One area that I consistently get questions about are the effects of the adrenal rush and how to overcome them. The truth is most people (if not everyone) cannot completely overcome the effects of stress related adrenaline. The adrenal dump as we like to call it is a natural effect that has been with us since primitive man. It is in our genes because it serves an important purpose. Thousands (if not millions, depending on your religious beliefs) of years ago primitive man needed the benefits of adrenaline when he needed to either fight for his life or run for it (the well known, fight or flight syndrome). So what is adrenaline and what does it do to us? Adrenaline is a hormone and neurotransmitter. It's purpose is to physically prepare man for fight or flight. When we are physically attacked or even mentally stressed by someone being aggressive this hormone is dumped into our bloodstream by the adrenal glands. Immediately our heartbeat starts to climb. Blood rushes to the larger muscles of the body and away from the extremities and brain. These muscles become extremely strong (we have all heard the stories of a mother lifting an automobile off her child, the obvious effects of an adrenal dump). You may feel weak. Your body may shake. Your throat may become very dry. It may be hard to speak normally. You may even feel sick to your stomach. You will most likely lose most of your fine motor coordination. This is partially due to the fact that your blood flow to the fingers and hands may be restricted. At first your sight may be extremely sharp. But soon it tunnels in on one area, like looking through a tube. The higher your heartbeat becomes, the less likely it will be that your cognitive thinking will be clear. You may start to lose the capacity to hear. The ability to remember things is hampered. Time seems to be suspended. If your heartbeat goes too high, you may completely freeze like a deer in the headlights. So do these effects hamper your ability to defend yourself or do they actually allow you to be more effective? The answer is... it depends. And that's the rest of the story which will be told in part II of this article. Check your inbox within the next several days. While I would like to get you some samples of the very effective striking he teaches I haven't been able to get these as of yet. However the sample clips I have cover some close in stand up grappling skills that are so important. Again I review a lot of this stuff and most of it isn't worth a hill of beans. This one is worth every penny. Take a look at the clips at:
Dealing with the Effects of the Adrenal Rush --Part II In part I of this article we spoke of the various effects of the stress related adrenal rush or the 'Adrenal Dump' as we like to call it. We said that it can and does cause the body to shake, dry mouth, the inability to speak clearly, tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, feeling sick to your stomach, losing some (or most) of your cognitive (reasoning) thinking. We also said it is a primitive condition which is part of our evolution to help us in the fight or flight syndrome. So, it this a hindrance or a benefit? It depends... For someone who is totally untrained or has only traditional martial arts training it is usually a huge hindrance in their ability to defend themselves. This is because when the adrenal dump happens it is unexpected or at least unfamiliar. What many traditionalists fail to realize is that: 1. most of the techniques they have been studying and practicing are not going to work under duress. 2. when the adrenal dump happens they will not be able to reach into their bag of 101 techniques and pull one out to use like they do in the dojo (dojang). 3. they will not understand what is happening to them as they cannot respond to the threat at hand. 4. the effects of adrenaline will be unfamiliar and they will most likely not be able to deal with them effectively. 5. many techniques they have learned require more steps than can be mentalized under adrenal stress. So, what can you do... I think the first step is to learn and practice a system like mine where the techniques have been refined and tested under duress. What they practice ought to be simple, yet direct and effective. It should have some sort of point of reference training where once the initial threat is dealt with, the follow up techniques are similar or the same as many or most of the other defenses. This minimizes what must be remembered and recalled under duress. Practice slowly without contact. Even slow motion training is valuable because under adrenaline everything speeds up and is shortened. Slow motions with exaggerated motion helps wire in the correct form for full speed application under adrenal stress. Practice the basic techniques on some sort of pads. These are available at most martial arts supply companies. After practicing this type of system the next step is to get some adrenal stress response training. This can be done at a F.A.S.T. Defense seminar or similar padded assailant training that uses the principles of eliciting and adrenal rush under a controlled system. If you don't have the ability to attend this type of training then get a copy of our Anti Freeze Basics DVD. In it Bill Kipp, adrenal stress trainer extraodinaire explains the basics and give a series of simple drills that anyone can do and practice just about anywhere. These type of classes or private trainings will give you the experience to feel and function under the adrenal rush so you can know what to expect and learn how to defend yourself under stress. This will also help you use the adrenaline as your ally and not your enemy. So to re-cap I believe dealing with adrenaline is a two step process. First learning simple, but effective techniques that have some sort of point of reference to minimize what you need to remember. Then practice these techniques either on a friend or spouse (there is no need to make contact when practicing on people). Practice them full power on pads or a heavy bag as well. Then either get to an adrenal stress seminar or pickup our Anti-Freeze Basics DVD and set up your own stress drills. This type of training will help you adjust to the adrenal rush and get your familiar with functioning under high stress levels.
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