Keeping Your Cool: The Fight Against Adrenaline

[Denny347]

Serious question, and I hope that this is on topic in "Tactics and Training," what kinds of practice, exercises, etc do you recommend for adapting your body to the adrenaline rush that comes with conflict? Do others find it nearly as debilitating as I?

Last night, I was in a confrontation that could have gotten physical. I haven't been in a fight in years! The gentleman in question was extremely aggressive, possibly inebriated, and very verbal. Ancient fight or flight reflexes kicked in; I felt my body heat up with adrenaline with all the negative effects. My mind was muddled, disconnected. My speech was nowhere near eloquent. Luckily, I was able to extricate myself from the situation without any actual conflict. But it got me to thinking.. Had I needed to defend myself, or god forbid draw my weapon to protect myself, I would be relying solely on muscle memory.

It's important to train actions into muscle memory. I get it. But do you train yourself to handle adrenaline. Or is that possible?

You are talking about fisticuffs? Not gun fighting? Although force on force will help train you in dealing with adrenaline in general, if you want to learn how to fight through it during a fight, FIGHT. You learn stand-up fighting, build confidence, response will be automatic. Training in Jiu Jitsu has helped me learn to relax in terrible positions and that helps me deal with the stress of those situations. Do not forget the art of "talk". I come across these situations quite a bit at work and found that even though the person I'm dealing with has maybe began to escalate the situation, if I maintain my calm tone, I don't get the negative effects of the adrenal dump. It forces my body to stay calm. It also doesn't mean I'm not ready to take care of business but it allows me to stay in high brain mode rather than the low brain as you described.

 

[jve153]

the best way, IMO to get into the frame by frame, "bullet time" state, is to have been in the same situation numerous times. i used to play paintball at the national level. the balls are .68 cal, or a bit bigger than a marble. they travel at 300 fps, or 200 mph. at first you just hear them go by and kind of silently freak out. after multiple exposures, you are able to discern position by sound, and eventually get to the point where once you see one coming right at your face, time actually slows down and you can watch it come, most of the time you can actually move back behind cover, other times, it feels like it takes a few minutes from the time you see it until you see that nice splat across your goggles.
i got into a lot of fights when i was younger, also wrestled. when the adrenaline dump hit, i could feel it, and i felt like i actually had time to front brain process what was going on. (he is punching with his right hand, his right leg is too far forward, i should use that and go for take down).
any sort of combat sport will help with this. kickboxing, mma training/sparring, etc. i also go back to the paintball thing, as it is extremely fun, and somewhat useful, if you look at it the right way.
this is just the opinion i have developed from life experiences, i am not a trainer, psychologist, or any sort of professional that deals with humans.

 

[szorn]

Serious question, and I hope that this is on topic in "Tactics and Training," what kinds of practice, exercises, etc do you recommend for adapting your body to the adrenaline rush that comes with conflict? Do others find it nearly as debilitating as I?

Last night, I was in a confrontation that could have gotten physical. I haven't been in a fight in years! The gentleman in question was extremely aggressive, possibly inebriated, and very verbal. Ancient fight or flight reflexes kicked in; I felt my body heat up with adrenaline with all the negative effects. My mind was muddled, disconnected. My speech was nowhere near eloquent. Luckily, I was able to extricate myself from the situation without any actual conflict. But it got me to thinking.. Had I needed to defend myself, or god forbid draw my weapon to protect myself, I would be relying solely on muscle memory.

It's important to train actions into muscle memory. I get it. But do you train yourself to handle adrenaline. Or is that possible?

I will admit that I am responding without having read the other responses so this may have been addressed. To learn to effectively harness and control your adrenaline you need to train through the adrenal response. This is usually accomplished by combining realistic training and proper scenario replications with instructors that are experienced in this kind of training. There are numerous programs out there that have been doing this effectively since the early 1970's. One of the first self-defense programs to include adrenal response drills was Model Mugging. When a fellow female black belt martial artist was sexually assaulted because adrenaline overwhelmed her, a gentleman named Matt Thomas made it his life goal to find out why the karate didn't work for her and what he could do to correct it. After much research and pressure-testing he created Role-Model Mugging (later changed to just Model Mugging). it was the first program of the kind to include adrenal response drills combined with verbal self-defense, and full-force physical skills practiced against an armored assailant. Model Mugging is still being taught around the country and there are now numerous variations to include FAST Defense, IMPACT Personal safety, RAW Power self-defense, and many others.

If you want to learn how to effectively harness adrenaline to use it in verbal self-defense, physical self-defense, and even in defensive shooting I highly suggest finding an one of these programs near you and taking their courses. You won't be disappointed. While I could tell you many of the things they teach, it will not be as beneficial as actually taking a course and working with instructors that specialize in this type of work.

I am personally partial to FAST Defense since I happen to be an instructor with them but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one of the other organizations. There are some in the Indy area and there is a FAST defense team in Martinsville.

Hope that helps,
Steve

 

[iChokePeople]

You are talking about fisticuffs? Not gun fighting? Although force on force will help train you in dealing with adrenaline in general, if you want to learn how to fight through it during a fight, FIGHT. You learn stand-up fighting, build confidence, response will be automatic. Training in Jiu Jitsu has helped me learn to relax in terrible positions and that helps me deal with the stress of those situations. Do not forget the art of "talk". I come across these situations quite a bit at work and found that even though the person I'm dealing with has maybe began to escalate the situation, if I maintain my calm tone, I don't get the negative effects of the adrenal dump. It forces my body to stay calm. It also doesn't mean I'm not ready to take care of business but it allows me to stay in high brain mode rather than the low brain as you described.

+1. If you want to stop having an "adrenaline dump" (I know, just using a commonly-understood phrase), do that thing over and over until it no longer generates that response. You want to stop getting all freaked by physical contact? Go to a boxing gym and get punched in the face. A lot. Join a BJJ or wrestling gym and have people grab you, pull you, throw you, grind you, smash you, sweat all over you, shove your face in their sweaty junk over and over until it's not a thing anymore. Desensitizing or "stress inoculating" against guns? Well... good luck with that one, unless you're .mil or maybe law enforcement, but things like simunition/paintball/etc can help some. All IMHO, of course, and your mileage may vary.