Fear

"The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear."
Gandhi

We all know that we don't like fear, but often just go through life knowing that and doing little else. Fear is something that should be identified and confronted all the time. We use it as a gauge to see if our weaknesses are occupying too much of our brain. We often fail to overcome our fears because it's easier to just allow it to exist in our consciousness and not have to face them, but as time goes on these fears become stronger and more dominant. Consider fear a harmful bacteria for your spirit. If left unattended, it will multiply and spread, much like a cancer. To achieve our goals and live a life we deserve, we should regularly visit what scares us and try to overcome it or, at least, stop them from growing.

Don't Freeze
So we know that fear is unpleasant, but we don't always realize how damaging it can be in a crisis. We encourage people to confront their fears because in moments of crisis, the fear can take over and stop us from making intelligent decisions that could save our lives or the lives of loved ones. When fear takes over, you'll feel like someone with really cold hands has grabbed your heart and started squeezing. It becomes hard to think, breathe or even move when this happens. This is because our cognitive minds have been turned off and we're regressing into an animal state of flight or fight. Sadly, depending on the level of violence of the crisis, the "fight or flight" response is sometimes forced into a "fight or die" situation. We couldn't ever train to a point where we'd be totally comfortable with an uncontrolled violent scenario forced onto us, but if we are honest about our fears and train ourselves regularly, there are some ways of staying cognitive and, at least, improve our chances. Fighting a situation is hard enough, don't add to it by having to fight yourself also.

Problem Solving
Fear will tense our muscles, therefore causing them to respond slower to the demands of our brain. Fear will create a chaotic environment that could result in hundreds of different outcomes, changing every second, therefore giving the unfocused mind too much to calculate and cause that "mind spinning" feeling.  To make things worse, fear will cause shallow breathing, therefore not using approximately two-thirds of our lung capacity (hyperventilating), therefore not allowing enough oxygen travel to the brain or muscles. Your fear is a double agent, living in your body, but actually working for the enemy. You can't be prepared for every possible scenario, but there are things you can do to keep your brain on your team. Keep the cognitive mind engaged and you can avoid many of these effects of fear. The mind is goal-oriented, so keep thinking. A lack of goals will result in chaos, keep control by speaking and listening. My sensei also advises to start acting. This is a cognitive exercise that will keep your fore-brain engaged and prevent the animal mind from taking over. This of course doesn't guarantee anything, but will help you stay intelligent and increase your ability to solve the present problem. This situation was forced onto you, but you can't take any time to feel sorry for yourself. This is what's happening now and you owe it to yourself and everyone in your life to be smart about it.

SIDE NOTE: As of last year, it was estimated that someone's chances of getting attacked or robbed in North America were 1 in 250. These stats were based on reported crimes, so it might be a little skewed since many crimes go unreported. That being said it is still unlikely that you will be in a violent crisis, but also far from impossible.

It gets better/worse each time...you decide
So whether we confront fear on our own terms or when it's forced on us will greatly determine who will win the war. If you wait for the chance to be victimized, you'll spend a portion of your life avoiding certain things and always a little worried that someone will come along and push fear on you. This will make your fear stronger with time and will start to dictate how you should live your life. I'm claustrophobic and spent about a year and a half avoiding elevators, which was surprisingly difficult. After climbing up 8 flights of stairs and being locked in a stairwell, I decided that it was time to do some research on how to overcome fear. By identifying something that is negatively influencing your life through fear, you can decide where and when you want to confront that. It won't happen over night, but at least you'll be stronger and more confident on a regular basis. Once you make progress against fear, it's hard to fall back. Move forward all the time.

Jordan Bill
Fight or Die

www.ScrapyardFighting.com
www.CombatSystema.com

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