The characters/ideograms mean "death; mortality; to die; to pass away." The first character means, "death; die," the second character means, "deceased; the late; dying; perish."
Fear does cause the freeze. Death is a reality when conflict and violence are involved. How much does the thought of death influence your ability to defend in a violent situation? We are perceived to come from nothing and end up returning to nothing, to dust or back to the Earth.
This question has been discussed since the time when humans first thought about "I" as a person who thinks. Death is a real concern from the moment you take the fist breath until the last. There are many instances that death can take you away and most are not within our sphere of concern until we are confronted by some conflict. Then that conflict depends on the levels of violence to cause concern. How do we handle that concern so that we are not stuck in the freeze?
Is it death that causes some to simply lay down and curl up in a fetal position hoping the danger will simply leave? Is this a realistic form of survival? How does one overcome the specter of death so they may act and survive? Is one actually able to push death away to act and if so how do they achieve such strong will? Do you ask yourself these questions?
Some know from the outset in the professions they embrace that death walks with them constantly and in certain situations wraps deaths arms around them not to protect but to expose to death or the real possibility of death - military, police, corrections officers, firemen, EMT's and others! Do you ask yourself these questions?
Is there a point when all the fear of death simply falls to the side and you act and is that the moment we seek to train toward? Is our thoughts of death or the possibility of death meet the true exposure to death or are we exaggerating the thoughts beyond true realistic possibilities of death? In other words are our thoughts of the possibility of death realistic to any given situation?
How do we train and practice to overcome the specter of death and how much of that specter resides in the conscious area of our minds? Do you ask yourself these questions?
I am not advocating we spend an exorbitant amount of time being consumed by thoughts of death and yet do we discuss them in self-defense or any of the professions or do we simply leave that one on the side for each of us to consider on their own? Do we discuss death as to our adversary? Do we discuss not only the possibility of death of another but do we consider the repercussions when we cause a death? Do you ask yourself these questions?
I ask these and other questions all the time. Not to distraction and not to my detriment but to know and understand where I stand with death and how I train and practice with death standing and watching from the side line. As I enter the winter years of life I contemplate many things along with death. As I get closer to that last breath when ever it may arrive I consider death for it is that one thing in life you will not avoid, you will not have an opportunity to deescalate or to defend from, it will take me - some day, hopefully not some day soon.
Is this morbid? Is this practical? Is this necessary or is it fear of death that keeps us from considering its role in life, in self defense or ... ?
In closing, did you know that some define death while simultaneously defining life? Death describes the state of something that has ceased so life is the start of something and death cessation or life is the cessation of death therefore death is the cessation of life. Two sides to one coin or the yin-n-yang that is life. Now, philosophical thinking can take this subject beyond ...
If I had to provide some answer to handling death in self-defense I would say that reality based training and practice, lots and lots of it, along with as much exposure to experience in survival stress response (coined by Rory Miller) would go a long way to trigger action over freezing of which death or the specter fo death contribute.
Is death actually the underlying reason for all fear?
Bibliography:
Death. en.wikipedia.org.
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