[2 min read]

👋 Hey Warrior,

This week, we've been talking about staying in control.

We worked on understanding the stress response, using tools like breathing and mental cues, and recognizing how emotions impact our decisions.

But there's a crucial piece to this puzzle.

How do we make sure these concepts actually work when we're caught off guard, adrenaline is pumping, and things feel chaotic?

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The answer lies in how we train.

We need to practice not just the techniques, but also staying controlled under pressure.

This idea is often called stress inoculation.

Why Calm Practice Isn't Enough

Practicing your blocks, strikes, or escapes slowly with a cooperative partner is essential for learning the mechanics.

But real conflict isn't slow, calm, or cooperative.

Skills learned only in a relaxed state often crumble when stress hits.

Your body's reactions (like we talked about Monday) kick in, and suddenly those smooth techniques feel clumsy or disappear entirely.

This is where stress inoculation training comes in.

The idea is simple…

…we need to gradually introduce elements of realistic stress into our training in a safe and controlled way.

It's like getting a vaccine.

A little exposure helps your system build immunity.

By practicing under simulated pressure, we start building resilience to the real thing.

What are the goals of this type of training?

• Make Skills Robust: To ensure your techniques hold up even when you're tired, surprised, or dealing with resistance.

• Practice Control Methods: It gives you a chance to actually use the breathing techniques and mental cues we discussed while feeling stressed.

• Build Confidence: Proving to yourself that you can function and perform techniques under pressure builds genuine confidence, not just theoretical knowledge.

This doesn't mean training has to be dangerous or overly aggressive.

It's about smartly adding elements like speed, fatigue, unpredictability, or mental challenges into your drills with good partners and instructors.

Final Thoughts

Simply knowing how to stay calm isn't the same as practicing staying calm under pressure.

Look for ways in your own training, under qualified supervision, to safely test your skills and your control methods when things get a little more challenging.

Stay safe, stay agile, and keep moving,

Paul Simoes

P.S. Tomorrow, we'll wrap up this week's theme on staying in control with a recap of the key ideas we covered.

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