How the adrenal rush effects self defense!

It has been my experience over the last 36 years of studying and teaching the martial arts that the number one factor in effective self defense is dealing with the adrenal rush which is the natural result of aggression.

This 'adrenaline dump' as we call it, can have devastating effects on our minds and body. For self defense to be effective in the real world, this single factor (the adrenal rush) must be addressed and recognized for what it is and what it does.

One of the major flaws of most traditional training is that the entire concept of the adrenal rush is either ignored or not even addressed. My experience has shown that most traditional instructors aren't even aware of the effects of adrenaline in the self defense arena. I was there too, not many years ago.

While there is a number of excellent self defense programs in the United States that teach adrenal stress response training, many instructors choose not experience the training themselves. This may be due to the fear that they might put themselves in what they may consider a vulnerable position because of the unknown factor. Master instructors aren't comfortable, for the most part, in allowing outside instructors into their school.

Just a few of the devasting effects of the adrenal rush in self defense situations are tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, loss of fine motor coordination, body shakes as well as a limited amount of cognitive thinking ability. If we just consider two factors, the loss of fine motor skills and the limited ability to think clearly, I think you can see you easily get yourself in trouble if they are not addressed.

During my thirty six plus years of training I have continued to consider the stress of a real street attack in my self defense program. While we thought we were keeping things pretty simple, it wasn't until I had the opportunity to attend an adrenal stress response seminar that I could fully appreciate how ineffective most traditional techniques are.

Since that time I have gotten involved with this technology to where we teach it in seminar format in our school. Additionally I have become Vice President of the International F.A.S.T. Defense Association. My partner and the group's president, Bill Kipp is the cheif instructor for F.A.S.T. Defense as well as the Rocky Mountain Combat Applications Training Center in Colorado.

Street Self Defense 101, a two video set has been produced with the concepts of adrenal stress response training in mind. The videos are a result of years of streamlining and focusing our training to simple, direct and effective techniques that work on the street. You can read more about this at Street Self Defense.