You have to be quick. You have to be strong. You have to be spontaneous.
That’s the advice you see day-in and day-out for self-defense.
You can master all your physical strength. You can master your skills to be quick and fast. And, hit in the face of your opponent.
Yet. If you don’t master the skill of presence and mindfulness. You might crash.
You’ve practiced enough about how you’d kick the opponent and punch them and kick another one.
Yet, when it comes to defending yourself in a practical setting (God forbid). You’d panic and all your senses might start to go in the flight response.
When a human. Or any living creature sees and senses danger their body and mind both react to it.
Ever seen how a cat increases her size when she’s under attack?
It’s her fright response that makes her do that, to scare off the predator.
Humans do this too.
Ever fallen off a bicycle?
Your hand reached for the ground before your head could. That was the limbic response of your mind to protect yourself.
Similarly, When you’re under attack when the danger is too close you panic. Unless you’ve trained religiously, the brain is not prepared about what to do next.
And, sometimes you get late in responding. When you’re ever under an attack, one second of delay could cause you a massive loss.
Training your mind to stay present and mindful at all times helps you stay calm in such highly stressful events.
Navy SEAL training, one of the most deadly training throughout the globe, has a huge emphasis on mental toughness.
They’re out in extreme conditions of stress and frustration so that when they are under attack they don’t panic.
How do you train your mind?
Practice the art of being present at all times. You could do this by meditating regularly. Meditation trains your mind to give a relaxation response. Moreover, you have more control over your thoughts and actions.