Our intuitive senses and instinctive reactions have been dulled by modern conveniences and “fingertip” technology. Society is also more “civilized”, governed by laws and enforced by penalties if you break them. The combination of the above structure means our awareness and our responsiveness do not have to be as keen as life once demanded.
This modern way of life also gives access to true and reliable sources that tell us this: despite all the polish and structure, ours is still a society fraught with violence. There are more atrocious and violent crimes than ever before. I do not have to describe in detail the violence around us – just tune into your local news channel. Also, less violent crimes have grown exponentially. So, it just makes sense to be proactive when it comes to your own personal protection.
Our ancestors, the caveman, had a “no choice” type of lifestyle. If he did not hunt, he did not eat, and consequently he would perish. If he did not build or find shelter he would die of the elements. And if he did not protect himself from marauders, he would die at their hands.
Fortunately for us, our caveman ancestors had the instinct to survive and were disciplined in doing so. They were proactive in their daily lifestyle – they thought in advance. Just to stay alive, daily rituals had to be performed. For example, the fire had to be prepared and stoked before the meal was cooked. This same fire had to be kept going throughout the night to keep the wild animals at bay and so they could stay warm on nights that were cold. If the caveman was going to go hunt, he would bring his club wielding buddies along for protection and to better his chance in catching the clan’s meal. This strong will to survive and their daily rituals led them to create a system that worked.
As we know from our caveman ancestor’s example, there is much to be said about a proactive attitude, instinct, discipline, and system. And we can learn from them in our self-defense journey.
When choosing a self-defense system, the most important things you can bring to the table is attitude and discipline. Providing a system falls to your instructor and it is his responsibility to introduce to you a system that you can get behind and one that you can believe in. Instinct (inner-caveman) is automatically provided; it just has to be woken up. Your ancestors have absolutely passed this along to you.
Your belief system is built upon your attitude and mindset when starting your training. Hopefully you have done the appropriate vetting and have found a system you are comfortable with. Now it is your instructor’s responsibility to instill confidence in you by way of a strong principles and relevant techniques.
I highly recommend that in conjunction with your self-defense journey you pursue aggressive physical training and execute mock scenarios that enable you to practice physical, behavioral, and psychological training. You may ask, “Why do I need mock scenarios that include behavioral and psychological training?” This training places you in the moment of an attack. It is as close as you can go to being in the real thing, which will allow you to feel the hormone dump that hits like a hammer when confronted by an attacker and will increase your odds of surviving.
A good training week will consist of two to four days during which you receive a “balanced diet” of all types of the above mentioned training. When you enlist into this type of training you are tapping into that survivor instinct the inner-caveman.
Your ancestor would do whatever it took to protect himself or his family. He was systematic, disciplined, and he was vicious. This caveman is lurking inside of you.
