I'm a bit confused by some google searches: Is it A: The techniques you use in your martial art have proven effective under full contact fighting and work effectively against a fully resisting opponent. They have stood the test of time etc. i.e. they have been pressure tested OR, is it B: Your ability to apply the techniques of your martial art under pressure of full contact fighting OR, is it C: Training (by participating in live drills, hard/full contact sparring against a fully resisting opponent etc.) your mind and body to remain in an optimum state when engaged in a duel/fight i.e. learning/training yourself to keep emotions such as fear/excitement etc. under control? Thanks
All of the above, but if you already train in a combat sport a) technique choice will of already been done for you and B) and c) are two sides of the same coin.
Pressure testing should address psychological and emotional aspects of confrontation as much as the physical. Participants should never feel comfortable.
Yeah that can be a bit weird. In training I can pull off some really slick stuff but when I'm fighting the extra pressure and unknown of the other person makes it more difficult.
How do you address these? What methods/practice? Doesn't fighting in a controlled environment take care of these two?
Even having someone realistically shove you, swear and threaten with intent can be scary. It's an often overlooked aspect of SD and can be a difficult skill to master. We're all nice guys and girls, so playing the aggressor can be difficult. Even my senior students will tell you they get nervous when I play the aggressor, but it's an act. You need to be able to switch it on and off. An actor playing a murderer doesn't make him one.
once you can deal with the depth of pressure via match fighting, you could add in SD variables/bredth of pressure too. Or you could get the depth via competition and the breadth via other different competition. Geting good at competition fighting doesnt address the other social aspects of violence, but having a good knoledge of your own ability, and the self esteem not to get dragged into ego fights does help a lot.
It's more than just hitting each other hard in sparring. As many aspects of the training have to simulate the realities of a real-life situation as much as possible - obstacles (e.g. furniture), distractions (e.g. loud music), weapons (e.g. glass bottles), posture (e.g. shoving), language (e.g. swearing), debriefing (e.g. giving a statement to police), and so on are just as important as the techniques you choose to practice.
I found this online book by Geoff Thompson on pressure testing. Some interesting stuff in here. His analysis of some martial arts is brutal and likely to upset quite a few folk but truth hurts. He favors western boxing, wrestling and thai boxing (in that order). Some other good stuff in here about adrenaline affects: Animal day - Pressure testing in the Martial Arts : Monika Budo Stuff : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive Are there still animal day courses available?
Just another point, you need to fidn out if that technquiqe works for you as well, so if you dotn spar or pressure test it, you wont find your own fighting rythmeor methods. I know that one, when i did some SD things at TKD i ended up giggiling sort of through the physical section of it and the other person basically did the same. And then the teacher gave me a minor concussion for lack of better words while doing one of them on me,but thats besides the point.
I found his other book "dead or alive" similar to this, but a lot more detail towards the pre fight scenario, and dealing with the adrenalin dump. It included a lot of case studies with criminals and victims to back up the theories around the success or failure of violent crimes, and methods to deal with those for the best outcome. I have been interested in pressure testing side, but I've never done much in a class environment outside of hard sparring (which doesn't quite tick all the boxes pressure testing that but can come close). Outside of class I've had a few experiences that have certainly taught me more than I intended to learn at the time; mostly how different, or more intense your adrenal dump reacts Vs a class scenario.
We did some pressure testing stuff yesterday to represent being attacked while sat down at a table. Really need to get some plastic pint pots or something.