FEAR

[Sam Spade]

Has "fear" gone the way of "gay"? Maybe so.

But I don't think the limbic system gives two hoots for how we want to label things. And if you're going into harms way, it benefits you to understand what's going on.

[Brent Yamamoto]

But I don't think the limbic system gives two hoots for how we want to label things. And if you're going into harms way, it benefits you to understand what's going on.

No, limbic system doesn’t care. And yes it helps to understand.

But ultimately it is our BEHAVIOR that drives the outcome. The human must drive the bus, not the monkey. And that involves the mind...which very much does depend on how we label things.

Not disagreeing, but clarifying.

[Greg Nichols]

Learning to breathe, think, and utilize an adrenaline dump is key. You have to have exposure to them before and a proper foundation of training so that you react instead of freeze. I don't just mean physical training but mental as well.

[Dorkface]

I only have a minute here so I haven't thought it totally out but as I read this it seems like this would be a top tier item for lack of a better term. Under it would be a myriad of things that have been covered individually. Things like war gaming things, training scenarios, thinking about things before they happen and deciding how you want to react, self image, confidence through training and the like. I could also be framed as "fear" and other things are a possible by product of a conflict and all these other processes mitigate it. Have things been presented in that context here before? Am I remembering something talked about already?

[Gabriel Suarez]

Has "fear" gone the way of "gay"? Maybe so.

But I don't think the limbic system gives two hoots for how we want to label things. And if you're going into harms way, it benefits you to understand what's going on.

It does but you must agree...words mean things to us at a deep level. If we are not careful with the words we use within ourselves, we will succuumb to what those words represent.

[psalms23dad]

If you want to look at it from a biblical perspective fear is not a gift. "God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love and a sound mind " take it as you want but fear was never part of the plan.

Like Gabe said, fear can be played against you. While I have a long way to go I'm at the point in my marital arts path that when sparring with someone who's afraid I can see it in their face and body language and I take every advantage of it when it's appropriate to do so.

Great post Gabe. Thanks for your time.

[Greg Nichols]

Fear is a reaction, mostly a trained response. The only fear a person is born with is the fear of high places (being dropped) and the fear of loud noises. the rest are learned behaviors based on life experience and education (how did your parents/friends/teachers). There is a reason that people with literally nothing to lose have no fear, you can't lose something you're already resigned to not having.

[Brent Yamamoto]

Fear is a reaction, mostly a trained response. The only fear a person is born with is the fear of high places (being dropped) and the fear of loud noises. the rest are learned behaviors based on life experience and education (how did your parents/friends/teachers). There is a reason that people with literally nothing to lose have no fear, you can't lose something you're already resigned to not having.

And if you have learned that fear, you must unlearn it.

The body will react involuntarily, doing what it does with adrenaline and so forth. But we are not animals that must be lead around by our hormones. We have minds that ultimately control our behavior...and I think it is our behavior, what we are going to DO that is the key here.

I don't think there is shame in being afraid...hell I'm afraid of lots of stuff. But to let that fear DICTATE what I DO is a different story.

Finally there is a link between the mind and body that none of us fully understands. And we don't have to get all sciency about it...we know that the body can impact our mind and vice versa. What we are ultimately saying is get your mind right. Use the right language to frame your world, your outlook. This will impact your behavior. It will allow you to better control what you DO.

In reactive circumstances the body reacts and the mind catches up. There is no time to be afraid.

In proactive circumstances, the mind must lead and then the body will follow.

[P.D.]

… The "fight/flight" adrenaline (epinephrine) dump, and all of it's physical manifestations is a PHYSIOLOGICAL/BIOLOGICAL response. We can welcome that also, and use it to our advantage. Or, at the very least, train to push through and function well even in the face of it.

FEAR is an EMOTIONAL response to the perceived danger that can get us killed as Gabe has pointed our many, many times (fear-aggression, etc...)

Fear is not automatic, Fear is not welcome, Fear is not to our advantage.

We must learn to vanquish Fear ...

Gabe and Brent are leading the way in helping us all develop the mindset to achieve this goal.

What the good doctor has said above is part and parcel to the warrior instinct.

We know that fear is an emotional response. We know that the emotional response called fear causes changes in the brain's chemistry and affects the thinking process. We also know that animals can detect - sense and smell - fear in other animals and us. Our body language is influenced when we are frightened, and that provides visual indicators to our state of mind (a perception of cowardice or easy prey by a predator) - and our intent a ("Run away!").

With all that, the psychology minded amongst us, self included, would say that one needs to understand what drives that emotion - what causes "this fear" - and then to understand it, logically rationalise it, and to eliminate it as a motivator. Think about this: are you afraid of getting hurt or being killed? Are you afraid of ending up in jail, being sued or, as some have said, hurting or killing someone else? Now, think about this: how can you eliminate those negative motivators from your mind? This is not unlike techniques used to treat phobias.

Again, this is part and parcel to the warrior spirit. It is how those who have gone into combat, be they the ancients, Vikings, Crusaders, or the "Greatest Generation" have been able to put aside the reality of pain, hardship and even death in order to persevere and dominate their foes.

[Gabriel Suarez]

This is part of the use of Tactical Language. There is what you use with yourself, and what you use with the investigators. They may describe the same event. I will say with 100% certainty that I was not calm and relaxed during my gunfights...but with the same certainty, I was not in any sort of state of FEAR.