Stress Control
Acting:
Role Playing for Real

Enhance stress control by acting - in both senses of the word: projecting a fierce image then making it real.

The Face as Mask
Angry body language shows a scowling, piercing glare, lips either tightened or curled back to bare one's teeth, and hands raised to the front. This intimidating posture empowers you while discouraging a predator. (The only downside is that it spoils the crucial surprise element of a Sucker Punch).

In contrast, fearful body language shows stress with wide, blinking eyes, raised eyebrows, and an open mouth that gasps or maybe screams as the tone of voice rises higher. This is what a predator hopes for in his prey. (And this is what makes him ripe for a surprise attack Sucker Punch).

You are your actions. An attacker has no way of judging you except by your actions. If you ferociously attack him, he has no choice but to fear you. Faking bravery is bravery. Act fierce. Fake it if you must and you’ll actually become what you pretend to be – as in the maxim, “Begin to act like the person you want to be and you will become that person.”

“Psyching” is to prepare psychologically for a high-stress challenge. The best way is through “mental rehearsal.” That is, in your mind’s eye seeing yourself performing successfully despite stress. Visualize success: conceive it, believe it, achieve it.

Psychological stress research shows that people live up to their own expectations or self-images and actually become what they project to themselves. That’s why elite athletes, high-level performing artists, and the U.S. military commonly use visualization techniques in full-stress training applications.

Many studies conclude that groups of subjects using only mental rehearsal improve more effectively than groups using only physical rehearsal. The groups improving most of all, of course, are those that combine both mental and physical rehearsal of stressful situations.

”Shadowboxing” combines physical and mental rehearsal as a boxer “fights” an imaginary opponent. Many martial artists call it “Kata.” Elite athletes and performing artists commonly use various forms of mental rehearsal under stress. They imagine themselves successfully shooting baskets, dodging opponents, hitting a pitch, skiing slalom, kicking field goals, throwing accurately, reacting quickly and artfully, dancing gracefully – in all, rising to the occasion and controlling stress - giving your mind a successful memory to emulate.

Most impressive is the military’s use of mental rehearsal for high-stress, crucial training. For instance, one of the most demanding of all human endeavors is to land a skittish warplane at speeds nearly 250 mph in the dark of night, trying to catch its tail-hook on a braking cable on the pitching, rolling deck of an aircraft carrier. Navy pilots regularly use mental rehearsal as a vital part of their stress preparation.

Sanford Strong, author of Strong on Defense, used mental stress rehearsal to train California police SWAT teams. He and Chicago detective J.J. Bittenbinder, author of Tough Target, both advocate mental rehearsal by imagining yourself successfully surviving high-stress crimes while listening to or reading the daily news.

When people become angry or frightened, they stop thinking with their forebrain (the mind of a human being) and start thinking with their midbrain (which is indistinguishable from the mind of an animal). They are literally "scared out of their wits." The only thing that has any hope of influencing the midbrain is also the only thing that influences a dog: classical and operant conditioning. ... That is what is used when training firemen and airline pilots to react to emergency situations: precise replication of the stress stimulus that they will face (in a flame house or a flight simulator) and then extensive shaping of the desired response to that stimulus. Stimulus-response, stimulus-response, stimulus-response. In the crisis, when these individuals are scared out of their wits, they react properly and they save lives.
Excerpted from On Killing by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman

Extensive training is rare for guerilla military combatants or for the ordinary victim fighting a criminal, yet they nevertheless often succeed. To enhance your performance, practice the following – the more the better:

Visualizing Success - Flipping the Switch from Fear to Fury
• Sit quietly with your eyes closed. Recall a time when someone threatened you with physical harm and you felt helplessly frozen with fear. Feel your heartbeat. Recreate the feelings as accurately as possible.
• Now accurately recall a time when you were fighting mad and wanted to furiously smash something.
• After you’ve gotten a good grip on both the fear and the fury, alternate back and forth between the two until it becomes like flipping a light switch on and off.
• Now imagine someone attacking you or a loved one. Imagine yourself hitting and kicking the attacker. Imagine yourself victorious. See yourself winning – always winning – even if you’re injured. In the stress of a crisis, your mind will act according to the blueprint you’ve programmed into it while vividly imagining yourself victorious. Your mind must have a goal. How you prepare is how you will act in a crisis.
• Stand up and strike the air (shadowbox). Practice both with and without a large mirror. Imagine the attacker as your target. See, hear, and feel all the events as realistically as possible. Angrily shout "NO!” with each strike. Feel your adrenaline’s power and channel it into each strike.
• Channel your anger into powerful strikes by using Cushion Practice (with a partner holding the cushion). Feel the impact grow stronger. Aimed at extremely vulnerable areas on the attacker, your attack will indeed hurt him. You are more capable than you may realize.
• Vividly imagine yourself successfully fighting then escaping high-stress dangers. Begin to act like the person you want to be and you will become that person. In all: see it, feel it, be it.

Combine this mental rehearsal with physical rehearsal (as realistically as possible) for optimal stress preparation. For further conditioning, see Choosing a Self-Defense Class.

Voice Power
Don't scream – it shows helpless fear (though it may attract help - if a Good Samaritan can hear you). Instead, just as martial artists “yell” when striking targets, yell “NO!” with each strike, because yelling:
• startles an opponent – even a big thug,
• breaks the spell of your surprise,
• forces you to breathe deeply and avoid shallow panting, thereby forestalling fatigue,
• focuses your energy and physiologically empowers your strike,
• allows you to act and feel ferocious, thus become ferocious.

“No” is the most powerful word on this planet. It evolved from the prehistoric growl into the same meaning in many languages, with only minimal variations such as "Nyet" in Russian, "Nien" in German, and "Non" in French. It’s primal, visceral, and empowers you to control fear and stress. It’s quick and leaves no doubt about your feelings. To empower yourself, grunt “NO” in an angry, commanding, animal-like bellow with each strike - like the battle cry of warriors.

You may prefer a deep, growling “grunt” instead, as boxers do. Either way, deepen your voice and imitate an angry animal. Pay close attention the next time you see an animal get ferocious – snapping and snarling with mad-dog intensity – that is your role model. The ferocity alone instinctively causes an attacker to pause - a crucial moment allowing you to attack him.

Foul language helps you become more ferocious. Usually, tough talk is the only language a criminal understands (see Tough Talking in Outsmarting). Become enraged! Fake it if you must, the reality will follow.

Quickly shake your head “NO” from side to side to help clear your mind of panic. It’s an age-old boxing and martial arts technique that somehow, for reasons still unknown to medical science, breaks the physiological "fear cycle" in the brain. As an added bonus, it also makes you look crazy – thus intimidating – to your adversary.

What if the Attacker is Twice Your Size?
When a little cat can’t escape a big dog’s attack, she’ll attack the eyes – then escape. Yes, size and strength are important, but far more important is a lightning quick ferocity aimed at your attacker’s very fragile targets: eyes, throat, and testicles. If he’s twice your size, his testicles will be easy to reach.

Anyway, what other choice do you have? When someone’s trying to kill you, your best bet is to not whimper – but roar! Besides, fighting for your life fosters a crucial ferocity that may well make you triumphant. You can imitate the little cat described above or the little monkey described in Optimal Mindset. Use the extra strength and ferocity from your fear-induced adrenaline to make your fear become a weapon.

Stress Control gives you insights into your mind – as well as the stark realities of fighting for your life:
• Stress Control - Overview seizing courage for surviving a crisis.
• Fear Itself: the fine lines between fear, panic, and stress control.
• Willpower and hope: a crisis is hopeless only if you give up hope and the will to survive.
• Punched: absorbing and overcoming pain.
• Wounded: rising above injury.
• Courage: choosing to prevail.
• Acting (YOU’RE NOW ON THIS PAGE): role-playing for real.
• Optimal Mindset: psyching yourself to fight for your life.
• Recap of Stress Control.
• Pepper Spray & Devices
• Fighting Options

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