Eye Gouge Subdues Armed Home Invader

An article in the International Business Times reports:

According to a police report by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, a witness called 911 just before 1 p.m. after he walked up to Golden's house and saw a man in a black mask holding a rifle.

"He hit me in the head with a rifle and a buddy of mine just happened to come up at just the right time and distract him," Golden told WJXT. "And when he distracted him, I made my move and I grabbed him, locked the gun in."

Golden said he got into a scuffle with the armed man, later identified as 34-year-old Timothy Hinson, but managed to use his military training to gain leverage. That’s when Golden made his move for the suspect’s face.

"I dropped the clip because I had military training then there was still one in the chamber," Golden said. "It went off. I knew I wasn't dead. And then military training took over and I gouged him in his eyes until I felt his brain."

Adrenaline supplied the necessary aggressiveness; mindset provided the ruthlessness; training and experience had already taught him the effectiveness of an eye gouge.

Gators, Orcs and Presence of Mind

An alligator grabbed Juliana Ossa by the leg, and she forced it to open its jaws to release her. A life-threatening attack is a life-threatening attack, whether by 'gators or orcs. Would you have as much presence of mind to respond as the ten-year-old girl in this news story?

She explains how she did it:

‘I put my two fingers up its nostrils and it couldn’t breathe and had to breathe from its mouth and then let my leg out.’

‘The gator didn’t do anything because he was too busy biting my leg and too busy with his claws in the sand. He didn’t have any attack moves to take out my fingers.’  (edited for spelling) 

She demonstrated control under stress which allowed her to use a simple technique to secure her escape. The mindset should remain the same whether in Moss Park, Florida, an alley in New York, the Metro in D.C. or a deserted parking garage in Chicago.

Juliana had received enough training to know what to do in the event of an alligator attack, and her training gave her enough confidence to act decisively when the attack occurred. Do you have the mental and physical skills to carry you through a life-threatening attack?

Click here to see more posts on retaining control under stressful conditions.

From the Barber's Chair: A True Life Application of Tactical Breathing

Wednesday afternoon, I received a phone call from my barber that caused deep concern. "I crushed my hands this morning, and I'm checking in to the hospital right now for emergency surgery." He did not have time to explain, but did ask for prayer. You may wonder what this has to do with tactical breathing.

Well, the next day I spoke to him again on the phone and found out that although he suffered a lot of painful soft tissue damage in both hands, the only bone fractures occurred in one finger of his left hand. He then related to me the story of his hospital visit.

"You took away my gun and pants and made me wear a dress," he joked with hospital staff, "and you wonder why men don't want to come here." He underwent surgery with only local anesthesia, and as he lay in his "dress," his legs began to shake uncontrollably and his blood pressure went up -- signs of adrenaline stress.

It was then he began to concentrate on tactical breathing, because he knows that breathing and heart rate go together. As he slowed his breathing, one of team commented, "Your blood pressure is going down." Adrenaline dump managed.

He should be back to cutting hair by the first week of March with a renewed sense of God's providence in good and bad life experiences and a cracker-jack story about tactical breathing for adrenaline stress management.

So, stop by his shop in few weeks. The story is a lot better when he tells it.

Power Signals, Posture and the Christian Martialist, 3

Continued from "Power Signals, Posture and the Christian Martialist, 2"

In the previous post I established that the Bible links physical posture to inner moods and attitudes. In the next post, I want to tell a little bit about how I use the power poses in my own training.

First, though, let's look at some of the poses I use. I'll call on two of my favorites, Doc Savage and The Phantom to illustrate.

Above, you can see both Doc and The Phantom taking up space, a classic characteristic of power posing. To me, this pose signifies ready for anything.

Dr. Cuddy calls this "the Wonder Woman pose". In reality, almost every comic book hero assumes this posture often.

Usually, folded arms connote weakness, but not here. The Phantom has not hunched his shoulders, his chin is up, and he has assumed a wide stance. This pose virtually screams, "I'm in charge, here.".

Doc Savage projects power with arms upraised. The upper image reminds me of what I call the strongman pose.

It's difficult to find comic book heroes using the victory pose. When I use it, the word "exultant" comes to mind.

Both Doc and The Phantom project authority, even when seated. For this one, you need the biggest armchair you can find, then spread out to fill the space..

Power Signals, Posture and the Christian Martialist, 2

Continued from "Power Signals, Posture and the Christian Martialist"

In the previous post, I presented the principle that how you position your body affects your own inner attitude. When you are in a hostile environment, you want to project confidence and power to yourself as well as to potential adversaries.

The Christian Martialist, however, must ask himself the question: "Does this principle represent some fad in pop psychology, or does it arise out God's built-in design? Of course, the Word of God holds the ultimate answer to the validity of power poses.

I did a study on where the Bible associates physical posture with inner moods and attitudes. I also checked some commentaries that help to confirm and explain those connections.

Posture, Mood & Attitude

Psalm 42:5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

Commentary:

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? - Margin, bowed down. The Hebrew word means to bow down, to incline oneself; then, usually, to prostrate oneself as in public worship; and then, to sink down under the weight of sorrow; to be depressed and sad. The Septuagint renders it, “Why art thou grieved?” - περίλυπος (Barnes)

Psalm 27:6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

Commentary:

And now shall mine head - Now shall I be exalted. So we say that in affliction a person bows down his head; in prosperity he lifts it up. This verse expresses the confident expectation that he would be enabled to triumph over all his foes, and a firm purpose on his part, as the result of this, to offer sacrifices of praise to his great Deliverer. (Barnes)

Psalm 110:7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Commentary:

Therefore shall he lift up the head - Therefore shall he triumph, or be successful. The head falls when we are faint and exhausted, when we are disappointed and are ashamed, when we are conscious of guilt. It is lifted up in conscious rectitude, in success and triumph, in the exuberance of hope. (Barnes)

Psalm 119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

Commentary:

My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments ... - As an expression of delight or rejoicing, as people lift up their hands with their voice when they give expression to joy. It denotes a high state of joy, such as leads to an outward expression; not merely that which exists in calm contemplation, but where the heart is full, and when it finds outward expression. (Barnes)

Psalm 134:1 A Song of degrees. Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.

Psalm 134:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.

Psalm 134:3 The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

Commentary:

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary - Margin, In holiness. The Hebrew word properly means holiness, but it may be applied to a holy place. See Psalm_20:2. The lifting up of the hands is properly expressive of prayer, but the phrase may be used to denote praise or worship in general. (Barnes)

Lam 3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

Heb 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

Commentary:

Lift up the hands which hang down - As if from weariness and exhaustion. Renew your courage; make a new effort to bear them. The hands fall by the side when we are exhausted with toil, or worn down by disease; see the notes on Isa_35:3, from which place this exhortation is taken. (Barnes)

Isa 35:3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Commentary:

The weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees - Strength resides mainly in the arms, and in the lower limbs, or the knees. If these are feeble, the whole frame is feeble. Fear relaxes the strength of the arms, and the firmness of the knees; and the expressions ‘weak hands,’ and ‘feeble knees,’ become synonymous with saying, of a timid, fearful, and desponding frame of mind. (Barnes)

Job 22:6 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

Commentary:

And shalt lift up thy face unto God - An emblem of prosperity, happiness, and conscious innocence. We hang our face down when we are conscious of guilt; we bow the head in adversity. When conscious of uprightness; when blessed with prosperity, and when we have evidence that we are the children of God, we look up toward heaven. This was the natural condition of human beings - made to look upward, while all other animals look grovelling on the earth. (Barnes)

Ezekiel 1:28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Eze 2:1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.

Eze 2:2 And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.

Jos 7:6 And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.

Jos 7:10 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?

Jos 7:13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the LORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies,

Pro 28:12 When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden.

Rejoice:

‛âlats

aw-lats'

A primitive root; to jump for joy, that is, exult: - be joyful, rejoice, triumph. (Strong)

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Subdue:

kâbash

kaw-bash'

A primitive root; to tread down; hence negatively to disregard; positively to conquer, subjugate, violate: - bring into bondage, force, keep under, subdue, bring into subjection. (Strong)

I read a commentary that said this word’s usage stemmed from the practice of kings in the ancient Near East to place a foot upon the neck of a conquered foe, denoting total and absolute subjugation. (C.M.)

Power Signals, Posture and the Christian Martialist

The following helpful paragraph came from an ad:

There are three groups of power signals, each group or range communicates a personality or character quality.

• Alpha Signals: Leadership, Dominance, Control. An Alpha will initiate action and take up space.
• Beta Signals: Competence, Credibility, Intelligence, Confidence. A person with Beta characteristics interacts and shares space.
• Gamma Signals: Friendliness, Likeability, Interpersonal Attractiveness. A Gamma will respond and give up space.

The ad goes on to say that each serves an appropriate role, depending on the social context. 

I've written previously about how when you project confidence (as opposed to cockiness or bravado), predators tend to steer away from you and look for easier prey. I was also interested to find out that your posture not only affects how others see you, it affects your own confidence levels -- how you feel about yourself.

Power posture -- I like to refer to this as my superhero poses -- has been shown to reduce the stress hormone cortisol. This will serve as one more tool in your kit to control adrenaline in emergency situations. The health benefits that result from regular practice of power poses come as an added bonus.

View the video below for the whole story, and it would not hurt to have your women folk watch it, as well. This could save them from an attack they will never know was imminent.

One Christian Martialist Uses LARP

Live Action Role Play (LARP) can provide an avenue of training for those whose economic state prohibits paid lessons in combatives. One long-time follower of WARSKYL wrote to tell me a little bit about how he approaches his foray into the world of medieval LARP.

As you read, see if you can identify training value he receives from his participation. My own observations will follow his comments.

I have a few light bruises from my medieval LARP group.  In the end, I don't mind at all (they are foam weapons anyway, so it takes a very strong swing to actually cause pain).  I have gone to practice with a strong headache now as well.  What's the point in only fighting when you are at your best?  What orc will not strike you when you are at your weakest?  

You can see here that I'm applying this in a martialist mindset.  I had no idea people actually got together to fight with safe swords, flails, spears, and shields.  You can fight, and no one gets hurt, and you all go home friends.  It is a wondrous thing to me.  I know it's far from say, judo, or something actually modern, but I'm intent on sucking every bit of value out of it I can.  The fitness is a major plus, and  also the fact that it is entirely free.  The most I will need to spend is when I need to get my own weapons and such and they are quite inexpensive ($20-$30 for a sword, for example).  This is a far cry from the expensive martial arts classes I used to take, and nobody minds if I knock them to the ground this time.  It is FULL contact!

It is wonderful a cardio workout . . . on the plus side I am not nearly so bad off as I had assumed).

A benefit I've learned was to not necessarily look at my opponents.  I've thought of this before, but as I'd never had the chance to try it out, I'd forgotten about it.  My mind dusted it off as I had the two against me at once.  I kept on swinging my head left and right to check each one of them (as two were united against me).  I disliked this rapid movement, and I was suspicious of it also making me appear to be frantic (I can see the merit of using that deceptively, but at least for now I'd prefer to appear intimidating).  So, my brain dusted off the idea and shoved it into my cognitive mind and I looked in between them, not directly at them.  I instantly could see both of them with my peripheral vision without any issue.

Other practices can be a bit of a chaotic battle.  One such practice recently ended in me losing most fights, and I got killed from the back many times.  This will be a good training program to watch all directions.  I know it's impossible to be perfect, and even the greatest warrior will always die, but it's still a good idea to try your best in training.  The most I got were three kills before my own death (I attacked some brand new members--weak points!).

Okay, it's not WWII combatives or Krav Maga, but I see some real training benefits here:

1. The opportunity to switch on the full aggression mode without actually killing or maiming anyone allows him to practice initiating and controlling the adrenaline dump in a socially acceptable manner.
2. The fitness training comes as an important side benefits of this activity -- not just cardio, but also muscle endurance.
3. Dealing with multiple attackers does not usually come up in most martial training at the beginning. In LARP, he has had to deal with the problems of multiple attackers in terms of tactics as well as his fighting skills. Switching to peripheral vision gave him the advantage that peripheral vision perceives movement much more readily than focused vision. To fully benefit here, he must continue to develop control over his adrenaline dump (see #1 above) to avoid tunnel vision.
4. He is getting at least a small glimpse of the chaotic nature of violence. No one is able to choreograph a violent confrontation. Learning to act decisively, efficiently and effectively in a chaotic environment will help him -- even in a small way -- to prepare for the real thing.

Those are few observations off the top of my head. I invite you to add your own observations in the "Comments" section below. I really want to hear about how you might use LARP to augment your training, if you had the opportunity.

P.S. I wrote about the European Martial Arts of America in a previous post. To read it, CLICK HERE.

Interview with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman

I read Grossman's On Killing not long after it was published. My barber said, "Hey, Bro, you've got to read this book. We're in it." I knew exactly what he meant when I got to the page that talks about sheepdogs.

Earlier this week, a man that has followed this blog since he was a teen sent me a link to Brett McKay's interview with Col. Grossman. McKay is the persona behind the online magazine, The Art of Manliness.

I have a couple of caveats. First, near the beginning of the interview, you will hear an extended discussion of sex as it relates to killing. Some of you will find it crude and offensive. Second, Grossman interprets everything in terms of a non-christian, humanistic worldview. The Christian Martialist will benefit most from this who has cultivated a strong, epistemologically self-conscious mindset.

THIRD, IF YOU ARE A YOUNGSTER, YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT LISTEN TO THIS PRESENTATION UNLESS AND UNTIL A PARENT HAS SCREENED IT FIRST.

Adrenaline: Controlled Rage

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. (Proverbs 25:28)

Here's a video with Kelly McCann discussing controlled rage or, as he calls it, Rage with Reason. It's basically a little talk about controlling your adrenaline dump without letting it control you.

Warning: this video contains language that may not conform to the family standards of some of my younger readers. Minors, please have a parent preview this before you watch it. You're on your honor.

Brutal Science: Adrenaline

Continued from "Brutal Science"

The "Fighting Back" episode of the National Geographic Channel's Fight Science series contains some background information on adrenaline.

 For more specific means of controlling and channeling your adrenaline, see my e-book on the subject in Gravelbelly's Combat Prep Pack.

Gunfight in the Wild, Wild Midwest

Remember how I always point out that the orcs have a better record of hits than the police in gunfights? Well, a big shootout in Toledo, Ohio provides the exception that proves the rule.

No idea how the fight began, but I'm guessing someone's "honor" got offended. Testosterone and alcohol are a sure combination for overcoming good sense.

Then the shoving match turned into a shooting match. Throw a little adrenaline into the mix, and you have several people firing handguns who might as well be shooting blanks.


Who won the gunfight? Everyone who walked away still breathing -- that's everyone. Who lost the gunfight? Every shooter whom the police track down.

Thanks to my barber for sending the link to the video.

Gravelbelly's COMBAT PREP PACK Now Available

It's finally here -- Gravelbelly's COMBAT PREP PACK. It's a set of three e-books on topics that have proven popular here at WARSKYL.

Did you know that most people who come here from search engines are looking for information on adrenaline stress control? That's what StatCounter tells me.

So the first e-book is called How to Take Control of Your Adrenaline. It contains all that I've written about the subject here on the blog along with new material that will give you the rationale as a basis for the practical methods. The first section of the book gives indirect methods of control, and the second section deals with direct methods.
Click Here to Order Now!

The second e-book is entitled Biblical Studies in Self Defense. It covers the topics you need to know in order to settle the rightness of self defense in your own mind. It will also come in handy to answer those who think that the Bible teaches some form or degree of pacifism.


Along with the material that has appeared on this blog, I've included two entire chapters that have never appeared here at WARSKYL. This is exegetical material that will finally lay to rest any doubts about what Jesus meant in His teaching to "turn the other cheek". There is also a chapter that defines the relationship between self defense and the Great Commission.
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The title of the third book is How to Cultivate the Christian Martialist Mindset. It brings together most of what I've written here about mindset. As with the other books, I've done some editing and I've added some material that was not in the original posts.

If you're a regular reader of WARSKYL, you keep coming back because you find something here that you don't find at other self defense and martial arts sites; philosophy and perspective.

I draw my philosophy from a traditional Reformed Protestant interpretation of Scripture. My Biblical worldview embraces all of life, including personal defense.
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My perspective comes from the way my philosophy interacts with my personality traits in light of my life experience. Because each of us is uniquely created, my perspective is also unique.

If you like my philosophy and perspective, these books will give you a fuller and more complete view of their respective subjects than you have received piecemeal by reading individual blog posts.

Now, in addition to the e-books I've already mentioned, there are a couple of bonus e-books. If you want to find out about them as well as to get a more detailed description of the three books above, click the following link:

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

P. S. If you're willing to promote my new e-book offer, Gravelbelly's COMBAT PREP PACK, you can earn a 50% commission on every sale you refer. You can post a link on your own blog, or you can write a review with a link.

Just click on this link for affiliate program details:

Gravelbelly's Affiliate Program

How to Control Adrenaline Stress

I want to address the lessons we can learn about how to control adrenaline stress from the recent incredible emergency landing of an airliner in the Hudson River. Captain Chesley Sullenberger (Captain Cool) has received recognition for his calm, cool demeanor under extreme pressure.

How did he control his adrenaline stress at this point? On Monday Feb 9th, Good Morning America hostess Diane Sawyer asked him how he remained so cool and calm. His reply is instructive:

{The material which originally appeared in this blog along with a lot more information and practical methods now appears in my e-book, How to Take Control of Your Adrenaline. Click here to learn more.}

Thanks to my wife Laura for directing me to the ABC news video that includes the interview. (Pertinent footage begins at 8min 40sec into the video)

Defeat Your Assailant's Will

When you read the article by Dave Grossman that I linked to earlier this week (you did read it, didn't you?), I hope you thought about how the tactical aspect might apply to the individual's self-defense situation. Can you use what you learned to defeat your attacker's will?

The average orc seeking a victim looks for easy prey. He wants someone who does not have the will to resist. From the time of his very intention to commit a violent act, he knows he does not want a contest of the will.

Up until I entered junior high (middle school), I had been in very few fights. Then for about a year and a half, I fought on a rather regular basis -- by my choice, but not by my preference. In other words, I fought because if I didn't, my aggressors would have beaten me, anyway.

Years later, as I reflected on those dark and threatening days, I realized that no one has ever challenged me to fight because he wanted to fight. I haven't had many challenges since those days, but they tend to fall into a pattern: the challenger was either 1) posturing for his ego or to get what he wanted, or 2) wanted -- for his own perverse reasons -- someone to beat up.

Wanting a fight and wanting to beat someone up are two different things. Outside of the boxing and MMA arenas, very few guys really want to fight (okay, maybe hocky, too). Everyone else is just looking for a victim.

Willingness to fight goes a long way toward shutting down a lot of challengers. But there's a psychology to it. If he's posturing & you start posturing, each of you will puff himself up bigger & get louder. Once the process starts, it has already escalated to the point where neither of you will back down for the sake of ego, even though neither of really you wants a fight.

Your first and best option -- especially when dealing with a stranger -- is tactical retreat. This orc is challenging you because he has an edge, and he knows it. Whether his edge is a literal edge (knife) or just a Sunday punch, he's confident because he's used it successfully before.

Don't meet this guy's challenge, if you have an out. If retreat is not possible, then you must defeat his will to fight as much as you need to defeat his strength and skill. You also have to establish your role as the one on the defensive in the eyes of witnesses.

So, you assume the defensive posture, and you loudly say, "Stop! Leave me alone." At this point the orc thinks he has you up a tree. Then you ask a simple question:

"You're not going to let me out of here without a fight, are you?"

His answer may be something like "!@#$% right I'm not," or he may suggest that he'll let you go if you do something for him in return that you absolutely will not do (especially if it involves your wife or sister). It makes no difference; as soon as he makes his intention plain, you hit him.

Then you keep on hitting him until you've neutralized the threat.

Your question establishes two things:

1. You want out of the situation without a fight;
2. He's forcing the fight on you.
   

This is your way of piercing his psychology of intimidation. You also launch into an attack that he's not ready for -- he's still working himself up to it when you light into him.

Here you should use the psychology of combat to further turn the momentum in your favor. Grossman's article mentions two closely related points in this regard: noise and the close proximity of the enemy.

The noise alone does not work at a distance, but it will magnify his disorientation as you move in on him (see "Controlling Adrenaline Stress: The Battle Cry"). You see, his experience is that his victims try to get away, or try to move out of range. If he grabs them, they try to pull away.

Unless you encounter an expert grappler, he will find it disconcerting when you move in on him. (That's one thing I like about jujitsu -- it conditions you to fight at distances most people find discomfiting.) The loud sound of your battle cry should increase your advantage exponentially -- both by what it does to him and what it does for you.

The combination of great noise and proximity to the enemy has spelled victory and defeat on the battlefield for millennia. A street fight is merely a microcosm of battle -- close quarters combat for two (unless the orc has help). There is no reason you shouldn't use these battle-proven tactics on the street.

Sharpening the Warrior's Edge: A Review

I have recently read Sharpening the Warrior's Edge: The Psychology and Science of Training. It is one of those books that has been on my "to get" list for some time, but I kept putting off making the purchase. Now I'm sorry I didn't buy and read it years ago.

After I finished chapter one, I knew this book would make a difference in how I will conduct the training portion of the WARSKYL Conference (October 11, Peoria IL). This one chapter tells how to structure training to ensure that students will successfully acquire the skills taught and put their confidence in them.

Here is a summary of the author's areas of expertise from the Warrior Science Group site:

Mr. Siddle is internationally recognized as an expert in the study of combat human factors, use of force and counter-terrorism training. Mr. Siddle is often credited as the pioneer who initiated the study of survival stress and how it impacts the performance of law enforcement officers, military personnel and combat aviators. His pivotal research into the influence of the Sympathetic Nervous System on perceptual processing, cognitive processing, motor performance and memory, is now widely incorporated in all facets of use of force, combat and survival skills training. Just as importantly, Mr. Siddle research is routinely used to help defending law enforcement and military personnel against charges of excessive force.

Don't let the physiological jargon fool you. Sharpening the Warrior's Edge is written so that the average home-educated person can easily understand it. It's only slightly harder for those who, like me, graduated from the public school system.

The bottom line is that Siddle expertly relates how to train warriors in skills that work under combat stress. This may be important to you if you need to construct a training curriculum. But it could also be useful for you to evaluate any training you receive (individual, class, print or video) as to whether it is really equipping you to get the job done.

Finally, the last chapter on mindset is worth the price of the book.

Battle Eyes

MGM (Caranfinand) my 16 year old daughter wrote the poem below. Although her inspiration came from The Lord of the Rings rather than from some of my comments on channeling adrenaline, I think the poem fits much that I've been trying to say. And, often, art touches the core where science cannot reach.

BATTLE EYES

Eyes that shine,
Eyes that glow.
Hard eyes.
Battle eyes.

They shine
Bright
Waiting.
Hard eyes.
Battle eyes.

Shine with terror.
Shine with joy.
Who can know?
Hard eyes.
Bright eyes.
Battle eyes.

Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 8

Continued from "Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 7"

Have you tried out the mental imaging as I described it in the last post? Remember, the keywords are vivid and detailed. If you have these two elements, your nervous system will treat your visualization as a real learning experience.

I've noticed in my own sessions of mental imaging, that my muscles will occasionally twitch and, at rare times, I will even become aware that I've raised an arm in concert with my imagined movement. This signals deep involvement in your imaging, and is a sign that your mental picture is real enough to your mind to trigger a motor nerve response.At times, you may also murmur or even speak out loud while you're involved in visualization. This is another sign that your focus is vivid enough and detailed enough.

One final tip: vary your scenarios. If you always picture the same confrontation in exactly the same way, your neural pathways will not adapt as readily to new situations. Visualizing different assailants in different contexts will help your system to generalize its response.

Mental imaging has helped numerous sales personnel, public speakers and athletes improve their performance. It can also help you to improve control over your adrenaline stress response to threat and danger. As you have already concluded, creative visualization can help you improve in other aspects of your training, as well. That, however, is another subject.

If you wish to read this series of entries from the beginning, click on this link.

Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 7

Continued from "Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 6"

The final step in learning how to control adrenaline stress through mental imaging is to visualize your response to the threat. I think it's good to imagine the whole scenario, from the time that the orc confronts you. It's a temptation to want to visualize only the part where you clean the other guy's clock, but remember that your objective here is to control adrenaline stress.

So . . . he's big & mean & scary, and in your mind's eye, he's standing in front of you. "Got a light?" You respond with the information you read in "Lines in the Dirt" (and LITD2 and LITD3). You might even start with the scenario I provide in that series.

You see and hear yourself responding to him. "No. Leave me alone," as you bring your open hands up to chest height in the non-challenging defensive position. And you control the scenario from here.

The first vital point is that your visualization be vivid enough to evoke an emotional response. The second point is that you visualize yourself keeping your cool right up to the moment of attack. You see yourself as unflappable as James Bond facing incredible odds, and then, at the moment of action, you transform into Attila the Hun.

In the next post, I want to describe how you'll know if your visualization is working.

Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 6

Continued from "Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 5"

In order to use mental imaging to practice controlling adrenaline stress, you need a subject for a powerful image. I suggest you choose a confrontation with your biggest nightmare. It might be a biker gang member with grungy teeth or a gang banger with a tattoo on his neck, or maybe even an Islamic terrorist with death and destruction in his eyes. Whatever image you choose, it should be someone who would make you nervous (or even scared) if you met him at midnight in a dark and lonely place.

Now, close your eyes and imagine yourself in exactly that situation. Do not see yourself from the outside. Put yourself into the scenario and see the orc as though he were standing in front of you & you are looking out at him through your own eyes.

Put as much detail into the image as possible. Look at your adversary and see his facial features -- does he have scars or blemishes? is he dirty? does he have bad breath? Feel the ground beneath your feet and the night air on your skin,

Once the image becomes vivid and real to you, you can let the scenario play out. The orc taunts you & tries to goad you into a fight. He is big & mean and totally self assured. He reaches out toward you.

You must not only imagine the orc's appearance and actions, but you must also imagine your own reactions. I want to speak to that issue in "Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 7".

Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 5

(Continued from "Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 4")

In my last post ("Tactical Lesson at Wal-Mart"), I linked to a story and suggested it had a connection to controlling adrenaline stress. If you read it, and if you put yourself in the place of the writer, you may have experienced an adrenaline rush. One of my sons-in-law said he felt his own adrenaline rise when he read about my being stopped by a police officer (Adrenaline Stress).

Both of these serve as examples of the power of imagination. And if your imagination has the power to create an adrenaline dump, then your imagination can create the conditions necessary for you to learn to control it. It's a matter of creative visualization.

Students of applied psychology learn that, in order to get maximum training benefit from visualization techniques, you should meet the following conditions:

1. Imagine vivid details which include not only visual particulars, but sounds, smells and tactile sensations, as well (makes the experience more real in your mind);
2. Attach strong emotion to the experience (anchors the experience in your memory).

Since your aim is to visualize a situation that stimulates a powerful and emotional hormonal response, the second point will follow if you succeed with the first.

In "Controlling Adrenaline Stress: Mental Imaging, 6", I want to help you begin to construct a vivid mental image for adrenaline stress training.