It is a known fact that many people study a martial art year after year, practice and memorize kata after kata. They compete in all the tournaments (winning trophies of the night). They go from the white belt to the yellow, to the orange, to the violet, to the green, to the blue, to the brown and finally to the coveted black belt. However, I know of several very high-ranking belts that have gotten into real life or death street altercations that have involved the assailant brandishing a weapon, and overreacted by doing the wrong technique or simply they froze because they simply had too much information and too much. lots of techniques in your brain to process them fast enough. The end turned out. They were afraid and / or could not defend themselves adequately. This is a very sobering and humbling reveal for anyone who thought they really understood the reality of the intense, fast-paced, and violent nature of an actual street fight. There are basically 5 main causes of fear during a real street fight confrontation, but like all problems in life, there has to be a solution. I have it for you here in this article.
Cause n. # 1: Lack of Preparation by Knowing Too Many Techniques – Most martial artists are guilty of this one. The more techniques you fill your head, the longer it will take you to process which one to execute, when in many cases you must react with a quick split-second timing. It is far better to know two or three highly effective maneuvers that are so similar to each other that they would only require a slight variation of any one of them to tailor your self defense to counter a punch, knife or club. This means that he would focus all of his self-defense on just a handful of techniques that he would master. Who do you think would have a faster reaction time: the person who knows and has mastered only two or three techniques or the person who knows 400 possible moves? Knowing too much causes confusion, uncertainty, and ultimately fear.
Solution: In self-defense, learning less but learning better is the answer.
Cause n. # 2: Lack of Thought Control – This is a simple but obvious principle. What you think causes what you feel. So if that’s the case, and it is, you just need to learn to control your thoughts. Allow yourself to use the adrenaline rush and the “fight or flight” sensations that run through your body the moment you realize that “the attack is about to hit.” Give yourself permission to get angry! Realize that this person before you is not King Kong or Godzilla. He is human. If it is cut, it will bleed. If they hit it hard enough and in the right place, it will fall. This person before you could hurt you, if you let them, so that you would never hug your daughter or kiss your wife again. Doesn’t the idea of this appeal to you, P. Oed?
Solution: If you practice getting angry in this way for, say, 10 minutes a day for 21 days, you will be surprised how your outlook begins to change from fearful to fierce.
Cause # 3 – Unrealistic Training Environments – Do you train with a gi on your bare feet? You do! Well I’m sorry to inform you that this is not the way you walk down the street in real life, in Asian garb and barefoot, unless you are making some kind of weird fashion statement. The closer you can get to making your training environment look and feel like the real world, the more comfortable you will feel when a real self defense situation occurs. They are not easy to find, but there are self defense instructors who make you train with shoes and they have at least part of their training centers to mimic the real world showing you how to fight on a ladder, in a closed room, against a wall, etc.
Solution: The more realistic your training environment, the less fear, if any, you will feel when actual combat occurs.
Cause # 4 – Unqualified Instructors – Unfortunately, the vast majority of senseis and sifus are neither street fighters nor street combat oriented. Too many martial arts schools are geared towards sports and fitness. They don’t train for real fights. They train to “play fights.” How can I say this? Tournaments are sport. Sport is a game. The game is the game. Therefore, if you train solely or primarily for tournaments, you are training to “play wrestling.”
Solution: If you want to learn primarily self defense, ask your sensei or sifu to show you what their street fighting and self defense program is. If you do not get a satisfactory answer, find another instructor.
Cause n. 5: Lack of a doggy determination to overcome his fears: He knows that he is afraid. You know you don’t feel ready. It’s fine.
Solution: if you have a doggy determination to overcome your fears, with the right guidance, that is, with the right instructor, you will overcome your fears of fighting. I guarantee you. It is only a matter of time and perseverance that one day you can say, “I am not afraid of anyone!”
