Fear: Your Ally In Any Dangerous Situation

© COPYRIGHT 2010 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – May 2010 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

American Combato
Seattle Combatives


WE constantly remind our students that fearlessness would be, if they could somehow miraculously achieve it, one of the most serious impediments to defending themselves that could exist.

The commercializers (the "fear no man", the "we’re teaching what the government doesn’t want you to know", and the "learn the ancient and unbeatable secrets of the martial arts" crowd) make fortunes by pushing their wares as being the road to fearlessness in the face of danger, or to that state of mind in which the individual is silent and fearless when confronted by the threat of injury or death at the hands of a troublemaker, etc. Crap. Misleading, untrue, foolish, mind-numbing, absolutely absurd N-O-N-S-E-N-S-E.

The dead, the insane, and — sometimes — the wildly arrogant, are “fearless”. If death, insanity, and wild arrogance is what you are seeking, then perhaps you would be well advised to pursue some of the popular garbage that is being presented "out there" and, also, on the internet. Surely you will indeed find yourself led to that toward which you aspire. You won’t be able to defend yourself in the real world, but you will dissolve your mind in a fantasy that will allow you to enjoy living in a fool’s paradise — until that awful moment arrives when you are called upon to use that which you have been taught, for real!

The truth is that fear must be understood, appreciated, and mastered. It is an energizer par excellence. When you are sufficiently fearful you can move with greater speed, hit with greater power, focus with more intense concentration, and withstand 20 times the trauma that you otherwise would be able to withstand (in a calm or "fearless" state).

Fear can turn you into a dangerous, ferocious, focused wrecking machine — a person who is oblivious to anything save the laser-like intensity of a mind fixed on the destruction of whomever may be posing a threat to yourself, or to those you love.

The initial feeling that accompanies the onset of fear is unpleasant. It is also, unfortunately, experienced by many males to be shameful. This is unfortunate, since there is in fact nothing whatever to be ashamed of when you feel fear. If anything, fear is a confirmation of your intelligence. Being intelligent, the realization that danger may strike makes you fearful — as it should.

Fearlessness would be the reaction of an infant in a crib if you leveled a handgun at his head. He might even giggle and want to play with the gun. Point a loaded handgun at the head of anyone who had a mature brain contained within it, and he would experience fear.

Nature provides, in that reaction of your organism which we refer to as "fear", an instantaneous “warmup” as it were, readying you for action. You cannot take 30 minutes to limber up when you realize that some piece of gutter manure is about to attack you. And you don‟t have to. Fear instantly jars you into a state of readiness to ACT. And you can act with highly intensified efficiency when you are afraid.

Think about this:

If you go to an office job every day you might wake up to an alarm clock early in the morning. Notice that you normally take a long time to really "wake up" and function at peak efficiency? You’re up at six and by around ten in the morning you’re fully alert and functioning at normal productive efficiency.

Now imagine that you are sound asleep, and it is two in the morning. A window breaks in your house! You snap out of sleep and jump up — awake, alert, ready. You are scared! Nature has built into you the capacity to instantly "ready" your mind and your muscles when a sudden emergency strikes. That‟s fear. And that‟s a blessing. It is the last thing you want to “get rid of” if you aspire to a functional capacity with practical self-defense skills!

Punks, bullies, troublemakers, and assorted other sewer scum often approach their intended victims feeling NO FEAR AT ALL. Why? Because these bacteria carefully calculate their evil acts, and they select as their targets those whom they are sure in their own minds will be easy victims to torment. THERE YOU HAVE ONE OF THE GREATEST ADVANTAGES IMAGINABLE, IF ONLY YOU WILL REALIZE AND APPRECIATE IT!

Mr. Filth approaches you in a confident, fearless manner, because he has determined in his own mind that beating you (or whatever the hell it is his intention to do to you) will be "no sweat". You — being a civilized, nonviolent, and responsible human being — obviously experience an immediate fear of that which you perceive to be about to occur. GREAT! You now not only have all of the physical advantages that the fear response gives you (i.e. you will be infinitely faster, stronger, more resilient, and completely focused when and if you need to employ countermeasures to drop Mr. Filth), but you have the CRITICAL ELEMENT OF SURPRISE! Your would-be attacker not only is in an overconfident, relatively unconcerned state of mind, he has not the slightest awareness of that which you are capable of doing, will do, and the heightened state of strength, speed, and determination with which you will undertake to do it!

When you explode in Mr. Filth’s face and dish out the maiming attack that leaves him writhing on the sidewalk, or crumpled up in unconsciousness as he deserves, he will never know what hit him!

Still interested in becoming “fearless”?

We believe that one of the greatest benefits that we are able to offer those who come to us for training is — in addition to proven techniques that WORK — is that mental conditioning that is so necessary for handling real violence and prevailing against dangerous, determined human adversaries.

You can do it. And you can do it best when you’re afraid, and when you’ve learned how to use your fear energy!