Rising to the occasion

One modern myth is the people will rise to the occasion when in a physical confrontation. And inside this you'll also to the correct "technique" and say the correct things!

Let’s take a step back and look into what happens when a physical confrontation starts. Without looking into the different types of confrontations and in what context they are, the following stands true for any kind of confrontation:

• Getting aware that a confrontation is starting or has started
• A “this isn’t happening to me”/holey shit / flinch-startle moment
• Primal responses kick into action
• The body prepares/starts a fight-flight-submit or posture response
• Adrenalin kicks in and only gross motor skills are easily accessed.
• Visual and audio perception cannot be relied upon.
• Mental thought processor “tunnel” towards the threat, perceiving and focusing on everything that could be/is a threat

There are situations were some of the processes get bypassed, and they will be handled on later articles.

A physical confrontation is a person to person experience, and since most people will try every possible means to avoid this, a denial of a confrontation will get you ambushed by your own bodily reaction to what is happening. Putting yourself into a situation that it seems like a surprise that it really did happen, and even in some cases were some people turn their backs towards the threat.

Not acknowledging the fact that you are already in a confrontation is missing out on valuable time and possibilities.

Even if you are aware of the confrontation your body will respond with your primary response type, narrowing it down to fight-flight-posture-submit response. Utterly narrowing your possibilities you will only have gross motor skills available and pre-practiced /defined/blueprint skills. Not to mention you might be under influence of alcohol or might have your arms full of groceries; the scenario.

Getting back to “rising to the occasion”, you’ll be doing something but would it be what you expect? Would you be able to react In a confrontation with a person bent on harming you or one of your loved ones? How do you know you will rise to the occasion, without even knowing how you will react.

It’s like driving a car and everyday you drive the same way. One day it rains, the other has a snow storm, and even if you have taken into consideration the weather you could find yourself skidding out of the road. If you have tried driving on a driving course were the roads were slippery, you would prepare your self emotionally and physically for what happens, and by that increasing your chances for you to get the car back on track.

But it really boils done to: do you want to be prepared or take your chances?