Our ancient (reptilian) brain recognizes danger by smell, look, feel and sound. The adrenals release chemical information and, in combination with an orchestrated muscular response, move into action. In the blink of an eye, we grab a child from an oncoming car or ward off an attacker.
But when danger overwhelms or is chronic, rather than spring into action or move away, the body freezes. A mouse in the clutches of a cat plays dead. No longer squirming, the cat may get distracted providing a moment for the mouse to dart away. 'Playing dead' is a heightened survival response.
As a species, humans are encoded with the ability to protect themselves. When survival is at stake, the psoas propels the body to hit the ground running. When startled, it ignites preparation of the extensor muscles to reach out (grab hold) or run. When standing one’s ground, the psoas provides a person with powerful core leg and arm kicks — a dynamic force in the face of the enemy.
(Liz Koch)
Insincere
Our modern age accepts insincere
talk
as part of our culture.
People lie, excuse, exaggerate and evade responsibility - and we accept it as
being just part of life.
This kind of attitude will not work in self defence.
If somebody tries to punch you in the face and you cannot deal with the attack,
you will be hit.
No amount of
talking will make the
impact
vanish.
Pressure test
Freeform self defence is not akin to kickboxing. We
are not in a contest. It is not a match or a bout.
The assailant(s) are pointedly seeking to compromise you.
They have no interest in scoring points or playing by the rules.
If they can cause you to become
flustered, then they will press home the advantage.
Talking, floundering or being aggressive simply will not work.
You are essentially naked in the face of the situation. You either face it
honestly and succeed or you are insincere and you are struck.
Lies and excuses will not save you.
Think about real life... Will an earnest
street attacker cut you any slack at all?
No way.
Reasons
People like to rationalise things, explain them away: It failed because
of this. It worked because of this. They weren't punching me properly. If only
I'd moved a second sooner. If only I'd waited.
What do these 'reasons' mean? Why do people want a
reason?
People seek a reason in order to be let off, to be excused.
This will not work in self defence.
A punch in the face is a punch in the face. Explaining why you were struck will
not alleviate your pain.
Questions
Seeking a reason is a folly. It is like asking a
question. The
answer lies in the question. It is not independent of the question.
Why were you unable to counter the punches? Why did they overwhelm you?
The answer can only be found by considering what happened. What did you do? How
did you do it?
Only you can answer this.
If someone else tells you the answer, does this answer it for you?
Do you understand for yourself, or are you just quoting someone else?
Will instructions from somebody else enable you to cope next time it happens?
Learn
The only thing that will change your situation is your
capacity to learn from your mistakes.
If you can modify your responses - deal with what is happening - you will not be
struck a second time.
Adapt. Change. Improvise.
Our students are welcome to do
whatever they like in self defence providing
how
they do it is
tai chi.
Effectiveness and ease are the main concerns beyond this.
No lies. No excuses.
Self defence is about being absolutely in the
moment and coming to terms with what is happening.
Zen
is about this too.
In this immediate moment - right now - can you make the best of what is
happening to you?
Can you prevail?
This is what matters. This is all that matters. In life. In self defence.
Being honest, open and earnest is everything. You cannot talk your way out
of ever situation.
If you want to live a real life, you need to take responsibility and deal with
what is occurring.
Deal with it skilfully and completely.
Seeing
Until
self-deception is set aside, you cannot hope to
see.
Opinions, viewpoints, bias, speculation,
knowledge, memories, fears and vanities all prevent you from seeing
the everyday
truth.
Lies and excuses hold you back. Rather than
see,
you squirm. You hold onto your
past for security.
It takes courage to
let-go.
When you begin to see things as they are, your
world is turned upside down.
Many
changes occur, and continue to occur.
There is no fixity and no end to the changing.
Page created 18 April 2000