Cowboybootnut
Member
Spend $1000 or more on a brand new gun. Consider the conversation you will have with your wife or S/O about your new purchase. Go to gun range.
Simulating Stress for Practice
- Thread starter ZeSpectre
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Brass Fetcher
Member
+1 on the exposure to high stress events like rock climbing. I think that you can innoculate yourself to a certain level of fear, and that stays with you (with me, for at least 4 years now, I'll explain.)
At Thunder Ranch, they used targets that could turn the cardboard to face you or to face away from you (90 degree angle such that you really couldn't see that anything was there). All of the sudden, the target would flip around, exposing a person with a gun clearly visible. Talk about stressful. And interpersonal violence is much the same way - happens fast with little advance warning. So, if you can find (and tell me where you got them!) a target holder that can expose/de-expose the target at random (for 1 person practice), that should be the bee's knees for what you are looking for.
At Thunder Ranch, they used targets that could turn the cardboard to face you or to face away from you (90 degree angle such that you really couldn't see that anything was there). All of the sudden, the target would flip around, exposing a person with a gun clearly visible. Talk about stressful. And interpersonal violence is much the same way - happens fast with little advance warning. So, if you can find (and tell me where you got them!) a target holder that can expose/de-expose the target at random (for 1 person practice), that should be the bee's knees for what you are looking for.
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
You want realistic? Talk to Mr Ayoob 
There is a predictable 'continuum' of sympathetic nervous system stress up to the total loss of control.
Some stress can be mitigated by training and/or job repetition, especially if one is in control of the situation.
When one is 'not' in control of the situation one's stress level can rise to dangerous levels and bring on the sympathetic nervous system overload and all of its debilitating symptoms.
Force on force training teaches, again and again, that the traditionally taught stances, sighting and modern technique disappear quickly in a semi-realistic encounter and most shooters revert to instinctive response. This training does help one to understand a proper way to fight, but FOF also loses its stress-training effect as the players soon realize that there is no real threat or fear of dying.
One should constantly train in the basic skills that remain useable in very high stress encounters and train in the physiological and mental responses to the fear of dying.
Trainees must learn about auditory exclusion, threat focus and tunnel vision brought on by serious fright mode.
Such training should also include quick movement off the x, threat focus, face the threat, the combat crouch, binocular sighting, arm/s extended, one handed shooting, cover, etc.....because that's how most people will fight.
In a CQ standing gunfight odds are one will instinctively move as they face the threat, assume a combat crouch, focus with both eyes on the threat and not the sights, extend arm/s, tightly grip the handgun and squeeze off multiples.
Instinctive training draws on the predictable reactions to a life-threat and is much easier to master than any learned technique such as Weaver, modern technique, et al.
Little to no muscle memory needs to be ingrained, no special grip, no sights method needs to be practiced. The focus, crouch, movement, arm/s extension, grip are automatic.
Duplicating fight or flight on command is nearly impossible.
I think that it's best to stress-train in the manner one 'will' default to in a sudden CQ gunfight....not in complicated, counter-intuitive, old school methods meant for the range or competitions.
.
Some stress can be mitigated by training and/or job repetition, especially if one is in control of the situation.
When one is 'not' in control of the situation one's stress level can rise to dangerous levels and bring on the sympathetic nervous system overload and all of its debilitating symptoms.
Force on force training teaches, again and again, that the traditionally taught stances, sighting and modern technique disappear quickly in a semi-realistic encounter and most shooters revert to instinctive response. This training does help one to understand a proper way to fight, but FOF also loses its stress-training effect as the players soon realize that there is no real threat or fear of dying.
One should constantly train in the basic skills that remain useable in very high stress encounters and train in the physiological and mental responses to the fear of dying.
Trainees must learn about auditory exclusion, threat focus and tunnel vision brought on by serious fright mode.
Such training should also include quick movement off the x, threat focus, face the threat, the combat crouch, binocular sighting, arm/s extended, one handed shooting, cover, etc.....because that's how most people will fight.
In a CQ standing gunfight odds are one will instinctively move as they face the threat, assume a combat crouch, focus with both eyes on the threat and not the sights, extend arm/s, tightly grip the handgun and squeeze off multiples.
Instinctive training draws on the predictable reactions to a life-threat and is much easier to master than any learned technique such as Weaver, modern technique, et al.
Little to no muscle memory needs to be ingrained, no special grip, no sights method needs to be practiced. The focus, crouch, movement, arm/s extension, grip are automatic.
Duplicating fight or flight on command is nearly impossible.
I think that it's best to stress-train in the manner one 'will' default to in a sudden CQ gunfight....not in complicated, counter-intuitive, old school methods meant for the range or competitions.
.
Couple of points...it IS possible to "innoculate" yourself against stress response through high-risk sports training. It is also possible to die. Go read my book, OVER THE EDGE.
I learned more about training from cave diving and climbing big mountains than I ever learned in shooting classes (although that is changing now...finally!). At best, you learn how to "negotiate" with yourself — "yes, this is a really scary situation, but we don't have time for that now...we need to take very specific actions, and we need to get them 100% right, etc." Have a regulator go free-flow half a mile back in a cave if you'd like a pucker-inducing event.
I taught this stuff for a while as a professional speaker, but most "normal" people thought I was nuts.
Ironically, some of the things I learned from years and years of handgun competition, most notably Mickey Fowelr and John Pride's theories on how to think in a high-stress situation, came back to save my life in some dicey places. Competition is the first step to learning how to deal with stress; it is also a hardcore course in using fine-motor movements when the full house chemical slush is racing through your system. At GUNSITE last week, a couple of us who do occasionally instruct were talking about how we could stand behind a line of shooters and pick out the people who compete just by how they handled their guns.
I think sim drills are of more use if you've gone through a period of competing and learned high-stress gun-handling. That allows you to concentrate on the drill and keeping your mind working and not worry about the machinery. I've "killed" a lot of cops while they were playing with their guns.
Michael B
I learned more about training from cave diving and climbing big mountains than I ever learned in shooting classes (although that is changing now...finally!). At best, you learn how to "negotiate" with yourself — "yes, this is a really scary situation, but we don't have time for that now...we need to take very specific actions, and we need to get them 100% right, etc." Have a regulator go free-flow half a mile back in a cave if you'd like a pucker-inducing event.
I taught this stuff for a while as a professional speaker, but most "normal" people thought I was nuts.
Ironically, some of the things I learned from years and years of handgun competition, most notably Mickey Fowelr and John Pride's theories on how to think in a high-stress situation, came back to save my life in some dicey places. Competition is the first step to learning how to deal with stress; it is also a hardcore course in using fine-motor movements when the full house chemical slush is racing through your system. At GUNSITE last week, a couple of us who do occasionally instruct were talking about how we could stand behind a line of shooters and pick out the people who compete just by how they handled their guns.
I think sim drills are of more use if you've gone through a period of competing and learned high-stress gun-handling. That allows you to concentrate on the drill and keeping your mind working and not worry about the machinery. I've "killed" a lot of cops while they were playing with their guns.
Michael B
MBane666 said;
I think that the greater familiarity with MANIPULATION comes from the thousands of repetitions a competitive shooter does in practice. Not from the stress of competition. One thing you have to watch on the competitive side is that you don't train to game instead of fight. Getting into the habit of holstering an unloaded weapon may be a great thing to keep you from getting yelled at by the RO, but it might get you killed on the street.
Manipulation is the leg of the combat triad that most people neglect in their training. Everyone concentrates on marksmanship. Marksmanship is great, but it's a lot easier to learn then manipulation.
Jeff
I think that the greater familiarity with MANIPULATION comes from the thousands of repetitions a competitive shooter does in practice. Not from the stress of competition. One thing you have to watch on the competitive side is that you don't train to game instead of fight. Getting into the habit of holstering an unloaded weapon may be a great thing to keep you from getting yelled at by the RO, but it might get you killed on the street.
Manipulation is the leg of the combat triad that most people neglect in their training. Everyone concentrates on marksmanship. Marksmanship is great, but it's a lot easier to learn then manipulation.
Jeff
BullfrogKen - I might have said that, but don't remember saying it. However, I do remember after my first NTI stage at my first NTI, the RO telling me to breathe as I was turning blue.
The stress inoculation is a wonderfully useful experience. No match has really stressed me after the NTI. The most I feel is disgust after screwing up.
The take away points for me from such high end FOF were:
1. My sometimes absolute cluelessness and lack of awareness. I got shot in the back by a girlfriend I completely spaced on. I miss cues of evil doing - what a putz!
2. In a gunfight - you can get shot. You don't shoot like a precision steely eyed dealer of death at all times. Once I drew and centerpunched quite nicely a charging evil doer - my, was I fast - then I got shot by the girlfriend. Another time, I was so righteously hosed in a bankrobbery that it hurt quite a bit. Drew blood through my t-shirt! That's a great lesson for the rambozo - who thinks they will draw and instantly win the day.
Another time, I decided to play passive victim and was shot by the fleeing fiend. It was in a sense an experiment, but I should have acted in some manner.
You shoot innocents under stress - you practice failure drills - you forget instructions.
Sometimes it is funny - we have a mystery gun stage with a single shot rifle and all kinds of difficults. There was a target with water balloons. Let me tell you that a 357 mag rifle at a couple of feet blows water all over you. Now that was a surprise. So expect goo blow back.
In a class with Steve Moses - he and Allen - just ambushed me. No warning - no nothing - just around the corner into a gun fight. So you fight back. Can't get that in a match - and I love to shoot matches.
Blah, blah - the true student of the art needs a FOF if you can get it.
The stress inoculation is a wonderfully useful experience. No match has really stressed me after the NTI. The most I feel is disgust after screwing up.
The take away points for me from such high end FOF were:
1. My sometimes absolute cluelessness and lack of awareness. I got shot in the back by a girlfriend I completely spaced on. I miss cues of evil doing - what a putz!
2. In a gunfight - you can get shot. You don't shoot like a precision steely eyed dealer of death at all times. Once I drew and centerpunched quite nicely a charging evil doer - my, was I fast - then I got shot by the girlfriend. Another time, I was so righteously hosed in a bankrobbery that it hurt quite a bit. Drew blood through my t-shirt! That's a great lesson for the rambozo - who thinks they will draw and instantly win the day.
Another time, I decided to play passive victim and was shot by the fleeing fiend. It was in a sense an experiment, but I should have acted in some manner.
You shoot innocents under stress - you practice failure drills - you forget instructions.
Sometimes it is funny - we have a mystery gun stage with a single shot rifle and all kinds of difficults. There was a target with water balloons. Let me tell you that a 357 mag rifle at a couple of feet blows water all over you. Now that was a surprise. So expect goo blow back.
In a class with Steve Moses - he and Allen - just ambushed me. No warning - no nothing - just around the corner into a gun fight. So you fight back. Can't get that in a match - and I love to shoot matches.
Blah, blah - the true student of the art needs a FOF if you can get it.
BullfrogKen
Moderator Emeritus
Well, I don't have any pretense that I can eliminate stress or fear. The only people who aren't scared when confronted with injury or death are those who are literally crazy; the invincible (and ignorant) youth; or those too stupid to know better.
The best we can do is practice and learn how to use our tools to the point we can do it with a minimal of mental effort. That enables us to use our faculties to focus on dealing with the actual problem.
As Jeff pointed out, participating in activities that generate a real and genuine fear teaches us how to cope with our fear. It doesn't eliminate it. But, we learn even when we are scared, we can work through our fear.
Video games and Airsoft play is not Force on Force training. Good scenarios do produce fear. The mind doesn't know the difference five seconds into a properly designed scenario. I've seen it time and time again. I've seen the look in a practitioner's eye after the judge says "Stop" and it takes him a few seconds to come down from the confrontation.
Most people will never have an opportunity to participate in good FoF. Most people will never take professional training. Most people will never practice to the point of becoming unconsciously competent with their gun handling skills. That's just reality. Fortunately, most people will never face another using lethal force against them, either.
Those that are serious about their training, or who have been a victim, survived, and resolve to never be one again, seek out such opportunities for personal development.
crofrog
Member
It's not the gear being used for the training, it's the way the senario is structured.
Chris
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Michael Courtney
Member
Physical stress is easy to produce, just run 100 yards (or whatever distance needed) right before shooting.
Timing your shooting is also a good way to introduce some pressure.
A lot of other good ideas have been mentioned, but one thing I'll bring up is based on my experience teaching a bunch of different people to hunt deer.
About half of new hunters pause unexpectedly and go through a bit of doubt before pulling the trigger on their first deer. The excitement and stress of the event give them cause to pause. As I'm sure you're also aware a number of hunters also suffer from "buck fever" and miss an easy shot in the excitement of the opportunity.
I've killed all kinds of critters with a pistol under hunting conditions, and while it does not generate the same kind of stress as when your life is in danger, it is a kind of stress and excitement that is hard to replicate otherwise. You've got a target that can move so you're under time pressure. You've got a target that shows up randomly, so you need to remain in condition yellow. You may have friends who will raz you if they hear a shot and don't get to help you drag a deer out. You may have the negative consequences of having that coyote continue to threaten your livestock if you miss or that racoon continue to make a mess of your garbage until you connect.
On the really exciting encounters (retreating varmint) you get practice on a moving target and may even get to change magazines or go to a back-up gun.
When you've got the excitement of a live animal target, all of the skills seem completely different from punching paper.
Michael Courtney
Timing your shooting is also a good way to introduce some pressure.
A lot of other good ideas have been mentioned, but one thing I'll bring up is based on my experience teaching a bunch of different people to hunt deer.
About half of new hunters pause unexpectedly and go through a bit of doubt before pulling the trigger on their first deer. The excitement and stress of the event give them cause to pause. As I'm sure you're also aware a number of hunters also suffer from "buck fever" and miss an easy shot in the excitement of the opportunity.
I've killed all kinds of critters with a pistol under hunting conditions, and while it does not generate the same kind of stress as when your life is in danger, it is a kind of stress and excitement that is hard to replicate otherwise. You've got a target that can move so you're under time pressure. You've got a target that shows up randomly, so you need to remain in condition yellow. You may have friends who will raz you if they hear a shot and don't get to help you drag a deer out. You may have the negative consequences of having that coyote continue to threaten your livestock if you miss or that racoon continue to make a mess of your garbage until you connect.
On the really exciting encounters (retreating varmint) you get practice on a moving target and may even get to change magazines or go to a back-up gun.
When you've got the excitement of a live animal target, all of the skills seem completely different from punching paper.
Michael Courtney
Went varmint hunting with folks of various training and stress innoculation levels. Out of the woods walked a big varmint - much hilarity ensued. Should have watched the wave of rifle fire missed a jack rabbit. I had to finish the poor beast of with a Glock 27 shot when I was disgusted. Varmint stress freaked some out. I asked a friend with some knowledge also what should we do if we see a big varmint again - he said: Hit the deck!
I didn't go with them again.
I didn't go with them again.
this has truly gotten hilarious but I would offer the following:
1) running, jumping jacks, etc are good for getting your heart pumping in a way that can simulate, though not replicate, the type of stress you may encounter when you have to use a weapon in self defense. In the heat of the moment you might find yourself perfectly calm while pointing a gun at an assailant, or you may be shaking uncontrollably, or you may lose all sense of yourself and forget you even have a weapon. These are psychological factors moreso than physical ones.
2) pushups may not be beneficial, since you're stressing your arms unnecessarily, making it more difficult to stay on target with the weapon. Unless you're practicing for the possibility of being assaulted while doing pull-ups at the gym or after climbing ladders or something, this is not the normal type of stress your body will encounter in a SD situation.
If you're looking to get better at the physical aspects of a potential gunfight (eg, running, shooting while running, shooting from behind cover, shooting while laying on the ground, shooting under a car, etc.), then you're best off in an outdoor area where you can do those things. If you're looking to get better at "keeping your head" while in a scary situation then.... Hmm I don't know. Move to Watts?
1) running, jumping jacks, etc are good for getting your heart pumping in a way that can simulate, though not replicate, the type of stress you may encounter when you have to use a weapon in self defense. In the heat of the moment you might find yourself perfectly calm while pointing a gun at an assailant, or you may be shaking uncontrollably, or you may lose all sense of yourself and forget you even have a weapon. These are psychological factors moreso than physical ones.
2) pushups may not be beneficial, since you're stressing your arms unnecessarily, making it more difficult to stay on target with the weapon. Unless you're practicing for the possibility of being assaulted while doing pull-ups at the gym or after climbing ladders or something, this is not the normal type of stress your body will encounter in a SD situation.
If you're looking to get better at the physical aspects of a potential gunfight (eg, running, shooting while running, shooting from behind cover, shooting while laying on the ground, shooting under a car, etc.), then you're best off in an outdoor area where you can do those things. If you're looking to get better at "keeping your head" while in a scary situation then.... Hmm I don't know. Move to Watts?
I think it is worth considering that there is a big difference between the stress that can be generated in training and practice environments through physical exertion and that provoked in life and death circumstances.
The problem of course is that to even approach provoking such stress in training and practice drill environments, some risk of death or serious injury would have to be convincingly present.
So I think we have to separate clearly what is the fear generated stress of life and death from physical stress and emphasize that they are two completely different things. That learning - or practicing during - the latter does not in the slightest prepare one for the effects of the former which is a matter of overcoming at the gut level.
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The problem of course is that to even approach provoking such stress in training and practice drill environments, some risk of death or serious injury would have to be convincingly present.
So I think we have to separate clearly what is the fear generated stress of life and death from physical stress and emphasize that they are two completely different things. That learning - or practicing during - the latter does not in the slightest prepare one for the effects of the former which is a matter of overcoming at the gut level.
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http://ssunitedstates.org
XavierBreath
Member
I agree. The mental stress and sensory overload that occurs during life or death situations is very different than the physical stress that occurs as a result of exercise.
Learning to function well in extreme life/death stress is difficult. I cannot be replicated with physical activity. You have to be placed in situations where the stakes are life/death, and they are real. I see this daily in the hospital with new personnel. I'm not even sure functioning well in vicarious life/death situations (where your life is not at risk) can transfer over adequately. I do, however, see that functioning under extreme pressure is a matter of many factors, not the least of which is the innoculation to the specific stressor.
There is a saying in boxing.....boxing theory ends when the first punch is thrown. That is very true.
crofrog
Member
Regardless we've seen examples of people in Tier 1 units or other highly trained shooters going into harms way. That have practiced to the point where everything is firmly ingrained muscle-motor-memory performing exceptionally well under stress.
We train our prodecures around the what we know the symptoms should be.
Loss of dexterity:
Impaired Thinking:
Tunnel Vision:
These are just a few examples.
And I firmly belive that combat sports, or just getting in fights is the best stress inculator. It's also a good way to get baddly hurt.
Chris
We train our prodecures around the what we know the symptoms should be.
Loss of dexterity:
Rack the slide instead of using the slide release or sling shotting.
Remove one mag, then insert the other one when tac loading. Instead of trying to fumble 2 mags
Impaired Thinking:
Non-dianogstic weapon maniupulations e.g. click no bang Tap, rack, bang, another click, reload.
Tunnel Vision:
Moving our entire head when we scan for additional threats
These are just a few examples.
And I firmly belive that combat sports, or just getting in fights is the best stress inculator. It's also a good way to get baddly hurt.
Chris
ZeSpectre
Member
He he he, now THAT is simulating a life or death stress situation!
Seriously though, I chatted with the manager/owner of a range near me and he was willing to let me experiment a bit after hours. So after the range was closed and emptied there was me, the owner, and another range officer present. Here was the scenario we worked out.
Run around the building (mostly up and down stairs) until I felt my heart was at peak, run onto the range and stop (Gun in holster but magazine sitting on floor in front of me). Then they turned the lights off and moved the target via remote. A few seconds later they turned the lights on full while blowing an airhorn and yelling, that was my signal to start.
Result...
1) Smooth draw of firearm (THANK YOU Cowboy action shooting).
2) Bent over and picked magazine from floor. Fumbled the magazine at first but didn't drop it, got magazine inserted and slide racked fairly smoothly (THANK YOU NRA for teaching me to just rack the slide and not mess with the release lever).
3) Aiming for CBM, First round (of 10) would have been a shoulder "nick" or more likely a miss had the target been moving at all. Forced myself to pause and steady and then rapid fire produced a total of 3 decent CBM hits, one throat hit, one jaw hit (Throat and jaw hits probably would have been misses in the real world), and four clean misses.
So a likely total of 3 good hits.
It was quite an eye opener to say the least. I think I'm going to have to save some pennies for an actual combat style class of some sort.
Here's another plug for the dangerous activity means of introducing stress and learning to cope.
Before my first jump at jump school I thought, "RocknRoll!! I'm gonna jump outta C130! Whoohoo!" I guess that could be described as, "Confidence of youth," "Youthful exuberance," etc.
Ever subsequent jump in my enlistment was a slow ramp up of stress & apprehension. Knowing it was coming and reviewing the actions I could take to perform successfully and not burn in. There was no more, "Whoohoo!" It was a more grim & determined attitude. The jump itslef was quite stressful and a case study of performace under stress.
FWIW, the bread & butter mission for my unit involved jumping on the objective.
Before my first jump at jump school I thought, "RocknRoll!! I'm gonna jump outta C130! Whoohoo!" I guess that could be described as, "Confidence of youth," "Youthful exuberance," etc.
Ever subsequent jump in my enlistment was a slow ramp up of stress & apprehension. Knowing it was coming and reviewing the actions I could take to perform successfully and not burn in. There was no more, "Whoohoo!" It was a more grim & determined attitude. The jump itslef was quite stressful and a case study of performace under stress.
FWIW, the bread & butter mission for my unit involved jumping on the objective.
In operation Junction City near Katum vietnam, I thought our combat jump was stress......till we were on the ground. Hey, live and learn.
Anyway....that was then, this is now.
This stress thing is not as complicated as most trainers would like people to believe. It's basic!
In order to function adequately under real stress and the fear of dying, one should regularly stress-train in the reactive mode they 'will' default to in a sudden encounter. One should train the way they'll fight by using the basic/gross skills that remain useable in very high stress encounters.
People should learn about the predictable mental responses to serious fright mode: auditory exclusion, threat focus, confusion and tunnel vision.
Such training should also include the predictable physiological responses to the fear of dying: quick movement off the x, threat focus, face the threat, the combat crouch, binocular sighting, arm/s extended, one handed shooting, cover, etc.....because that's how most people will fight.
Fight or flight response is next to impossible to duplicate in training. Therefore, stress-train for the predictable, instinctive human reactions to the fear of dying.....not in complicated, counter-intuitive, old school methods meant for the range or competitions.
.
Anyway....that was then, this is now.
This stress thing is not as complicated as most trainers would like people to believe. It's basic!
In order to function adequately under real stress and the fear of dying, one should regularly stress-train in the reactive mode they 'will' default to in a sudden encounter. One should train the way they'll fight by using the basic/gross skills that remain useable in very high stress encounters.
People should learn about the predictable mental responses to serious fright mode: auditory exclusion, threat focus, confusion and tunnel vision.
Such training should also include the predictable physiological responses to the fear of dying: quick movement off the x, threat focus, face the threat, the combat crouch, binocular sighting, arm/s extended, one handed shooting, cover, etc.....because that's how most people will fight.
Fight or flight response is next to impossible to duplicate in training. Therefore, stress-train for the predictable, instinctive human reactions to the fear of dying.....not in complicated, counter-intuitive, old school methods meant for the range or competitions.
.
Jeff White...I agree. Manipulation skills come from the literally thousands upon thousands of repetitions getting ready for the competition per se. There is another component, which is the fact that in competition, your gun manipulation skills are critiqued (by the range/safety/match staff, by other shooters, and by example of the top shooters) and ultimately judged (by the clock).
i think the "programming via competition" issue is real, but possibly overstated. The most important thing in preventing unwanted programming is to be aware of what you're doing and be willing to mix things up. I WILL NOT do something repeatedly in competition that I feel could potentially compromise my self-defense skills...and I have the FTDR penalties in IDPA to prove it! However, I'm willing to try pretty much anything, and competition is the best place to see whether it works under stress.
I also agree with the poster who said physical stress is different from mental stress. In my experience, physical stress makes you more susceptible to mental stress. Back when I worked with a group that trained SWAT cops, we routinely set up a challenge/obstacle courses PRIOR to the shooting challenges, and typically, the first shooting challenge was designed to jack mental stress through the roof...for example, a 35-yard shot off a low barricade where the barricade was rigged to collapse on the shooter if he or she used the barricade for support. I know that on a big mountain, you're forced to make life and death decisions when you are exhausted beyond any rational concept of exhaustion, when fear is rattling around your head like a caged animal.
I believe you will always have stress/fear in certain situations, because it's built into our hard-wiring and our basic software.If we train the right we, we can use that to our advantage.
Michael B
i think the "programming via competition" issue is real, but possibly overstated. The most important thing in preventing unwanted programming is to be aware of what you're doing and be willing to mix things up. I WILL NOT do something repeatedly in competition that I feel could potentially compromise my self-defense skills...and I have the FTDR penalties in IDPA to prove it! However, I'm willing to try pretty much anything, and competition is the best place to see whether it works under stress.
I also agree with the poster who said physical stress is different from mental stress. In my experience, physical stress makes you more susceptible to mental stress. Back when I worked with a group that trained SWAT cops, we routinely set up a challenge/obstacle courses PRIOR to the shooting challenges, and typically, the first shooting challenge was designed to jack mental stress through the roof...for example, a 35-yard shot off a low barricade where the barricade was rigged to collapse on the shooter if he or she used the barricade for support. I know that on a big mountain, you're forced to make life and death decisions when you are exhausted beyond any rational concept of exhaustion, when fear is rattling around your head like a caged animal.
I believe you will always have stress/fear in certain situations, because it's built into our hard-wiring and our basic software.If we train the right we, we can use that to our advantage.
Michael B
expvideo
Member
My advice is going to sound horrible, but it works for me*.
The only way I have found to function properly under sever stress is to put yourself under sever stress on a regular basis. Much like White Wolf said, it's not how you act under stress, it's how you keep from being stressed in the first place.
So simply put, the best way to fight stress is to not get stressed. Remain calm. Whenever a serious situation occurs (such as a major earthquake when I was in highschool), rather than stressing myself, I would focus on making sure everyone else was ok, and take charge of the situation.
Assume responsibility and don't let yourself become overwelmed with stress.
Here's the bad advice, but it worked for me: put yourself in stressful situations regularly. Something safe like rock climbing is a good way to go, but I personally preffer other methods (not illegal activity, don't worry).
I don't think that running before shooting or pushups really would help much. I think that if you prepair to deal with severe stress regularly, you don't have to practice the shooting part. The shooting aspect isn't the part to worry about. It's the "handling stress" aspect. If you want to be good at shooting under stress, first practice speaking calmly and clearly while under stress. That's just as difficult. You could get into a sparring match with a friend, and all the while speak calmly and try to recite something from memory, like a movie quote or a poem. This will teach you to keep stress levels low and think clearly while under serious physical stress.
*I'm not a professional, and this is just my opinion.
The only way I have found to function properly under sever stress is to put yourself under sever stress on a regular basis. Much like White Wolf said, it's not how you act under stress, it's how you keep from being stressed in the first place.
So simply put, the best way to fight stress is to not get stressed. Remain calm. Whenever a serious situation occurs (such as a major earthquake when I was in highschool), rather than stressing myself, I would focus on making sure everyone else was ok, and take charge of the situation.
Assume responsibility and don't let yourself become overwelmed with stress.
Here's the bad advice, but it worked for me: put yourself in stressful situations regularly. Something safe like rock climbing is a good way to go, but I personally preffer other methods (not illegal activity, don't worry).
I don't think that running before shooting or pushups really would help much. I think that if you prepair to deal with severe stress regularly, you don't have to practice the shooting part. The shooting aspect isn't the part to worry about. It's the "handling stress" aspect. If you want to be good at shooting under stress, first practice speaking calmly and clearly while under stress. That's just as difficult. You could get into a sparring match with a friend, and all the while speak calmly and try to recite something from memory, like a movie quote or a poem. This will teach you to keep stress levels low and think clearly while under serious physical stress.
*I'm not a professional, and this is just my opinion.
I used to teach a sequence of activities/negotiations to handle stress:
1) Be trained. There is NO SHORT CUT for this step! The example I used was that a white-out 30-below zero blizzard at 17,000 feet is a profoundly bad place and time to discover that you really don't know how to tie a figure-8 knot to reconnect yourself to the main line. Practice the hell out of the basics.
2) Push yourself whenever possible. Compete. Compete in disciplines you're not familiar with. Learn something new. Every time you step into a new situation, learn a new skill or sport, you increase your adaptability, your mental flexibility, which is critical to handling a potentially lethal situation.
3) "When skating over thin ice, our salvation is in our speed." People don't usually die from doing the WRONG thing, but from doing NO-thing. We are aculturated to a rhythm of something like "step...pause...evaluate...step." In fact, we can think/evaluate at blazing speeds (read Malcolm Gladwell's BLINK for explanations); we have to learn how to trust that ability and act accordingly...and VERY quickly! Hesitation = Death
4) Embrace chaos. Chaos events, events where we can't know/understand all the factors effecting or driving the event, are singularities...cause and effect don't necessarily work. Nature...and all violent encounters...are chaos events. This is how come newly minted black belts get clobbered on the street...the dojo in most modern arts is a structured "if they...then you" environment; a street fight is a pure chaos system.
5) Focus...focus...focus. Here's a stupid icky example — I once got a really awful nitrogen "hit" at about 200 feet down in a flooded cave. I got the "whirlies," dizziness so bad I lost which way was was up: awful nausea and cramps; barfed in my regulator; the whole package. Just when I thought I was in real trouble, I remembered one of Mickey Fowler's mental images for the Bianchi Cup...you're standing in an old fashion voting booth, and the curtains descend around you...within the "voting booth," you're calm, and you can do what you need to do...I visualized the curtains coming down, and the world slowed down around me...I borrowed a technique from rock climbing and placed 100% of my focus on the descent line; when I had my head back, I cleared my regulator, watched which way the bubbles were going to see which way was up...took another minute, then signaled to my team that i was good to drop the 80 feet to the cave floor.
6) Never quit. There's a great "homily" from cave diving — "When faced with the choice of certain death or doing the impossible, some people choose to live." A friend of mine, one of the greatest mountaineers of our generation, tells the story of getting stuck with two friends — they lost their rope — on the highest ice wall in the Himalayas. They were, of course, dead, but my friend suggested that they climb "as if" they had a rope, until they fell, because it was the right thing to do. So they did...and found the corpse of a frozen Japanese climber, complete wth his gear, ropes and supplies. It ain't over 'til it's over.
Hope this helps!
Michael B
1) Be trained. There is NO SHORT CUT for this step! The example I used was that a white-out 30-below zero blizzard at 17,000 feet is a profoundly bad place and time to discover that you really don't know how to tie a figure-8 knot to reconnect yourself to the main line. Practice the hell out of the basics.
2) Push yourself whenever possible. Compete. Compete in disciplines you're not familiar with. Learn something new. Every time you step into a new situation, learn a new skill or sport, you increase your adaptability, your mental flexibility, which is critical to handling a potentially lethal situation.
3) "When skating over thin ice, our salvation is in our speed." People don't usually die from doing the WRONG thing, but from doing NO-thing. We are aculturated to a rhythm of something like "step...pause...evaluate...step." In fact, we can think/evaluate at blazing speeds (read Malcolm Gladwell's BLINK for explanations); we have to learn how to trust that ability and act accordingly...and VERY quickly! Hesitation = Death
4) Embrace chaos. Chaos events, events where we can't know/understand all the factors effecting or driving the event, are singularities...cause and effect don't necessarily work. Nature...and all violent encounters...are chaos events. This is how come newly minted black belts get clobbered on the street...the dojo in most modern arts is a structured "if they...then you" environment; a street fight is a pure chaos system.
5) Focus...focus...focus. Here's a stupid icky example — I once got a really awful nitrogen "hit" at about 200 feet down in a flooded cave. I got the "whirlies," dizziness so bad I lost which way was was up: awful nausea and cramps; barfed in my regulator; the whole package. Just when I thought I was in real trouble, I remembered one of Mickey Fowler's mental images for the Bianchi Cup...you're standing in an old fashion voting booth, and the curtains descend around you...within the "voting booth," you're calm, and you can do what you need to do...I visualized the curtains coming down, and the world slowed down around me...I borrowed a technique from rock climbing and placed 100% of my focus on the descent line; when I had my head back, I cleared my regulator, watched which way the bubbles were going to see which way was up...took another minute, then signaled to my team that i was good to drop the 80 feet to the cave floor.
6) Never quit. There's a great "homily" from cave diving — "When faced with the choice of certain death or doing the impossible, some people choose to live." A friend of mine, one of the greatest mountaineers of our generation, tells the story of getting stuck with two friends — they lost their rope — on the highest ice wall in the Himalayas. They were, of course, dead, but my friend suggested that they climb "as if" they had a rope, until they fell, because it was the right thing to do. So they did...and found the corpse of a frozen Japanese climber, complete wth his gear, ropes and supplies. It ain't over 'til it's over.
Hope this helps!
Michael B
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