How are Your Instincts?
Look in the dictionary and you would see that intuition is described as “the power of attaining direct knowledge without evident rational thought.” It can be seen as having a “hunch”, or a “feeling.” Intuition, in my opinion, is directly linked to instincts.
Some people say that technology, as wonderful as it is, has undermined humans’ ability to connect to their inner direction; to their instincts and intuition. In ancient times when martial arts techniques were first being formulated, intuition was a strong trait in most people. It therefore played a large role in the martial arts techniques that were coming into existence at the time.
Today, people learn martial arts techniques; but completely lack the training that extends into instinctive behaviors and hence warnings that danger is looming near. We train in self defense, but never connect that training to the gut feeling that occurs when something just doesn’t feel right. People may experience the feeling that something is amiss; but they will likely dismiss the feeling if there is no logical explanation for it. Should an incident then occur, this same person will state “I knew something wasn’t right!”
On the opposite side of intuition is denial. While it may seem natural to explain away a gut feeling of danger, doing so will only work against you. For instance, a woman who in on a date may have a gut feeling of uncertainty. Instead of acting on her gut; she may try to logically explain why she feels the way she does. When she cannot find a logical explanation, she may see the date through and find herself in a very dangerous situation.
When it comes to self defense, it doesn’t matter whether you learn from a class or from a self defense video; you will not typically receive explicit training in terms of intuition. Even with my self defense video program, the focus is on actual technique. Why? Because this is what people need. However, because I know of no program teaching intuitive self defense, I am writing about it here and reminding you of just how important intuition is when you want to stay safe.
To begin honing your intuition skills, all you need to do is start to pay attention. I have said this before and I’m sure there are still tons of people walking through parking lots talking or texting on their cell phones. Awareness is an absolute must for those who take their personal safety seriously. When you gain awareness, your intuition will be readily accessible. When those little hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you need to listen and make sure you take extra steps to look and listen to everything going on around you. Do this and stay safe.
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There is much of this that is the truth. Aware of your surroundings and the people you might encounter in certain communities is very important. Though not know too much about this martial arts instruction, but ten years in the military five in the Marines and my last five in the Army which saw my last two years in the DC area at Walter Reed after being wounded in an IED attack in 2004. Had saved myself quite a bit of trouble when having to walk in certain areas in DC with no less wearing BDU’s which saw one person trying to creep up on me. Viewing windows of shops I was passing and windows in cars did a lot to know who was rolling up on me. Of course, when I start walking very slowly and the person behind does not close the gap, this should let many know they are targeted. As I slowed down even more, right when the assailant was going to close to attack from behind, I spun and reversed direction and accidentally “knocked” him down as I closed much quicker not allowing this person to close space but did this myself. He intended to rob me in broad daylight about 3 PM on a weekday. A part of this does not even go into wqhen followed but also opposed. Whatever the person told me, I disagreed whether he told me I was stupid, an idiot, clumsy, or whatever he said-I just repeated what he said and agreed with him. The point was he was lookjing for an exuse to start an attack whether insulting me or something else, learning to agree is at times very crucial as you are taking power by agreeing. Can you really attack if he calls you a jerk and you agree? By the time he realized I was controlling the situation not allowing him to attack, by the time he gave up and decided to attack anyways, he did not see the police creep up on him and so when he attacked-it never worked out to well for him.
For me, here is the point related to this website/service. sometimes form a military background, it is easy to assimilate a lot sometimes not easy to describe intuition or a gut feeling. Ten years in two different combat services is not the normal experiances for a large part of the population. This is why this is good to understnad not just learning moves but full spectrum awareness and how to diffuse volatile situations when learning to fight. For the record, have not done anything with this website or anyone affiliated with this program but do see the value in honing those intuition skills.
David Emme