Will your self defence work in a real attack?

So you have been training for a couple of years now. You have repeadedly practiced your self defence techniques so that they come easy to you. You don't have to think about them at all. They just flow.

You figure that if you are attacked on the street your self defence techniques will save you. But are you sure?

Adrenal stress response experts say that you can only recall about five different self defence techniques or strikes when you are under a full adrenaline rush. The reason is that much of your cognitive thinking is unavailable to you as your heart beat exceeds certain levels. This happens as blood is sent to the arms, legs and torso to put you in the best fight or flight defense.

I can tell you from personal experience that it's hard to think at all when "adrenalized" and under attack. During hundreds of self defence, classroom simulations and that I have personally been involved with both as a student and instructor, I have seen traditional techniques fail to work against a padded assailant. This partly is true due to their complexity but also because of the number of techniques or 'steps' required in many of these defences.

There is no way I can tell you if the number is five or it's three or six or seven but I can tell you for certain that under a strong adrenal rush, or 'dump' as we call it, there is a good chance you will not be able to execute your standard self defence techniques that you have been practicing in the dojo or dojang. For more on this see self defence.