4 min
CONTROL Who...? Life Defense
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- Self-Improvement
CONTROL of who, or what is our PRINCIPLE topic of conversation today. “Get control, keep control, control yourself, control your thoughts, control the meeting, control the situation, whatever you do it seems that this topic of control is way out of…CONTROL!
It seems humans want to control everything. And yet, what do we really control?
In our self-defense course this week we are studying upper body defenses. In this study, the very first technique is a “CONTROLLING” move based on a boxing clench. The idea of a boxing clench is that the attacker is a striker, comes in punching at your face and head with his fists, and your reaction is to grab a hold of the attacker’s arms in a sort of controlling hug to keep them from hitting your face, breaking your nose, blackening your eyes, or damaging your brain. It's what you see in boxing rings when a fighter is tired, or doesn't want to be punched anymore, and wants to gain CONTROL of the situation.
Recently we noticed that smaller defenders have difficulty clenching, or CONTROLLING, effectively larger attackers. On the other hand, if the defender CONTROLS, only their own body weight by hanging on the arms of the attacker and making the attacker, hold them up, they succeed.
Additionally, asymmetrically focusing/ CONTROLLING their weight on one arm, or the other in a given instance tips the larger attacker off-balance, and makes striking effectively difficult. Even lifting their arms enough to get a swing at the defender is nearly impossible.
In essence, the much smaller defender CONTROLS their own weight, and body positioning, and affects the much larger opponent. In a word, the defender controls themselves, and affects the much larger opponents, balance, and ability to attack.
In life and Life Defense, the control we talk about most is the control of self. Really, do we have control of anything else? I can request that a tree grows rapidly, I can exert pressure for a child to not touch a hot stove, I can will my friends and relatives to agree with me on political issues, and still they have their choice, and I CONTROL them not at all.
This month we are studying the book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. Van der Kolk is an expert, and leading authority on trauma. At the very most base level, a defender who has been violently attacked seeks to control their experience. They may shut down, they may go into flight or fight, and whatever they do a loss or sense of loss of CONTROL of the situation affects them drastically.
In years that follow, these survivors make sense of their world through reenactments, dangerous activities, or by shutting down. Clearly, they are CONTROLLING the only thing they can CONTROL over and over again. Themselves.
I am not a psychologist, this is Life Defense and observations we've made in self-defense situation's that pertain to life. In the end either before, during, or after an attack successful defense requires taking CONTROL of self. This CONTROL of ourselves is key.
We cannot control a dangerous situation, and we might control where we go, and who goes with us. We cannot stop someone from attacking us, and we may be able to control our awareness of dangerous threats in our environment. We cannot control the ultimate outcome of a confrontation, and we can control how we train for that outcome. We cannot control damage form a violent attack, and we can control what it means to us, and what we do, or do not do to resolve and heal.
Coming back from trauma land into most peoples existence, we see through these extreme cases how much we actually CONTROL. How much? Ultimately, we control only ourselves, and ironically, consider that that may be enough…
#allenhughes #control #lifedefense
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/allen-hughes/message
CONTROL of who, or what is our PRINCIPLE topic of conversation today. “Get control, keep control, control yourself, control your thoughts, control the meeting, control the situation, whatever you do it seems that this topic of control is way out of…CONTROL!
It seems humans want to control everything. And yet, what do we really control?
In our self-defense course this week we are studying upper body defenses. In this study, the very first technique is a “CONTROLLING” move based on a boxing clench. The idea of a boxing clench is that the attacker is a striker, comes in punching at your face and head with his fists, and your reaction is to grab a hold of the attacker’s arms in a sort of controlling hug to keep them from hitting your face, breaking your nose, blackening your eyes, or damaging your brain. It's what you see in boxing rings when a fighter is tired, or doesn't want to be punched anymore, and wants to gain CONTROL of the situation.
Recently we noticed that smaller defenders have difficulty clenching, or CONTROLLING, effectively larger attackers. On the other hand, if the defender CONTROLS, only their own body weight by hanging on the arms of the attacker and making the attacker, hold them up, they succeed.
Additionally, asymmetrically focusing/ CONTROLLING their weight on one arm, or the other in a given instance tips the larger attacker off-balance, and makes striking effectively difficult. Even lifting their arms enough to get a swing at the defender is nearly impossible.
In essence, the much smaller defender CONTROLS their own weight, and body positioning, and affects the much larger opponent. In a word, the defender controls themselves, and affects the much larger opponents, balance, and ability to attack.
In life and Life Defense, the control we talk about most is the control of self. Really, do we have control of anything else? I can request that a tree grows rapidly, I can exert pressure for a child to not touch a hot stove, I can will my friends and relatives to agree with me on political issues, and still they have their choice, and I CONTROL them not at all.
This month we are studying the book The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. Van der Kolk is an expert, and leading authority on trauma. At the very most base level, a defender who has been violently attacked seeks to control their experience. They may shut down, they may go into flight or fight, and whatever they do a loss or sense of loss of CONTROL of the situation affects them drastically.
In years that follow, these survivors make sense of their world through reenactments, dangerous activities, or by shutting down. Clearly, they are CONTROLLING the only thing they can CONTROL over and over again. Themselves.
I am not a psychologist, this is Life Defense and observations we've made in self-defense situation's that pertain to life. In the end either before, during, or after an attack successful defense requires taking CONTROL of self. This CONTROL of ourselves is key.
We cannot control a dangerous situation, and we might control where we go, and who goes with us. We cannot stop someone from attacking us, and we may be able to control our awareness of dangerous threats in our environment. We cannot control the ultimate outcome of a confrontation, and we can control how we train for that outcome. We cannot control damage form a violent attack, and we can control what it means to us, and what we do, or do not do to resolve and heal.
Coming back from trauma land into most peoples existence, we see through these extreme cases how much we actually CONTROL. How much? Ultimately, we control only ourselves, and ironically, consider that that may be enough…
#allenhughes #control #lifedefense
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/allen-hughes/message
4 min