Mindset: Resolve

Jeff Cooper did not include resolve in his Principles of Personal Defense, but I think it is an essential part of a proper Christian Martialist mindset. Merriam-Webster defines resolve as "fixity of purpose".

Rob LaPointe includes a story in his free e-booklet Automatic Self Defense that illustrates resolve. Here it is.

Imagine this:
You're at a stop light, at night, in a rental car, in a strange city, trying to find your way
from the airport to your hotel. You're peering around, squinting at street signs, maybe
you have the interior light on and a map propped up on the steering wheel.

Basically, you're a sick or wounded fish shuddering and jerking around giving off those
"animal in distress" vibrations that work so well in the wild to attract Hammerhead
sharks.

There's a tap on the passenger side window (you didn't even see him approach because
you were buried in the map).

He asks "Need help?" You don't feel good about it, but - not wanting to be rude - you roll
the window down . . . and now a gun is pointed at your face.
He's in the car the light is green and the car's moving and you're telling him to calm
down.

In less than 7 seconds you've managed to break Rule #1 by not trusting your instincts,
Rule #2 by negotiating instead of resisting immediately, Rule #3 by heading toward a
second location, and Rule #4 by complying when faced with threat of injury instead of
accepting the possibility of injury.

Not bad!

Four minutes later you're in an abandoned warehouse district. There're gang tags on nearly
every surface, derelict cars scattered around, and no one in sight. You pull over and get
out, he takes your watch, your laptop and your wallet. He makes you open the trunk and
get your luggage out. You co-operate like a good, little victim.

Then he tells you to get in the trunk.

At this point, something clicks and your thought process changes. It's August in Houston.
You're on blood pressure medicine and have been toting around 20 extra pounds since a
few years after college. You'll last about 45 minutes in that trunk. He might as well have
told you to jump off a cliff.

You get tunnel vision and he begins to raise the gun and you swing at him and you think
you connect but you're not too sure and there's a loud noise that seems strangely like it's a
long way off and your left thigh is burning.

There's a struggle and then you're running and now your shoulder burns too. You think
he's chasing you as you trip and cut your hands and knees on broken glass and you're up
and running again and you hear a shot but nothing burns this time and now you're in an
empty lot and your lungs are on fire and you feel blood squishing in your shoe with every
other step.

You look over your shoulder and can't believe it, the son-of-a-bitch is still actually
chasing you - and grinning - and now you feel a different kind of burning in your calf.
This one has a nice stabbing nuance to it and the analytical part of your mind informs you
your tibia just got shattered by a bullet. But the rest of your mind and in fact your
complete physical being is telling you to RUN!!

At this point, your body has decided you need some extra help so it's fallen back on old
habits. Real old.

It's night and your eyes have dilated so you can see better.

Your blood pressure shot up and adrenalin is pumping into your system.

Heart and lung function just increased.

Your digestive system shut down, diverting blood to your
muscles - you just got stronger.

Your blood has begun to thicken so your wounds bleed less.

Natural pain killers - endorphins - course through you so
you're not as distracted by pain.

Your lungs are pushing increased amounts of oxygen into
your blood, benefiting your brain. Your mental focus is at
maximum.

Sugar and carbohydrate reserves are released. Your body
wisely figures "you can't take it with you," so there's a major
energy dump in progress and you just turned into superman.

You're seeing things in slow motion now. Your visual perception has altered - this change
is called tachypsychia. You notice details like where to get a handhold on that clump of
grass as you move up the embankment, where to put your feet so you won't slip.
Your hearing is acute. The cars on the freeway sound louder. You can even track how fast
they're moving and how far apart they are.

These are all details you'll remember later. Right now you're moving fast, reacting, and
storing information to think about later on, so your survival odds will be improved the
next time you encounter a predator.

And you're up the embankment and dodging cars and you're clutching a traffic sign
and you hear a siren.

So what's Rule #5?

Never, ever give up. [End of Excerpt]

As far as practical self-defense goes, resolve means that no matter what, you will not give up.