Chemical Dump Training

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It seems so obvious and simple to understand that a person learning self-defense requires some form of training that will induce the proverbial chemical dump so they can experience and train to manage it.  I think the self-defense community tends to miss such important details but I can sense how not training and practicing the chemical dump can create huge obstacles in applying self-defense. 

I have theorized that one way to experience the stresses and affects was through military training but realistically most cannot experience such training even when self-defense training models in civilian life claim their system is based on military training and practices. There are components that are removed and missing when a system is converted to fit civilian models. 

This is true even of the karate training, both the old and new, i.e. circa early 1900’s to present day. After all, the karate we practice today is derived from the model that was converted in 1905 for the educational system in Okinawa as well as in Japan, etc. The persons responsible for implementing karate into the educational systems were to understand that the old Ryukyu Ti systems required toning down to be acceptable for training the youth. This is why is became more a physical, mental and spiritual model over a more combative one. 

Yes, you can induce a certain amount of stress in the dojo but then other factors become missing in the action of training, practice and possible application. Sport oriented competition also induce stresses but it is also missing other components or factors that you have to deal with in a violent conflict. 

It has been preached as well that the world of MMA competition, etc. is adequate to induce the many chemical stress responses you will find in a violent conflict and that may be true (I can’t say it is true because I can’t say I have experienced this both in the ring and in a conflict) but it too is missing certain factors and components.

Lets take a peek at this, in violence there are many aspects that you will not find in any realistic training and practice. The mind-state that you are confronting a possible life and death situation does not exist in the ring. Yes, the training and application models discussed above will provide a lot of valuable practice and training to handle high stress situations. After all, the stress and affects of many emotional stimuli when it releases the chemicals into the body are the same, i.e. the body actually does not know the differences. But, the mind does. 

This is the crux of this type of issue the military, etc. have dealt with for centuries. How to cross that line when the time comes so a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine can get past the different mind-state and achieve proficiency from that experience. This also goes to how they can continue to achieve success with successive encounters of conflict of the life and death conflict. 

This may actually be the reason, or one of them, why many self-defense models fail to address them or don’t know about them or deliberately disregard them completely. They are very difficult to learn and train for so they can be taught adequately. 

One mind-state you can only get around by experience the reality of violence is “doubt.” Even when you are trained, like military are, to the highest levels, assuming there is no actual combat experience possible at the time, you still have to cross that line of doubt the first encounter you experience. 

I believe you can go a long way to reach that state and often proper realistic training can get you close enough to develop the type of confidence that will allow you to cross that line when it first arrives. You may have a split second of hesitation but proper training and practice can most often push you across that divide. 

Rory Miller tells us about giving ourselves “permission” to act. He, I believe, advocates that you must give yourself permission and then practice and train that permission along with everything else so that when the time comes you have a real chance to overcome and “freezes” and act as appropriate in a conflict. 

I often wonder how many actually discuss this stuff let alone address it in training and practice. I am out of this mostly today but I do know that there are some who address it and teach it like Rory Miller, Marc MacYoung, Wim Demeere, and many others. I question today why the other self-defense folks fail to recognize such expertise and why they fail to absorb and use such training for their systems. 

I do realize and believe that those who need it the most tend to ignore it the most. There are many reasons why this is so and I won’t even try to address those issues here. The blog and post are just not long enough and honestly I don’t feel qualified to speak in that kind of depth. If I still ran a dojo I would spend a lot of time having my participants experience the training and practice of these guys. It would be a cost well spent when a dojo professes its model includes self-defense. I didn’t always realize or understand this concept of self-defense but you just have to continue to seek out knowledge and learn, learn and learn some more. 

Are you training and practicing to the chemical stress responses for violent conflicts? If not, should you?