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The Yerkes-Dodson Law: disengagement, flow and frazzle.
Disengagement and frazzle torpedo efforts at optimal performance. Flow is optimal performance. Good stress releases the optimal level of harmonies by the HPA axis resulting in our best performance. The hard part after understanding the concept is to find a training model that will provide access to the flow when needed. It comes down also to how we can pull ourselves away from a higher level of adrenal chemical effects back into the flow where a proper amount of stress-hormones help us achieve our optimal performance.
Disengagement:
With traits of boredom, lack of inspiration and disinterest. Moving from disengaged toward optimal our brains increase levels of stress harmonies, we enter the range of good stress. Good stress gets us engaged, enthused and motivated. It mobilizes just enough of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline - with beneficial chemicals like dopamine - to do the job more effectively. Cortisol and adrenaline have BOTH protective and harmful impacts, and good stress mobilizes their benefits.
Find that which allows us to achieve good stress so that it will mobilize the benefits of cortisol and adrenaline while holding back the harmful effects and impact of too high of stress hormones. The most important training requirement to achieve some semblance of control in this area is the adrenal stress-conditioned reality-based training model. It is not a model that one can find in research and adopt into a self-defense training course as aspects of the reality-based training of adrenal stress-conditions can be dangerous - meaning, do the research to find professionally qualified teachers. Of course, this means a practitioner must, “Engage,” themselves outside the comfort of the modern self-defense training programs.
Frazzle:
When demands become to great, when overwhelmed, we enter the bad stress zone. This can occur when a sudden predatory type attack occurs where surprise with damage, loss of balance and structure along with a flurry that causes us to freeze. The adrenal dump is so high that our bodies and minds succumb to the worst of the chemical dump. It comes down to training to pull back or break the freeze and then bring our flood down to a flow making actions available over the OO bounce - the freeze.
There is a tipping point where our brain secreted too many stress hormones, they start to interfere with our abilities, I.e., to get the job done well; to learn; to innovate; to listen; and to be effective. Notice that all of the limited list covers the types of abilities one needs for self-defense.
In self-defense you have to assume a type of awareness and the important aspect of this is balance as trying to maintain a hyper-vigilant mode especailly at times when it is not necessary leads to what brain guys call, “The Allostatic Load.” Allostatic Load: Where the damaging effects of stress hormones predominate. In such a state of hyper-vigilance release the adrenal cortisol chemicals, etc., into our systems on a regular basis and that is they type of, “Bad Stress,” we are discussing. We can suffer from susceptibility to not think clearly and our body clock gets off kilter, we sleep poorly, etc.
Note: A way to recognize and practice is in daily life when confronted by others who use disgust and criticism; both trigger the HPA axis releasing cortisol and adrenaline and that means stress and hormones releases when not really necessary for survival. This is the moment you recognize that hormones are being released and then you use your training to achieve a reduction so that you don’t experience bad stress and inappropriate homone cortisol-adrenaline release into the body. Another one is to recognize when someone, say at work on the job, focuses solely on what is done wrong as well. This also triggers the HPA axis, releasing cortisol and adrenaline, causing bad stress so again use your training, i.e., like the deep diaphragmatic breathing method and meditative mind-state, to bring it down and finally out reducing the time under such stresses.
High bad stress levels, especially a chronic state of bad stress, results in a state of being overwhelmed, which greatly impairs our cognitive abilities where performance can drop up to 50%. In the frazzled state you respond in a rigid and inflexible way. You can't adapt to new situations, you can't concentrate and you are easily distracted. The consideration here is this, “Can you afford to lose these abilities when in a self-defense situation?” Take this into consideration as well as something missing in self-defense causing ramifications, etc., “Constant stress, the flood of cortisol actually disconnects existing neural networks; … ”
Flow:
We want to be here, in the flow of those good stress conditions making the best of the cortisol-adrenaline positive beneficial effects, for optimal performance. It is a peak of self-regulation, the maximum harnessing of emotions for learning and performance. The channeling of positive emotions in an energized pursuit of the task at hand. Our focused is undistracted. Flow is where we can out do ourselves and achieve our personal best.
Characteristics of Flow: rapt unbeatable concentration; nimble flexibility in responding to changing challenges; executing at the top of our skill level. The very necessary traits one needs under a self-defense situation don’t you think?
Having our optimal performance zone is a state of neural harmony where the disparate ares of the brain are in synch, working together. A state of maximum cognitive efficiency. Let's us use whatever talent we have at peak levels.
CONSIDERATIONS: Rory Miller has a book out that describes drills to practice to get started achieving more control over ourselves to achieve a goal of good stress conditions when necessary; both Marc MacYoung and Rory Miller’s books describe the what, when, where and now of violence and conflict that covers how all this effects our abilities in self-defense; much of karate and martial arts training and practices can achieve a better ability to control the chemical dump but often a critical component is missing in those training programs, the adrenal stress-conditioned reality-based training necessary to expose us to that very dump and those same effects; deep diaphragmatic slow breathing is a method to combat the higher stress hormone release to bring and counter them back to a flow state; daily life, if you are aware, can present you with instances of stress chemical dumps - learn to recognize them then use that training, like the breathing, to bring some semblance of control back because other than reality-based training this is the only way to achieve some results; Rory Miller’s drills, in his book about drills - see bibliography for his books - are solid beginner drills to add into your karate or martial arts self-defense training programs;
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