Often I hear from my students that they would be so scared that they would probably "freeze" if assaulted or attacked; thus a concern that their FEAR would make their personal safety/self-defense techniques learned impossible. You must realize that FEAR is "normal". Thinking that fear - to any degree should "not" be experienced as a reaction to any threatening or intimidation circumstance or situation is totally foolish and naive.
Fear is natural.
Fear is expected.
It is imperative for us to understand psychological fear which leads to doubt and hesitation. Unchecked it can result in anxiety and panic. When you begin to doubt yourself you start to think, "What if I lose?", "What if it hurts?", "What if I fail?" Thoughts of this sort must be eliminated from your vocabulary. You must remain positive, assertive and focus on the ability to motivate yourself with proper training.
Fear doesn't have to be a "freeze" mechanism that prevents a beneficial reaction. One must decide what frightens you more - being dominated, injured or killed by an assailant/batterer, or taking a risk and fighting back. You may hurt yourself somehow by protecting yourself against your assailant. His knife might nick your ear, a bullet from his gun may graze your head, or you might end up with bruises and your body sore,etc.; but you're chance of being alive is much greater than not. Using personal safety/self-defense is a means for "stun and run", escape and ultimate survival. If you are too scared to react defensively and decide to remain under an assailant's control - he will have his way with you. Your mind can be more dangerous than your assailant. You must turn your fear into an effective reaction.
In teaching the S.P.E.A.R. system there are three acronyms to help us remember that psychological fear is only in our mind (by Tony Blauer):
1. False Evidence Appearing Real
(External stimuli that distracts us; physical evidence, weapons, multiple assailants, etc.)
2. False Expectation Appearing Real
(Internal stimuli that distracts us; how we visualize, images of pain and failure.)
3. Failure Expected Action Required
(A trigger to DO SOMETHING!)
"Feel your fear, fight your fear, challenge your fear, attack your fear. Do not fear fear. We all feel it. Fight your fear first then fight your physical foe."
You can't conquer what you can't confront. When inside of the storm remain calm.
Remember that awareness is the first step to any form of personal safety/self-defense. The best kind of personal safety/self-defense is the kind that you don't need to use. If you can avoid a potentially threatening, dangerous situation do so.
Take care and STAY SAFE!Anny
A Survivor
The Realistic Female Self-Defense Company
"Raising female awareness and skills to reduce susceptibility in response to violence." www.annyjacoby.com
www.realisticfemaleselfdefense.com
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