course from someone who knows what the hell they're doing.

Physical courage is worthless without the means to enforce it. Stop worrying about learning how to develop mindset. Worry more about how to actually back it up.

[LarryP]

Just be a man.

[20mm]

I haven't been in a physical confrontation since high school, and frankly my first reaction to assault is to cry like a little girl.

Just be a man.

If you're a little girl maybe that's not an option.

[farmerj]

Scenario based training and any type of mindset training (i.e. Grossman) are worthless if you have no fundamental basis for the type of defense you wish to employ. If you have no experience behind a gun, taking a force-on-force firearms scenario training course is basically wasting your time. You have to develop competency in your skill before you can develop confidence in your skill. You can't win a gunfight by learning how to react to people attacking. You win a gunfight by learning how to shoot a frickin' gun. You can piece together the "courage" training later once you know that you can hit your target with a bullet, or once you know that you can employ martial arts or MMA moves or sheer brute force with effect.
Don't waste your time with martial arts that take forever to become relevant (Karate, taekwondo, Tae-Bo with Billy Blanks). Take something that matters and actually works in a street fight, like boxing, Krav Maga or Brazilian JiuJitsu. The same with shooting. Learn the fundamentals, but then take a gunfighting course from someone who knows what the hell they're doing.

Physical courage is worthless without the means to enforce it. Stop worrying about learning how to develop mindset. Worry more about how to actually back it up.

You can't have one without the other. They both need to be developed. Partly why the army and marines are big on confidence courses.