What is the Opposite of Fear?

Most people’s first reaction to this is bravery or heroism. These are the result of what the real answer enables us to be. Fear is an emotion so the opposite of Fear must to be an emotion. If you read Stephen Pressfield’s “Gates of Fire” you already know the answer.

The answer lies in your heart. The opposite of Fear is Love. Love of family, love of God, love of country. It is what ever justifies your existence. Whenever you teach someone new, and you show them how to attack with ruthless intensity and to do whatever it takes, by any means necessary to survive, most regular, law abiding person cringes at the reality of biting or gouging and eye. Their reaction is “I could never do that!” Oh really, what if you came into your daughter’s room and saw strange man standing over her bed? Well, the answer is quite a different one. Fear and apprehension disappear and all you’re left with is seething range and contempt (this is good).

When we talk about self defense and fighting to survive, even though we approach it from a practical point of view, you will be placed in completely impractical, unimaginable and outrageous. Even combat veterans attacked is civilian life have the same reaction, the thought of the person or the thing you hold dearest being ripped away from you will put you into a state of mind that can not be replicated.

No matter how real your training is, that fear cannot be replicated. So you have to plan and prepare for it. Simple, repetitious techniques practiced in a variety of situations. Conditioning the body and hardening your natural weapons. Being in better physical shape and learning how to use weapons that fit into your gross motor skill set.

When the rage hits, you’re probably not going to be able to remember a thing. Most times you simply “black out”. This is why sport and complicated methods of fighting don’t work. You can train; practice until you’re dead exhausted. You can make your techniques look sharp and pretty. Your training should put you on auto-pilot. Your training has to allow you to channel that anger and that adrenaline into the assailant.

You can create scenarios in your mind and have your training partners try to rip your head off. This is all excellent, but it’s not the real thing. The real thing happens faster, is ugly and is brutal. Its not pretty. We have a saying, “If it looks good in the dojo, it won’t work in the street.” Keep it simple and work within the realities what you will be mentally and physically able to do when your worst nightmare is knocking at your door. Fighting for a parking spot or over a few dollars may not be worth it, but standing up for the person you hold dearest always is.

If your job deals with violence you know what happens when it all goes south. Training for these situations is about doing simple tasks in extraordinary or unimaginable situations. This is why and where the majority of self defense methods taught fail under real world conditions.

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