Everyone knows about the two major mental components to performance, the conscious and subconscious parts of the brain. To perform properly both must be working in a balanced relationship. When we're learning new skills the conscious mind, which can only think about one thing at a time, is in control. You are thinking about each step of the action or sequence being performed. With repetition eventually the subconscious mind, which can process a lot of things at once, takes over to run the sequence. This frees up the conscious mind to concentrate on other more important matters.
In order to be focusing on a specific task and at the same time staying aware of other factors that may be important the brain uses a filter. The "adaptive unconscious" is like a computer that sifts through all the information we're taking in, sorting and separating the critical information we need and ignoring the unimportant. Malcolm Gladwell discusses this in detail in his book Blink, The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking. This is what allows us to make split second decisions, arriving at a direct conclusion without taking time to go over all the possible answers.
The key with personal defense is learning what's important and what can or must be ignored. You and your family are out shopping. Suddenly there is gunfire. A man is fast approaching, shooting at you. You return fire. He keeps moving and firing. It's an actual gunfight. You're still shooting. Your son is shot, on the ground screaming for help with a visible, ugly looking wound. At the same instant your pistol runs empty. The threat is still active. Your son is injured. Everyone is either moving and yelling or frozen and speechless. Chaos.
At this moment stopping the threat is priority number one. You can't help anyone else until you've dealt with this problem. In order to accomplish this, you need to reload the pistol. Once the threat is down or gone, then you can deal with injuries.
Every fight is different. If there was a formula to follow it would be easy. The secret is staying focused on what is important right now. At the same time you have to be aware of everything, keeping in mind that your priorities can shift in a fraction of a second. Victory relies on committing fully to a course of action. Yet, you have to remain flexible enough that you can change course, adapting as the situation flows and changes. Study this well.
Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama. He is the author of "The Book of Two Guns," writes for several firearms/tactical publications, and is featured on GunTalk's DVD, "Fighting With The 1911 - http://shootrite.org/dvd/dvd.html Website: www.shootrite.org
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