Psychological Preparedness

by Gary Lescak

1. Cultural Conditioning
2. Hard Choices
3. What About The Law?
4. Discussion
5. Conclusion

Studying ju-jitsu encompasses many things, has different emphases for each of us, and everyone derives their own meaning from the experience. What we share, or have in common, is the fact that most of these aspects can be subsumed under the heading of making oneself a better person physically, mentally, and spiritually and applying this person to the world around us.

These are all noble, philosophical goals that are compatible with our reason for being; to seek knowledge. However, many modern day ju-jitsu practitioners have lost sight of the primal origin or reason the art developed.

Yes, we are here to learn, and the first lessons of life for anyone are lessons of survival. All the noble, philosophical precepts found in ju-jitsu were developed by the people who were left alive after they killed their opponents. Ju-jitsu is first and foremost about survival. That's why the most important fundamental is to understand ju-jitsu's origin (i.e. battlefield combat), which is why I tell my students ju-jitsu is about many things but the first thing ju-jitsu is about is killing your opponent with your bare hands at close range.

Many artsy practitioners will be horrified by this statement for they consider themselves perched on a much loftier moral position. I have even had a 7th degree black belt tell me, "Ju-jitsu is not about fighting." These people are living in a fairyland; both psychologically and physically.

One of the first things I do with my students is to ask them to look within themselves and answer one basic question. Do you believe there are truly evil people in this world? If your answer is "yes", then you understand the reason for my violent and brutal statement, and you have taken the first step toward psychological preparedness for a brutal, violent physical encounter.

This type of encounter usually occurs much too quickly for a person to weigh the practical and philosophical consequences of their immediately required response. That's the purpose of this article: to make you think about all of the many issues involved in a confrontation and to resolve your doubts and answer your questions before the confrontation. When the mind knows in advance, the body simply reacts.

Psychological preparedness means you are making a commitment to an intellectual, not an emotional, approach. In doing this, you are moving toward the means to remain calm under the greatest pressure, a life or death struggle (or as the Japanese say, "facing hell under the up-raised sword"), and thus moving toward being more effective.

Notice this all revolves around you; the answers to the questions which follow are your personal answers, based on your values, judgement, and morals. The action they lead to, the responsibility for, and the consequences of those actions are your personal burden; no one can do this for you. No one can be expected to take more responsibility for your personal safety than you-and no one will.

In terms of psychological preparedness, this means you have to come to grips with the fact that this will be a situation you have to handle without assistance. Help of any nature, whether it comes from a concerned citizen or a law enforcement officer, is naturally appreciated; but never rely on it being there. Picture yourself in the worst case scenario: back to the wall, facing an armed assailant who will take your money and won't stop there.
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Cultural Conditioning

Now that we have established a conceptual framework and a mental attitude, let's look at some specific questions that require answers and ideas that impact our effectiveness.

A part of psychological preparedness means you can, and do, overcome cultural conditioning. Everyone is culturally conditioned in many ways; certain ways "weight us down" in a physical encounter. This is true for men and women. Let's look at a few examples.

American culture enshrines the honest, straight-shooter who announces his intentions and squares off for a fair fight. Forget it, or off to fairyland with you. Fighting is about deceit and cunning. Feigning injury, saying you don't want to fight, begging someone not to hurt you, and offering to shake hands are perfect preludes to launching your pre-emptive, first strike. There are no fair fights; get over it.

This applies to training as well; two examples. I have seen many martial arts classes where the instructors made a major issue of forbidding any profanity in class; back to fairyland. My instructor, on the other hand, could and did spew some world class filth regularly during practice. Just for fun? No. His explanation was that ju-jitsu makes you sensitive to certain aspects of life that you were not sensitive to before your training, and desensitizes you to other aspects; by removing that slight hesitation that might have occured when someone screamed profanity at you during a confrontation, he made you a more effective fighter.

In training many women prefer an all female class for many reasons. Don't let your cultural conditioning impede your effectiveness; think about it. If your attacker will always be a 120 lb. female then it's O.K., but a 250 lb determined male attacker is going to be substantially different to handle.

There are may other ways that cultural conditioning impedes your effectiveness both in training and in real-life situations. Think about it and resolve these issues to improve your bottom-line effectiveness or suffer the consequences.
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Hard Choices

Personal protection is full of subjective, value laden choices. If you say you can't, or won't, kill another human in a mortal confrontation, then you will be the one to die. Remember that you could be making that decision for your loved ones as well. Also, understand that for many criminals your life isn't worth as much to them as a piece of meat at the grocery store.

Picture it! Make your choice in advance. If you decide that you want to be the one to live, then you have to be committed to do whatever it takes to achieve that end result. Remember, succesful personal protection is based upon knowledge and a superior mental attitude.
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What About The Law?

Right and Wrong

The Law and the Right thing to do are not necessarily the same (one value perspective). For example, if I let a knife wielding opponent go because I'm no longer in danger, and he kills an elderly woman for her Social Security check the next day, did I do the Right thing? I did what the Law requires; I used the least amount of force necessary. If I kill that same person, did I do the Wrong thing? Is that other person's welfare any of my concern? That's a moral question versus a legal question. The two become easily entwined, and only you can provide the answer.

Again. more personally; What if I don't kill a repeat, psychotic offender or habitual criminal, but I contribute to his capture? He gets out of prison in 6 months and kills my family. Did I do the right thing?

We can offer many examples that will illustrate what we might feel is morally wrong is the legally required option or what we might feel is morally right is forbidden by law.

You know what your values and morals are; learn the consequences according to the law; think of the consequences realistically and personally; and get your answers before a confrontation takes place.

Lawsuits and Liability

Because of our cultural context, one thought that has to leap to everyone's mind during this discussion is being sued.

BEING SUED is:

• Stressful/Anxiety Producing
• Time-Consuming/A Lengthy Process
• Unjust
• Expensive (because of legal fees, even when you win).
• Costly (perhaps all you've ever worked for, when you lose).
• Eventually Over (one way or the other)

• Kill
• Injure
• Control
• Escape