Gaining Experience

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

In a recent article the author of said article made a statement that got me to thinking of the subject of experience. It is often touted as criteria to apply certain disciplines such as self-defense. There is a point the divides the gaining of experience where common sense, logic and just plain stupidity come into play. 

Here is the actual quote and the link to the article follows so you can read the entire thing, i.e., “Now I’m having conversations with young, un-fucked-up people who want to get fucked up. They want to get themselves into high-risk situations, knowing that they are high-risk situations, because they have been told that that’s the only way to get experience. They have been told that until they have enough experience, they’ll always be second-class citizens in the self-defence community. And they have been told that in the context of their self-defence instruction. Violent incidents as rites of passage; it may be true, but it’s also unconscionably stupid.” - Gods Bastard, Gatekeeping

Remember, I am diverging from her article here.

As I commented at the blog, no one comes with that type of experience. We are all born without it and as we survive/live we build and gain experience. If our tribe is one that lives in an open-minded way then they will experience and accept things that most societies today tend to obfuscate/hide/bury because it is ‘uncomfortable’ and triggers ‘fear’ in us due to its dangers toward our very survival. 

Professionals, both civil and military, all come to the table with little or no experience in both conflict and violence at these levels. Yes, we all experience life’s conflicts along with certain types of violence but not the levels and types addressed in self-defense, combat and so on. When you enter into these professions/disciplines you are basically what we in the military call ‘a boot’ meaning you know nothing, you are hopefully a blank slate. Once accepted and in the disciplines/professions everyone, I mean everyone, goes through training and practice and certain kinds of experiences before they go out and perform their jobs and responsibilities - it is just a fact of life and you cannot bypass it. 

Example: In the military you go through boot camp; then you go through what is called infantry training; then you spend a certain amount of time applying your training and knowledge where you may or may not actually do so in a combat situation. This type of training and practice is where your mentors are going to try to apply training and practices that come as close to reality as possible with certain limitations. The goal here is to take the boot and bring them to a point where when they are confronted with the chaos, dangers and adrenal stress-conditions of the reality of grave harm and death they are able to “Break the Freeze” they will have and act. Even then, it will take more than one exposure to take that initial step, it is just a fact of life. 

Even if you train and practice in this manner, the encode primal conditioning is not complete or correct. They hope that the reality-based training will get you close enough but that first step still requires some changes in the conditioning that cannot be achieved in a training and practice environment even if reality-based - close, very close if done right but not all the way. 

So, if you are being trained for self-defense, a professional discipline or toward fighting/combatives this becomes critical. At no time will any of the above examples consider, advocate or approve the boot to go out, on their own, and expose themselves to such dangers - especially alone. That is just plain stupid and counter-productive to goals in such models. In most professions those trained in basic and more advanced, like the military example above, still are exposed to the reality of conflict and violence under the guidance, tutelage and protection of a mentor - mentor being the most experienced capable of teaching you in the chaos of the discipline. 

If your Sensei, teacher or instructor alludes to or indicates to you that you don’t belong, you cannot achieve some level of expertise or become a sensei, teacher or instructor without first exposing yourself to the actual dangers of conflict with violence that will expose you to grave harm or death - run like the wind and get the flock out of there, that just ain’t right!

Yes, there is and always will be a division between being a boot, inexperienced, and being a professional, experienced but know the types of experience involved for many great leaders, teachers and sensei have experiences that stand outside of actual experience in violence and they are most professional and expert in what they provide. In combat, so I am told by combat veterans, the boot will always stand outside the team to a certain degree until they prove themselves and gain that certain specific type of experience. It does not mean the boot goes on patrol in combat on their own so they can gain entrance to the club, so to speak, but it does mean when they demonstrate that the training, the practice and that experienced gained is first translated into combat experience through mentoring, etc., with veterans, they are taken by the hand and led by those veterans. 

Don’t let someone influence you into endangering your life and health with some stupid concept of belonging only if you go out and expose yourself to violence, remember that avoidance of such things is of higher importance along with your health and well-being. Exposure to such things intentionally, as a non-professional, will come with repercussions that you will have to live with, if you live, for your entire life - buyer beware!

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)