Some words about "mindset"

[Chris@InterstateGuns]

I took Craig Douglas's AMIS class this weekend and we talked about how violence of action without technical ability is useless. Today I found this article by a pretty good instructor:

Violence of Action - Advantage Group

VIOLENCE OF ACTION
There is a buzzword in the tactical training world: Mindset. It isn’t new, but as of late it seems to be gaining momentum. People throw it around like it is a verb, as if mindset in itself will accomplish a task. They quote, often out of context, ancient samurai and say things like “…the mind is the weapon; all else is supplemental”. Frankly, I don’t agree.

Make no mistake about it, mindset is important. Having mentally prepared to win and visualized success is a proven successful aid in winning. It’s utilized by professional athletes and combatants alike. It certainly enhances ability. It is not, and never will be, a substitute for technical or tactical ability.

I can sit here at my desk and visualize running an El Prez for hours. I can “Bullet Proof” my mind and remove any notion of failure, convince myself with absolute certainty that I am the fastest worker of a plate rack on Earth, only to step onto a range with Jerry Barnhart and get burned down. Conversely, I am fairly certain Jerry could have spent most of the night before in a bar, be dumped out of a cab at the range, have a pistol thrust into his hand and shoot cold and still beat me in-spite of his lack of mental preparedness. You see, at the end of the day mindset does not replace technical ability.

Another example, and one I saw often in combat, was the performance of Jihadis in ambushes. The Jihadi is a zealot…he believes he is waging a war on God’s behest. He may have attended a Madrasa in Pakistan where he didn’t learn to read or write anything about science or art, instead just a Jihadist Wahhabist interpretation of the Koran. In his mind he is the Right Arm of God. That is a pretty stout mindset. He can’t imagine losing. When he encounters American or NATO Forces he exhibits magnificent volume of fire and violence of action, at times willing to blow himself up to kill his enemy or create a breach. And most often he fails. Violence of action isn’t enough. By itself it isn’t the answer. Without technical and tactical ability, mindset really doesn’t accomplish very much.

Unfortunately, mindset has become the Lazy Keyboard Commando’s way of convincing himself he doesn’t need to put in work on building competence. He feels he is better off buying a new widget than taking a class or buying a case of ammo to train with. After all, he has read everything his gurus have ever written, studied the works of Musashi, he has several thousand post on several gun forums, and he has visualized exactly what he will do when that day comes and he is required to use force to protect himself or a loved one. He has mindset! What he lacks, unfortunately, is the technical ability and competence to perform under stress. He lacks the tactical ability to know what techniques he read on the net will actually work for him and which are mostly just good for selling DVDs.

Simply put, he will likely fail not because he hasn’t prepared his psyche, but because he has failed to prepare physically and failed to learn. Mindset is not a verb. It will not get an attacker off your chest. It will not protect you from his knife, club, or bullet. It will not teach you how to reload under pressure or clear a malfunction under fire. I believe in the power of violence of action. That shit works. Unfortunately, when it isn’t coupled with an equivalent amount of ability it doesn’t work nearly as well.

Train. Learn to be a competent combatant. Match your skills to your mindset.

“Luck is the last dying wish of those who wanna believe that winning can happen by accident, sweat on the other hand is for those who know its a choice so decide now because destiny waits for no man. When your time comes and a thousand different voices are trying to tell you you’re not ready for it listen instead to that lone voice of dissent, the one that says you are ready, you are prepared, it’s all up to you now.” – The Grind

Curios to know what you guys think?

 

[Graham]

Some words about "mindset"

Even in CQB, speed and violence of action are now giving way to deliberate, determined action.

In the 1990s the popular opinion was that a bad technique, executed quickly and violently, will work. Of course, at the end of the last century we learned that this assumption depended heavily on the quality of opponent.

 

[rookie101]

Having never been in combat, I can't refer to that, and ultimately that seems to be the pudding for the proof. My experience reflects what I believe you are saying. On my high school wrestling team I had the fastest pin and the fastest loss on the team. Humiliating to this day, it was a win and a loss to the same guy. Both of our abilities were pretty much the same, but I went into the second match over confident, thinking it would be easy...big mistake. Not quite reflecting your thoughts, but similar in that my mind set was not "right."
After nearly twenty years in martial arts, the skills are learned in class, but without practice it is similar to what you are suggesting about sitting around reading how to do something and that makes you proficient. You can perform all your katas, forms, kumite's but without an opponent to improve your skills at speed and under similar conditions to what you are training for, I don't think you have fully developed your skills.
I find that training and becoming more proficient help build confidence, without which all the skills in the world are useless. Competition is also a useful tool, both for training and confidence building. For the last year and a half I have been shooting competitively at our local pistol club. I used to think I was alright with a pistol until I started shooting with them. After almost a couple years my improvement has brought me the confidence I had wrongfully developed, but also the humility to recognize that while there are immeasurable improvements to my shooting, I still can't really "compete," with these guys, but I do love learning from them.
In short, I agree with what I have read of yours, but I think my experience is limited, non-existent compared to any veterans (whose service I appreciate very much, thank you all), but without training and tools (particularly confidence), your kit is incomplete.

 

[ArcticLight]

Isn't practicing part of mindset?

On my brown belt test I had to spar the master. I stood almost ZERO chance of winning that outcome as he has 28 years over me.
Whistle blew, I used a backfist to his temple and knocked him down and nearly out on the first hit.

MINDSET. STRIKE HARD, STRIKE FAST.

Now, of course after he got up he wiped the floor with me but it impressed him that I did it, wasn't just fear it was tactical training in that I can't stand there and duke it out so I used a technique he taught us and he taught us well, and used it ON him.

I do believe the mind is a weapon. I don't know how an unarmed person would win against a mass shooter if I read this correctly, except there are broom sticks, wrenches, tools, things that can be used as a weapon.
You need the mindset to think, THINK. You don't have a gun, what do you do? You find the next best weapon. Chainsaw, hot water....

Never limit yourself to one discipline, because when it fails you need mindset.

But shooting, Martial Arts, fighting - ALL PERISHABLE SKILLS. Practice. practice. Practice.


Sensei once told me, scientifically speaking it takes 2106 repetitions to become muscle memory.

Practice 2107 times.

 

[Petrov]

This comes to mind :
Tactical Waddle and Gunning - YouTube

 

[xdpatriot]

This is awesome! My striking coach told me this once and it stuck. I think that this goes along with what you're saying:

'Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.'

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Victory]

100%
Mindset is developed through practice. Without the practiced skills, or knowledge to be applied, your mindset isn't really a mindset. It basically is a guess about something you know nothing about.

Even with practice, knowledge, and what we think is a mindset, it really isn't developed until it has been applied and refined. A fighter’s mindset is nothing until he has felt the pressure of a fight, the pain of a punch, or the agony of the late rounds.

In combat, that mindset isn't fully developed until it has been hardened in the fire of an engagement.

This is why we train like we fight, or as close to it as possible. To attempt to harden and hone that mindset, until the real deal finishes the process.

 

[diverdon]

Chris, I kinda get what the guy is saying, but I read some more on his site and I did not really like it. The Importance of Getting Your Ass Kicked - Advantage Group

So, what’s the answer? I’m not sure. I do know there is no perfect system. I believe the best bet is to build a toolbox with choice bits taken from proven arts like: modern wrestling, modern boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, dirty boxing, Escrima/Kali, and any other art or system you find relevant parts in.

When I here this kind of shit I usually think the guy saying it has never really mastered any of those styles, and all of his "toolbox" of "choice bits" might not fair well against a disciplined practitioner of any of those styles.

Just reading the website I get the impression that this is a guy more comfortable running his mouth (or keyboard) for a group of adoring acolytes then actually working hard against real opponents in the dojo, much less in the field.

 

[kraigWY]

A better is idea would to combine violence of action with muscle memory to create mind set.

In combat we learn that its violence of action that wins out. The more rounds you put on the target (enemy) the less rounds they are sending you're way.

Now round "toward" the target is no near as important as rounds "on" target. I'm sure we can all agree with that.

In such situations, you don't have time to think, you re-act or act. If there is a way we can act or re-act, properly, by putting rounds on target, instead of at the target, without thinking, our chances of winning increase.

The way to do that is muscle memory, or the ability to act properly without thinking. Muscle Memory is nothing but habit, good or bad habit.

To develop muscle memory is nothing more then practice. With enough practice we develop a habit. Bad or Good. What we want to do obviously is to create good habits. That comes with training and practice.

We've discussed competition before, many disagree, but by participating in marksmanship competition you learn and improve on your marksmanship fundamentals. As you learn the fundamentals and practice those fundamentals, they become ingrained, or become a habit. A good habit, or you're developing muscle memory, acting without thinking.

Then when you get into combat, you revert back to violence of action to get who ever is shooting at you to stop. The natural state of survival. You want to survive, so you do what is necessary to survive. If you develop muscle memory that allows you to act without thinking, and act correctly, your chances of survival increase.

You want violence of action, but violence per se doesn't help if you are putting rounds at the target. Combining violence of action with proper muscle memory allows you to put rounds on target.

In competition, you can use your mind set to figure a plan of action that may help you in a match because you know what the match involves. In combat it doesn't work, you don't lay in your hole at night and plan your actions when you get ambushed tomorrow. Too many variables, no two ambushes are the same, no two firefights are the same. You don't know what tomorrow will bring.

All you can really be assured of is when it happens, you'll rely on violence of action to get you out of a sticky situation. With proper muscle memory that allows you to put your fire power on instead of at the target without thinking increases you chances of survival.