Have you ever been afraid or anxious before? Has fear ever stopped you from taking action? Have you ever been paralysed by fear? That’s simply part of being human. Ask yourself this, if that fear descended on you during a confrontation with another person(s)... Will you flee? Will you freeze? Will you fight?
Fear. Adrenalin. Stress. Training.
For too many people, an adrenaline release hinders or even stops entirely their ability to perform as required to achieve a positive outcome. In fact, the freeze response when threatened is the most primordial self-preservation response we have. Though this response may have improved our chances of survival when faced with a threat, such as being hunted by a sabre-tooth tiger, a freeze response in modern times, more often than not, results in a greater likelihood of becoming victimised.
It is because of our instinct to freeze first, that training to flee or fight becomes even more crucial... and ultimately, more difficult. Most self defence instruction focuses on long term repetition to ensure an optimal fight response is achieved. Some training is better than no training, however long-term high repetition doesn’t always result in an optimal response when threatened. We often train this way because it appeals to our current cultural concepts of learning. At Adrenal Self Defence we believe in order to survive in an asymmetrical world with asymmetrical threats, the best way to train is asymmetrically.
Through an intricate and finely choreographed instructional process, students learn quickly within a safe fun environment. They will experience stress-induced scenarios to help them transition from a freeze response into a fight response... real-time response to a real-world threat. These scenarios become the motivational fuel generating energy, passion and commitment for students to survive confrontations, but more importantly be in control of themselves and the outcome.
Science has shown that our brain does not harden. In fact, the human brain remains plastic throughout the course of our life. Though a young brain is more pliable in terms of new information moulding, our capability to have neuro circuitry transformations does not end with age. In other words, you can teach an old dog new tricks.
Signal Transfer
Signal Transfer (Neurons/Axons/Myelin): Neurons are the basic cellular building blocks of the brain. A neuron is made up of dendrites, which receives signals from other neurons; the cell body, which processes those signals; and the axon, a long cable that reaches out and interacts with other neurons’ dendrites. When different parts of the brain communicate and coordinate with each other, they send nerve impulses, which are electrical charges that travel down the axon from one neuron to the next neuron in the chain. This process repeats from neuron to neuron, until the nerve signals reach their destination. This is what allows us to respond to any given situation. Though these firings happen at incredibly fast speeds, the speed and strength, at which they do it, depends on the myelin that surrounds the axon and the diameter of the axon itself.
Myelin Sheath
Myelin is the fatty (white) tissue, which runs along the outside of the axon (that interconnects our neurons). Myelin grouping on the length of an axon is called the myelin sheath. This sheath increases the speed and strength of the nerve impulses by insulating the electrical charge traveling through the axon. Myelination generation around axons happens naturally via new or reinforced neuro input process (experience, training, practice, etc.). Much of that generation happens during childhood. However, as we get older we continue to generate more myelin onto our axons, though at a slower rate. Scientists believe that two non-neuron (or “glial”) cells that exist in the brain play a role in creating new myelin. The first is a glial cell called an astrocyte. Astrocytes monitor neuron axons for activity, and lots of repeat signals... or stress induced signals from a particular axon triggers the astrocyte to release chemicals that stimulate the second cell (known as an oligodendrocyte) to produce myelin, which wraps around the axon. Another strong point in favour of myelin’s performance-enhancing abilities is what happens when it’s missing. Demyelination is a known factor in multiple sclerosis and certain other neurodegenerative diseases which cause symptoms such as loss of dexterity, blurry vision, loss of bowel control, and general weakness and fatigue. This suggests that myelination is a critical factor in allowing us to make the most of our physiological functions.
OODA Loop
The critical role that the myelin sheath and the axon diameter play, in terms of the strength and speed in which a nerve signal travels down the axon, is called the action potential. It is a short-lasting event in which the electrical ooda-loop-2-membrane potential of a cell rapidly rises and falls, following a consistent trajectory. The faster the nerve signal travels, the faster the action potential. The rate of action potential conduction limits the flow of information within the nervous system. Action potential conduction requires passive and active flow of current and one way of improving passive current flow is to increase the diameter of an axon, which effectively decreases the internal resistance to passive current flow. In other words, the velocity of propagation of an action potential depends on axoplasm resistance and membrane resistance. Axoplasm resistance explains how fast a charge can move within an axon. The larger the diameter of the axon, the more quickly it can pass through. Membrane resistance describes how permeable the membrane is to the ion. The less permeable the membrane, the faster the propagation of potential action. Myelination increases the membrane resistance and ultimately allows for fast propagation. Truly understanding the action potential is the key to understanding the OODA Loop. The faster your action potential the faster your OODA Loop.
"I found the course great. You learn so many things like avoiding a fight. There are so many steps... once you know it you can't really forget it. You also learn how to use your adrenalin as a tool. As a girl it's not even about the technique but how you react to pressure. It was great. Everyone should try it at some point." Charlotte
"I thought it was excellent. I really enjoyed it. The self awareness; the awareness of situations; threat avoidance; deescalation was fascinating. How I responded under pressure with the adrenalin coming through... using that adrenalin to help you rather than trip you up was excellent. Really enjoyed it.... I learned that adrenalin is your friend." James
"With Krav you learn a lot of techniques to deal with different situations. Here at the FAST workshop it was the phycological side... how can I implement what I could do to somebody, and if I needed to. I strongly recommend it. Coming from a martial arts background it was nothing like I expected. It was so phycological.... pretty much mapping your adrenalin response and getting to work for you. Everything the instructors said would happen when the adrenalin hit happened to me and I never thought it would." Wayne