How do we develop Killer Instinct?

When someone new comes into my dojo I do not judge them as to whether they would be able to handle themselves in a real self-defence, survival situation. You just never know what anybody is capable of. The chances are if there was a situation the average person would end up being a victim, unless they have been adequately trained in the one thing that will set them apart.

How do we prepare someone for the horrific and very real experience of being assaulted, being a victim of road rage, catching someone breaking into your house, or any of the other myriad of ways, that we as humans go to such great lengths to hurt other humans. Your world can change in the blink of an eye, and you will wonder how this situation you find your self in could have ever happened to you. That’s too late, and it is where the majority of people find themselves, dealing with what happened; the reaction, not what is happening; The action.

Why it is difficult to defend yourself even though you are being assaulted? It can be very difficult to gauge how much force you are using, too much or too little. It all happens so quickly. So how do we monitor our actions when we are taught with in the dojo to defend ourselves with vigour, speed and power? It all comes back to the complete picture. Do you think that we can just flick a switch whenever we need to and change from being your everyday personality into warrior mode, just sitting and waiting to rip into someone.

What is likely the to happen is, because if you do not train in full contact attack mode every day you will likely panic and overreact likely killing the person/s and putting you in gaol for 10-15 years for man slaughter, I can hear you know, “but I was only defending myself. “

At Northstar you are taught from the very first lesson that your ability to defend yourself is made up in your mind. We give you a blank canvas to work with. The hardest part of using your mind are your thoughts. Then if you think about how you should act, it is all too late you were too slow. So, I teach the trigger word Ous. No matter what is said to you, you just repeat in your own mind ous. At the same time, we use the metaphor of the ready stance to become centred. Hopefully by now you have some awareness around what is happening to you. The rest of your training is full of techniques that use the ready stance and awareness to develop your killer instinct; the secret ingredient that can guard you from being a victim.

What does killer instinct mean? Does it mean that I am changing my personality, I am not an aggressive person by nature.

No, it has nothing to do with your personality. It is just another way of improving your martial arts and warrior ship. Bruce Lee said, “How you train is how you will react.” I agree with this. That is why we use the precursors such as ready stance, zanshin and ous.  Add in the moves for your belt level do and them with intention and focus, notice that I am not using the words “aggressive or anger” and you will develop a persona that is congruent with your martial arts. Just a neutral state, no commenting, no opinions, just dealing with what is. Then choosing the most appropriate response. You have a chance to use your wisdom and experience to choose correctly.

If you feel that you are being drawn into a self-defence situation, no matter what, you do not want to be involved. There are just no winners in a real fight. So, if possible, just run. That’s what I would do. Once you make the choice that you would always fight it out, you may begin to notice that you seem to attract trouble.

– Andy-