iliar to him. He has been here before. He has been punched and survived before. His training takes over and he does what he needs to do. It would seem safe to say that the boxer has developed a form of stress inoculation to his profession.

Comfronting deep seated fears is indeed stressful. As I discussed earlier, training and preparation are important, but identifying the fear and threat is the key to building up an immunity to it. Once we can identify it, we can begin to de-mystify it it by analyzing and picking it apart piece by piece. What makes the 6′5″ 250lb. mutant so frightening? The physical presence, of course. Lo

There are many components that need to work together in order for your self protection plan to be effective. Not surprisingly, most martial arts instructors and self defense experts concentrate on the physical skill necessary to protect yourself. Of course, that seems reasonable, right? You need to know how to block or deflect an attack, deliver an effective counter- strike to allow for your escape from danger, or simply discourage your attacker from further aggression. However, there is more that needs to be done to prepare you physically and mentally for defensive movements.

I’ve talked about Fear Management and threat awareness, non-violent postures and other mental training exercises in earlier posts. I have mentioned how difficult it really is to remain calm when faced with imminent threats of bodily harm. This is not the “fear of the unknown” that we sometimes refer to, but the actual recognition that a blow to the head is painful. Anxiety and stress can build up rapidly if we have no point of reference to what may occur. There are several ways to address stress and one of the easiest to practice is called “Stress Inoculation.”

Although this sounds like something a doctor can give you in his office, it really is something that you can develop on your own, or with the help of a good training partner. It works much the same as a flu shot. During cold and flu season, doctors recommend having a small amount of a particular strain of influenza virus injected into your body. Why? Because this allows the body to call up it’s immune system buddies to help fight off the virus and build up a tolerance and eventually an immunity to the threat. This is the theory behind Stress Inoculation.

Flash back to a scientific lab somewhere, and observe as a group of scientists try out a few experiments on their favorite test subjects: Rats. Here is what they did.

They took rats and divided them into three groups. Group 1 was given random shocks for 7 straight days. Group 2 would hear a bell and ten seconds later would get a shock. Group 3 would hear a bell and get no shocks. The end was sad for the rats, but good for us. They were autopsied and studied by group. the result?

Group 1- Had many ulcers from the constant fear of shocks without warning.

Group 2- Very few ulcers

Group 3- No signs of stress or ulcers.

O.K., similar tests have been done with other test subjects, but on an unscientific level, consider the the professional boxer. He’s pacing, anxious, full of adrenaline. The bell sounds and everything becomes familiar to him. He has been here before. He has been punched and survived before. His training takes over and he does what he needs to do. It would seem safe to say that the boxer has developed a form of stress inoculation to his profession.

Comfronting deep seated fears is indeed stressful. As I discussed earlier, training and preparation are important, but identifying the fear and threat is the key to building up an immunity to it. Once we can identify it, we can begin to de-mystify it it by analyzing and picking it apart piece by piece. What makes the 6′5″ 250lb. mutant so frightening? The physical presence, of course. Loo

-violent postures and other mental training exercises in earlier posts. I have mentioned how difficult it really is to remain calm when faced with imminent threats of bodily harm. This is not the “fear of the unknown” that we sometimes refer to, but the actual recognition that a blow to the head is painful. Anxiety and stress can build up rapidly if we have no point of reference to what may occur. There are several ways to address stress and one of the easiest to practice is called “Stress Inoculation.”

Although this sounds like something a doctor can give you in his office, it really is something that you can develop on your own, or with the help of a good training partner. It works much the same as a flu shot. During cold and flu season, doctors recommend having a small amount of a particular strain of influenza virus injected into your body. Why? Because this allows the body to call up it’s immune system buddies to help fight off the virus and build up a tolerance and eventually an immunity to the threat. This is the theory behind Stress Inoculation.

Flash back to a scientific lab somewhere, and observe as a group of scientists try out a few experiments on their favorite test subjects: Rats. Here is what they did.

They took rats and divided them into three groups. Group 1 was given random shocks for 7 straight days. Group 2 would hear a bell and ten seconds later would get a shock. Group 3 would hear a bell and get no shocks. The end was sad for the rats, but good for us. They were autopsied and studied by group. the result?

Group 1- Had many ulcers from the constant fear of shocks without warning.

Group 2- Very few ulcers

Group 3- No signs of stress or ulcers.

O.K., similar tests have been done with other test subjects, but on an unscientific level, consider the the professional boxer. He’s pacing, anxious, full of adrenaline. The bell sounds and everything becomes familiar to him. He has been here before. He has been punched and survived before. His training takes over and he does what he needs to do. It would seem safe to say that the boxer has developed a form of stress inoculation to his profession.

Comfronting deep seated fears is indeed stressful. As I discussed earlier, training and preparation are important, but identifying the fear and threat is the key to building up an immunity to it. Once we can identify it, we can begin to de-mystify it it by analyzing and picking it apart piece by piece. What makes the 6′5″ 250lb. mutant so frightening? The physical presence, of course. Lo

th the help of a good training partner. It works much the same as a flu shot. During cold and flu season, doctors recommend having a small amount of a particular strain of influenza virus injected into your body. Why? Because this allows the body to call up it’s immune system buddies to help fight off the virus and build up a tolerance and eventually an immunity to the threat. This is the theory behind Stress Inoculation.

Flash back to a scientific lab somewhere, and observe as a group of scientists try out a few experiments on their favorite test subjects: Rats. Here is what they did.

They took rats and divided them into three groups. Group 1 was given random shocks for 7 straight days. Group 2 would hear a bell and ten seconds later would get a shock. Group 3 would hear a bell and get no shocks. The end was sad for the rats, but good for us. They were autopsied and studied by group. the result?

Group 1- Had many ulcers from the constant fear of shocks without warning.

Group 2- Very few ulcers

Group 3- No signs of stress or ulcers.

O.K., similar tests have been done with other test subjects, but on an unscientific level, consider the the professional boxer. He’s pacing, anxious, full of adrenaline. The bell sounds and everything becomes familiar to him. He has been here before. He has been punched and survived before. His training takes over and he does what he needs to do. It would seem safe to say that the boxer has developed a form of stress inoculation to his profession.

Comfronting deep seated fears is indeed stressful. As I discussed earlier, training and preparation are important, but identifying the fear and threat is the key to building up an immunity to it. Once we can identify it, we can begin to de-mystify it it by analyzing and picking it apart piece by piece. What makes the 6′5″ 250lb. mutant so frightening? The physical presence, of course. Lo

roups. Group 1 was given random shocks for 7 straight days. Group 2 would hear a bell and ten seconds later would get a shock. Group 3 would hear a bell and get no shocks. The end was sad for the rats, but good for us. They were autopsied and studied by group. the result?

Group 1- Had many ulcers from the constant fear of shocks without warning.

Group 2- Very few ulcers

Group 3- No signs of stress or ulcers.

O.K., similar tests have been done with other test subjects, but on an unscientific level, consider the the professional boxer. He’s pacing, anxious, full of adrenaline. The bell sounds and everything becomes familiar to him. He has been here before. He has been punched and survived before. His training takes over and he does what he needs to do. It would seem safe to say that the boxer has developed a form of stress inoculation to his profession.

Comfronting deep seated fears is indeed stressful. As I discussed earlier, training and preparation are important, but identifying the fear and threat is the key to building up an immunity to it. Once we can identify it, we can begin to de-mystify it it by analyzing and picking it apart piece by piece. What makes the 6′5″ 250lb. mutant so frightening? The physical presence, of course. Lo

iliar to him. He has been here before. He has been punched and survived before. His training takes over and he does what he needs to do. It would seem safe to say that the boxer has developed a form of stress inoculation to his profession.

Comfronting deep seated fears is indeed stressful. As I discussed earlier, training and preparation are important, but identifying the fear and threat is the key to building up an immunity to it. Once we can identify it, we can begin to de-mystify it it by analyzing and picking it apart piece by piece. What makes the 6′5″ 250lb. mutant so frightening? The physical presence, of course. Looking at the scar tissue around this predators eyes and the the twisted cartelidge of his nose tells us that he has done battle before. But it also tells us that he has been wounded by someone also. So, he’s not a machine, just a large predator who preys on the helpless or weak.

I would be lying if I said that facing down one of these creatures is a pleasant experience, but there is enough information identified from his profile to de-mystify his threat. Someone cut him, broke his nose, hurt him. If necessary, I can do the same. I have to do the same. What is the alternative?

Work on your stress by feeding yourself small doses of that which frightens you the most. Find out why snakes are so damn frightening. read up on them, go to the zoo and maybe even pick one up. It takes all of the mystery out of them and will empower you.

Next time you are sparring with your training partner, put in your mouthpiece and don your headgear. Let him throw a few jabs at your head. Nothing full out, just a few light punches to rock your head a little. Resist the urge to block or slip the punch. Just allow it to happen. You’ll know when you’ve had enough. You will find that having a punch slip through your guard is annoying but certainly not debilitating. You can shake it off and continue. You may even find that while you are sparring, you may not even realize when you’ve been tagged a few times. Your mind was where it needed to be and not on the fear of getting injured. Use this model in other areas of your personal protection strategy and you’ll find it far less stressful.