Page 1 - Page 2

Think that all your techniques that helped you earn all your forms competition trophies, or even your sparring trophies, will protect you on the street. Think the deadly techniques espoused by your martial art will protect on the street. Well, maybe they will, that is maybe they will if you are not so scared to death at the moment that you cannot use them.

Ever see Don Fry fight in ultimate fighting matches. He is a master of the stare-down. Not only is he a big, powerful, and tough looking guy, he capitalizes on his appearance by using stares and facial expression to make you think he wants to break you into small pieces, and, by many accounts, this is not an act. Imagine accidently bumping your car into his car at an intersection one lonely night just after he just lost a tough fight. You get out of your car to check the damage and suddenly he leaps out of his car and comes raging toward you. I do not care who you are or what you know, you will be sacred sh*tless.

Fight-or-Flight

How will you react? Will you even be able to react, or will you be paralyzed with fear? Even the best combat trained police officers and soldiers have experienced “freezing” when faced with moral danger.

When faced with mortal danger, the human body instinctively reacts by releasing an enormous surge of adrenaline, the most powerful hormone in the body, which causes certain predictable physiological and psychological responses within the body. This reaction is often called the “fight-or-flight reflex." Although these effects may be lessened by intensive training, they are occur involuntarily and cannot be consciously prevented.

Therefore, the fight-or-flight reflex is not a matter of courage or lack thereof, it is an instinctive response controlled mostly by the autonomic nervous system. When the brain sense mortal danger, your sympathetic nervous system instantly dumps a variety of hormones into your body that cause a high arousal state known as fear. In this state, your body operates differently than it normally does and sometimes you have no control over its actions. These changes take effect immediately and may last for a long time, so their effects may linger long after the actual threat is removed. One common effect precipitated by these effects is the distortion of perceived time, called tachypsychia.

Tachypsychia

Ever had the following happen to you or heard of it happening to someone else. You are sparring at a tournament and really getting into the fight. Suddenly, it seems that everything is happening in slow motion, giving you plenty of time to block and attack. It all seems so effortless. Alternatively, you are really into a fight, and suddenly it is over; you cannot believe it went so quickly.

There is a term for this phenomenon; it is called tachypsychia, a neurological condition that distorts the perception of time, usually brought on by physical exertion, physical stress, drug use, a traumatic event, or a violent confrontation. It is believed to be caused by a combination of high levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in the body.

When under the effect of tachypsychia, perceived time may lengthen (brought on by the increased brain activity caused by epinephrine), making events appear to slow down; or perceived time may contract (caused by a severe decrease in brain activity caused by the "adrenaline dump"), making events appear to move in a speeding blur. Martial arts instructors often call this effect the Tachy Psyche effect.

Upon being stimulated by fear or anger, the adrenal medulla automatically injects the hormone epinephrine (adrenaline) directly into the blood stream, the "adrenaline dump." This can have numerous effects on the body, including:

• Increased heart rate (200 to 300 beats per minute) and increased blood pressure, which may cause fainting; and the body may constrict itself into a fetal position in preparation for a coma.

• Dilation of the bronchial passages, permitting higher absorption of oxygen.

• Dilated pupils to allow more light to enter.

• Visual exclusion (tunnel vision) occurs, allowing greater focus but resulting in the loss of peripheral vision.

• Release of glucose into the bloodstream, generating extra energy by raising the blood sugar level.

• Auditory exclusion, or enhancement, of hearing.

• Increased pain tolerance.

• Loss of color vision.

• Short-term memory loss.

• Trembling.

• Dizziness.

• Nausea.

• Dry mouth.

• Tingling sensations.

• Urge to urinate and defecate.

• Decreased fine motor skills.

• Decreased communication skills.

• Decreased coordination.

The distorted perception of time, as well as the partial color blindness and tunnel vision, cause people to have serious misinterpretations of their surroundings, causing them to take seemingly inappropriate actions. Temporary paralysis may occur, momentarily causing you to freeze as your body desperately tries to catch up to the sudden awareness that your life is in danger. The severe lack of adrenaline after an event may mimic post-traumatic stress disorder, where people may appear extremely emotional and overly tired, regardless of their actual physical exertion.

Page 1 - Page 2