Archives August 2021

Mental Toughnes

   Think you’re tough? Think you’ve got what it takes to be a street warrior? While you may the physical strength and skills to match, mental toughness can often be something that eludes many individuals.

Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to:

1) Generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, and lifestyle) that sport places on a performer; and,

2) Specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure.

            Can you take insults without having to throw them back? Can you accept being shoved in the back without needing to turn around and pummel the guy who did it? Can you stand by and watch someone else save the day, steal the glory, or rescue the girl?

            Mental toughness is one of the most difficult psychological aspects to develop in any type of warfare, and being mentally tough doesn’t guarantee that things won’t get to you once in a while. You still are human and your emotions are what keep you from becoming an unfeeling machine.

            There are going to be losses. That is a guarantee. It might not happen today, or tomorrow, but eventually you’re going to experience loss. Everyone loses at something at one time or another. How you respond to those losses is what defines your mental toughness.

Self-Defense is very dangerous and takes on so much responsibility. Once you have crossed over the line of self-defense because you have no other choice, you can cause long term damage. This illustration shows you the primary targets to attack and to cause injury and major pain for the quickest reaction to stop the attack fast.

Remember get some training on how to attack these targets effectively.

Our lives are full of old antiquated beliefs that are not serving us in our own best interest. We have witnessed this over and over through history.

The world is not flat, the earth does rotate, muscle does not turn to fat and the list goes on and on.

I bring this up because some time ago I was invited to give a lecture to a small group on the subject of women’s self-defense. I jumped at the chance to do so, because self-defense is a subject that I have a great passion about sharing with others.

The lecture/workshop went very well and I got some very positive feedback from all the people there.

When I do these lectures/workshops I always have a person ask about or tell me a secret they know about in the martial arts. It never fails…and I always know what they are going to tell me.

This night was no different from the rest. A small older lady walked over to me and said, “I know 3 ways to kill a man.” I said, you do? I knew what she had on her mind, but I just had to ask. Tell me….what is one of those ways? She told me that she had went through some training years ago and the number one way to kill a man is by hitting him square in the face and driving the bone of his nose through his brain. She even demonstrated it for me.

I knew it! I knew she was going to say that….it never ever fails!

That is an old Hollywood bit from an old, old movie. It is physically impossible to do that. Your nose has no bone to speak of and think about how far away your brain is from your nose.

Now some dumbass trained her to believe that and probably took her money too. You see it all the time with ads on social media. Like, “Learn Navy Seal Fight Secrets” “Even an 80 year old woman can handle the most seasoned Martial Artist”

Until she spoke to me she was walking around thinking she could kill a man and could use that if she needed to. Now a good shot to the nose is a great shot and may give her time to retreat and remove herself but will not kill a man.

There are no “Navy Seal Secrets” may be some technique or principle the average person has never seen, but it is definitely no secret I promise.

These dudes don’t care about the truth or the well being of people only separating you from your money. Not to say a great teacher, coach or instructor shouldn’t make money for the knowledge they share but, at very least know who you are learning from and get some references and ask questions first.

Ed Parker, the Father of American Kenpo Karate once said, “He who hesitates, meditates in a horizontal position.” You must move!

The same is true in your personal life too. Most people talk a good game about all the dreams and plans they intend but never go into action. These are the very people that will point out your failures and mistakes. They never worry about failure because they never attempt to do much in life.