Yeah MJS I think the before and afters are covered in a lot of schools. One big thing about training I think is sound. When your practicing your partner should be trying to simulate to the best of his ability the reaction, your gonna get. So, if your practicing an eye gouge, and one that is designed to remove the eye from it's socket. At some point your partner should be screaming at the top of his lungs like you are really doing it. That will desensitize you to some of that, "Hey, pal you alright?". It should be that way with every technique. I know that before I lost my job, I was attending to-shindo, and sometimes I'd get pretty loud as an attacker in the training. You know, "I'll kill you!!!!" and wrap my hands around there neck. I try to be as realistic as possible. Try to give that feel of violence to my partner. The problem is if your not used to that, it's a very new experience to someone that has never been in a fight, or violent situation. I'd try to make the proper types of noises that I would think you would make having those techniques done to me if it was in real life. The more sensory out put that you can give, and get in training, it's gonna make you a whole lot better. The reactions are your gauge for success, if your not getting that reaction in a real situation, you didn't do it right, or you didn't hit, so you've got to do it again, but do it right. you know what I mean?
As far as some of the other posters and the de-escalation, yeah that is an important part of training. There is another side to that coin though also, sometimes it's not better to get into your hands up read position and try to create some space and talk this guy down. Sometimes it's not going to work. So you have to be the first one to move. Action is faster than reaction, once you put your mindset into the self-defense mode, your reactionary. So that de-escalation, could actually in some situations put you in a very bad spot. You have to listen to that gut instinct, or for women your womans intuition. Because there are times when it's better to just get it on. I think some schools and instructors make to big of a deal about de-escalation. That to much emphasis on it, and not enough on, "Look if you know in your heart, this guy just isn't going to let you walk away, then you have to do what you feel is necassary and it may mean turning the tables and becoming the aggressor in some situations. It may mean that you don't wait for him to throw the first punch, you may have to make sure that you go home in one piece." Ok, those gut feelings are more accurate than some people want to give it credit for. I listen to my gut feeling almost every single time. I don't question it. I've been out with my girlfriend at the highschool parking lot just hanging out in my truck, and got that gut feeling. I started the truck, and split just as fast as I could. Probably nothing would have happened, but I don't care. I wasn't there to find out if something was going to either. She got the same feeling right after I told her, "Were LEAVING!" So, you know, that has to be addressed also.
Another thing is the mindset, like what BlackLion is wanting to talk about. I think the only way to describe is, if you stepped outside your door and saw a young kid being mauled by a big dog. You wouldn't even think twice about blowing that dogs head clean off with a gun, if that's what you needed to do to save that kids life. WHy? Because we have been conditioned to believe that human life is worth more than an animals. Now, take it one step further, it's your dog, that is mauling that young kid. I know for myself, it's the same story, dead dog. I can't let that dog hurt that kid. Now, your typical a-social person, is coming out of there house and see there dog, mauling this kid, he might shoot the dog, but it's going to bother him more, that he killed his dog, than if that kid had died. He may not even shoot the damned dog. So he doesn't value human life. He actually thinks that your life is worth less than a dogs. Now, the mauling dog, is the attacker, and your the kid. You really give a rats patooti if you kill that rabid dog? Probably not. You aren't even gonna lose sleep over it. ANd that is the mindset of these people in the correctional facilities, that kill so easily. They don't care about your life, it's worth nothing. So, when confronted by one of these individuals you need to be just as callous in your attack on that person. See them as a dog, and you won't want to ask, "Hey pal you alright?" Well, I hope this all came out the way that I intended it too. LOL!
