The "X" factor. Without it, there isn't a technique, style or system in the world that will save your skin.
The "X" factor is your will to live. It's your desire to survive. The "X" factor turns cowards into heroes and victims into survivors. It's the one thing that makes all the difference. If given a choice between an encyclopedia of knowledge and a heart full of desire to live. I'll take the will to live 7 days a week (twice on Sunday).
If you ever watched the show I Survived on the Biography channel, you'll hear hundreds of accounts from people who survived violence. They're not martial artists, MMA studs or Spec Ops soldiers, they're real stories from regular people. While the situations and the circumstances of these accounts are as varied as the people who tell them. All of these stories, all of these people, have one thing in common: the will and the desire to do whatever it takes to live.
Most people, myself included, resist the idea of hurting another human being. In a relaxed frame of mind, the thought of seriously injuring or taking a human life is vulgar, cruel and sadistic. Wanting to hurt another human being for the sake of inflicting injury is unnatural at best. But, if placed in a fight or die situation, it is also unnatural to not want to preserve your own life and the lives of those around you. Because there comes a point where your resistance to inflict pain on others is replaced by your will to live. Survival is your primary instinct. It's hardwired into every species on the planet.
Methods of self defense must harness your X factor. Tapping into that raw power requires a certain type of mindset and method of training that won't impede your natural survival instinct. Methods that are too complex and consist of a multitude of specialty moves designed for specific situations will only make you freeze when placed under extreme stress. Hick's law proves this. Hick's Law states that as your choices increase, your reaction time increases. In other words, more stuff = more time and time is not something you have a whole lot of when someone is trying to put you through a plate glass window.
There is no secret technique(s). The secret is in how you prepare.
In the Self Defense Training System (SDTS) you train in methods and tactics that are simple by design and execution. You discover how to adapt a handful of techniques to any possible scenario. This is in direct contradiction to what is generally taught. Where each situation is broken down and a specific response is memorized. We have seen this method fail time and time again. Even when these experts are "attacked" they respond with a simple punch or a kick. In Gichin Funikoshi's Book Karate-Do, he recounts his one and only street fight where a man attempted to rob him and he grabbed the guy's nuts until he passed out. OK, nothing to complicated there.
Too many people focus on techniques. They collect them like marbles and think that the more they know, the better off they are. In reality, too many techniques, get in the way of your thought process. Collect them if you must (it's good to have a hobby) but remember, the only way you will be able to react successfully and release your X factor is through instinctive, convulsive and effective movements. The only way to have instinctive and convulsive movements is through gross motor or simple skill sets. Oh and those movements better be brutal, cause more injury to your target and little or no injury to yourself. Remember, the name of the game is to get him to stop as fast as possible. The only way to really stop him is through injury. The last man (or woman) standing wins.
When you train in the SDTS you're given a simple primary set of techniques and taught to train them to the point that you can do them in your sleep, from any position and with incredible power. So when you're in a horrific situation you will react without thinking. You will unlock your X factor and survive. This can work for any style or system. A reverse punch is devastating if trained in this manner.
Knowing techniques impress your friends and sound like you know what your talking about when you post on the web, but when the shit hits the fan, the only thing that's going to save you is a little technique and a lot of factor X.
Train Honestly, Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
Posts
2 comments:
Hi Damian. One question related to this topic. Whenever any confrontation occurs around any of us, our X Factor kicks in and combat stress slowly begins to surface (it does for me anyway). Judging by previous experience, combat stress may have contributed to being frozen in a fight. I'm sure you'll agree that for any martial art (or fight) to work, combat stress needs to be addessed and improvised upon. What are your views on the Fight or Flight Response and how could we manipulate it to our advantage? Does the topic come with your SDTS programme? Thanks!
Yes, in fact, it's exactly what drives it. If you read Lt Col Grossman's book ON COMBAT, he gives a pretty good analysis on the hormone induced stress and the SNS nervous system. The takeaway is, you will only be able to perform primary gross motor skills under stress. Finite movements and a multitude of responses only serve to slow and inhibit a timely response. A few weeks back I blogged about knife defense and addressed this topic in depth. I even discuss Hick's Law (again). We used to call the physiological change that happens to you under stress the "tachy-psych effect". When we train in the SDTS we program tactics in that have been proven to perform under stress. Then we apply those to a multitude of situations. At the end of the training you will know how to adapt effectively to whatever position or situation you find yourself. You focus on delivering power and causing damage with your strikes to high target areas all the while taking ground. When you shift to the weapons training, all the same rules apply except now you just have a weapon in your hand.
Post a Comment