Are You The Captain Of Your Ship?

This blog is the second chapter on SPEED in my book Meditations of a Modern Warrior, for
this blog entry the title has been changed and some of the content has been rewritten so it
makes sense as a stand alone article.

I am a big fan of progressive training systems which give us new ways of looking at old problems. not only do they bring new context to light but they also get us to question what we as instructors and students have been taught and continue to be taught.

One of the newish concepts to come on the scene in the last few years is the 'Flinch'. Since this concept appeared a number of systems have taken it on, renamed it, repositioned certain appendages of the (technique) for want of a better word and has sort of become a buzz word in
the self-protection arena.

This though is why I do not teach the flinch.

* It is a natural Reaction (remember ther are no reactions in combat) only responses.
* It is defensive in nature.
* It is taught as a presumption to being surprised.

Now I know there are a lot of unaware civilians out there but damn, there must be a lot of unaware cops and military personnel out there as well, because when I have attended seminars where this has been taught or have watched it being taught it is always at close (closer than handshake) range. Way too close to be standing near someone in a confrontational environment, cop, military or civilian. Even if due to your work you need to get hands on an individual, you need not be closer than handshake range until you decide to close the gap.

So here is some food for thought.

I want you to consider your body as a ship with your conscious mind as the captain. The conscious mind only takes up to 20% of the power of the mind, but the conscious mind is the captain of the ship on the bridge, the decision maker.

I am not going to name all of the parts of the brain and all the functions they oversee, they are important but I want to keep thing simple here.

The rest of the mind is made up of other officers of the ship.

Chief Engineer = heart rate, respiration etc.
Radar = movement, co-ordination, senses etc.

There are lots of other officers of the ship with specific jobs that keep the ship running smoothly without interference from the captain. These parts of the brain are called the sub - conscious or none - conscious mind.
The captain (conscious mind) knows how the other parts of the ship work on a basic level but cannot himself monitor and run each specific station.
The captain (you) cannot choose to stop your digestion system, you cannot choose how many
cells are destroyed and made every day. You do not control your body temperature and this is
where the ship fails with the flinch. The captain is not making the decision.

The argument for the flinch is that as a natural reaction to a perceived threat it cuts out the decision making process so reactions are faster.

None conscious impulses travel up to 1000,000mph depending on the length of neural pathways. impulses in the conscious mind travel at around 120mph. Look at it this way, radar pick up an unspecified incoming threat and they inform the engine room. The chief engineer decides to put
the ship into full reverse without telling the captain (flinch), which is what happens in the above paragraph.

The problem with this is that radar and the engine room cannot see the specific threat. The captain, when informed can look in the direction of the perceived threat and make a corresponding correct answer.

1000.000mph in the wrong direction or 120mph in the right direction.I don't know about you but I don't want my chief engineer making decisions for me.

Look at these different types of flinches:
hands raised
ducking
freezing, hands down by sides
blinking
head turning
jumping
crouching

you may do one or more of these and they are hard wired into your system. You cannot change
the way you flinch and you will flinch the exact way for every perceived threat that comes your
way.

You can override the flinch through training, thereby making your response times faster.Realistic training conditions, use of enemy's personal cues,anticipation of action, zoning in and changing your attention focus all help in your decision making becoming faster and positive. This is regardless of simple choice responses, multiple choice responses, stress, fatigue and anxiety
when deciding on the correct choice to be made.

There are lots of different flinch reactions and the one thing everyone has in common when flinching is that you are going to get hit, the problem with the flinch is that you just don't know
where that will be. Put a weapon into the mix and you compound the problem even more.

You need a gap, a pause for however short a space of time to make the best judgement you possibly can, and even so we are still talking about milliseconds.

With a conscious decision you still know you are going to get hit, the difference is that now
you decide where you will get hit to minimise the trauma and keep you in the game. And if
your action time is on the ball you may just escape unscathed.

So as the captain of your ship how is your decision making process, your action time, when
the klaxon wails and everyone is rushing to combat stations, are you in control?

Stay Dangerous

Rock