CORE question 2

After participants compete my 4-day CORE Course

The second most common question they ask: “FEAR … why do we continue to address FEAR?”

Why the subject of FEAR you ask?

Because we spend a lot of time on CORE -addressing it – dealing with it – & hopefully giving mindful answers To – understanding it – coming to terms with it – & getting a grip on it!

Our first ‘body part’ that must address danger on the street or combat is your ‘BRAIN’.  

It perceives the threat and our ability to rationally deal with it.  The correct computing of our response to the threat goes a long way to allowing us to make the correct tactical decisions, this includes your ‘tactical use of force’.  I believe training is important to prevent the emotional high-jacking that is so common with these situations.  Mindful training teaches us to stay rational in the face of danger and that is very important to the successful outcome of the tactical situation.

Like many, I have studied most of the –‘Art of War’ type books – out there

…And many more that are philosophical in nature with a psychology-based-theory; with the hope of discovering the mind/body connection.  Most of these works struck me as not complete. They did not meet my ‘rubber meets the road’ test when ‘shit hits the fan’.  Perhaps because these theories seem to be written by individuals who never really put to work what they preach; not seeing how it works or doesn’t work under real stress- violent assault or battlefield…

There are some science based books that give one an awesome understanding of brain chemistry

And how the motherboard(brain) directs action –  these are good – however when it comes to FEAR and Philosophy I have learned, even after all my ‘study,’ the school of ‘hard knocks’ still proves true over all that theory’. It should not be passed off as fact.  Ask a cop with a decade or two on the streets and he will tell you they’ve met all types of dangerous assholes’ and if they’re honest, in those incidents, they have had to address some pretty harsh fear!  We all have to go through this ‘fear mechanism’ , you can’t stop it but you can learn to channel it into positive action especially if there is a potential for serious and grievous bodily harm or death attached to what you’re facing and experiencing. Most books talk about ‘coping with the mental side of danger’ and for me that has never been good enough.  I want to do more than just cope – I want to thrive in these situations. Never leave you safety up to luck, learn to manage it because after all your luck just might run out.  Having you understand the mental component is a very important element in CORE training

The mind in violence will always take up the first response 

in how you will deal with the situation.  Generally this takes the form of past experience and how you dealt with the last incident. You’ve heard of it, Fight or Flight, and all its baggage.  As I mentioned, experiencing violence firsthand and the ensuing mental rush associated with these incidents, that’s something we’ll call ‘the untrained terrible risk trio’ that leads to the instantaneous physical and physiological changes that occur within your body as part of your fear reaction.  Bad shit if you don’t understand it turning you into the “deer caught in the headlights”. You’re not going to get the answer to your questions on FEAR by reading a book or watching a video. On CORE participants address Fear the way it has to be done, both physically and mentally.  And this is why we have the questions at the end regarding FEAR.  Because those who complete CORE have learned something about themselves not just physically, but mentally and a lot of that emotional stuff is about fear and their own past reactions to it, and thus why it’s important mastering it.  That most important first step within them is on CORE, experiencing the negative baggage their own brain has picked up along the way on the subject of fear, and seeing how they will deal with it.  We’ve spent 4-days at CORE trying to clear those ‘negative mental bundles’. It’s natural to ask more questions on how to keep that new mindful mind/body connection flowing and understanding fears reaction and seeing the grip it’s had on them.  After all CORE is not just about learning fighting skills it’s about developing within your spirit that certain something I call ‘assertive confidence’ to deal with any situation, not just violence but life itself.  After all using fighting skills is just a by product of having found the assertive confidence to use all your abilities and that’s a true CORE value participants felt by this course addressing FEAR!

How do you handle FEAR?  The answer is at CORE 4-days that just might rock your world!