Hesitation kills, or so goes the old saying. While in a combat situation this can certainly hold true, in every day life the consequences usually aren’t so dire. The concept remains the same though, hesitating in any way can cost you. Perhaps a promotion at work, a prize during a contest, scoring during a game, the list is probably endless.
So what causes hesitation and how do we fix it? Let’s start backwards. You don’t fix it. Sometimes there is a healthy bit of hesitation. That rattlesnake you might have thought about petting at one point, you probably stopped yourself when that little warning bell went off in your head right in tune with the rattling. However, you can do something to make it less of a problem.
Hesitation is usually caused by fear of unknown consequences. You don’t know what’s going to happen and you have no idea how to handle the upcoming situation. You may think you know, but until you are in it, you don’t. That is why many martial arts and self defense classes, including our own, try to incorporate some realism into the curriculum. That way your body and your mind grow to know what to expect and slowly start to lose a bit of that fear now that you know what is going to happen. While the best way to truly get that feel is to get into those situations, that isn’t really feasible for most people. What you can do though is practice and practice a lot. When you’ve done something enough, it becomes second nature. Remember that action is always faster than reaction. Statistics will tell you that for the most part, the first punch that hits always wins. So how does that work if we’re trained to not be the aggressor?
It’s actually pretty simple. Part of your fight begins in your mind. You already should have a plan. You see the fist balled up, you see the shoulders tense, your hand moves as the punch comes in and it doesn’t touch your face. Instead, due to regular practice, you’ve already put them in a hold and didn’t have to stop and think about it. You’ve done this technique a hundred, if not a thousand times. You know the required movements and the expected outcome. While it will not always end up like it does in class, it is similar enough that your hesitation has subsided and you did what needed to be done in the moment.
You will find hesitation is not an easy thing to deal with. It’s part of our nature. You can be in control of it and use it to your advantage however. Remember that action is always faster than reaction. An opponent has a harder time reacting when they don’t expect what’s coming…
Train hard,
Head Instructor Shawn Morris