Hesitation

Often in my classes students will ask me "what if my mind goes blank when I am attacked or I hesitate?". Good question. My proverbial answer is "so what? no one is grading you or rating how well you fight back. The truth is; use this time to your advantage".

Hesitation its actually natural ; its hardwired into your body. Consider it this way; you have just been assaulted by a man, he may be at the pre-violence interview stage or the attack may be ensuing and at this point he is trying to gain control of you either by force or intimidation. Your body is going through extreme stress that is common to the Survival Stress Reaction. In the OODA loop that I have written about in the past this is when you are in the stage of Observing and Orienting to what is going on. Because you are rarely exposed to personal combat on a regular basis you are more than likely going to freeze or hesitate for a few seconds. Hesitation is better than freezing though!

Use this time to collect your thoughts, also verbalize what you are feeling. By talking you begin to engage a portion of your brain that also leads to action. Say something, anything; "don't do this stop, don't hurt me, I have an STD". Initiating a role-play will do 2 things. Firstly, it gives you time to recall your training and develop an action-escape plan. Secondly; it begins to get into his OODA Loop as well because now he is Observing (hearing) and Orienting (to your speech). Your role-play helps you to work through your fear as well. When you have formulated your plan launch your defense and DO NOT STOP! At this point all hesitation must be gone you have to strike without fear or regret.

If your defense doesn't go the way you expected, keep going. In the Fight Like A Girl videos you have seen how some of the girls improvised new strikes 'on the fly' during the Redman encounters, do the same. Also, remember that your environment can help you or hinder you. Is that chair in the way or is it something that you can use to strike your attacker? What else is laying around that might be used as a weapon. The common inocuous item like a food jar or a stapler can have devastating effects when you strike someone in the head. Never underestimate anything and NEVER STOP FIGHTING AND FLEEING.

Stay Safe!