Eye of the Storm

Yes it is true I am back from Jersey and training with Jack Hoban. I decided to leave GR early to avoid getting caught in the blizzard that was threatening to paralyze my travels. Attempting to stay in the "Eye of the Storm" so to speak, I left Wednesday afternoon of last week and missed the storm completely! The trip driving back was equally un-eventful which I am thankful for as well!

For those who I train with here in GR, I'm sure that you know what main themes I usually come back with after training w/Jack:

1) Warrior Ethics - Universal Values - Protector/Defender Mentality

2) Controlling Space

3) Smithwicks

It is always good training and this month was no exception. I especially liked the material that we worked on this time. December is also the time that the Buyu has their Daikomyosai which is a celebration honoring Jack's teacher Masaaki Hatsumi. So after the training everyone gets duded up and has a fancy dinner and drinks. It was wonderful to share that with everyone!

On Sunday I had the opportunity to hang out with Jack at his abode. He and Yumiko were wonderful hosts! Thanks so much for your hospitality!

Jack and I chatted, watched the Jets beat the Buccaneers and we talked about Jacks new company - Resolution Group International (RGI) http://www.resgroupintl.com/index.html. RGI is a conflict resolution organization created to address the needs of military, law enforcement, peacekeeping, security organizations, and international corporations.

During a conversation with Jack I pointed out that in order to maintain your tactical space you have to keep your emotions in check while under pressure. If you get overly emotional you rarely think, respond or move in the manner that gives you the tactical advantage. This is true physically, mentally or emotionally. If you lose your cool you often make decisions that place you in harms way. How many times have you gotten angry at someone and "lost it" finding yourself saying and doing things that you regretted later. Or maybe you can remember a test you had while in school that you studied hard for, but you lost it mentally and could barely write your name down. On the battlefield if the soldiers break rank they are more vulnerable and put themselves and others at risks, not to mention they cannot accomplish what they set out to do.

Keeping a cool demeanor is critical in life, especially to save it! If you get the chance pick up and read "The Survivors Club" which tells many true survival stories of all types. It talks to people who have survived some pretty "un-survivable" circumstances ranging from cancer to accidents, assaults; the gamut. The book also outlines common traits that each of the survivors have and how it helped in their survival. Among these traits the ability to stay calm was the number one common trait among the survivors.

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We are so inclined for drama in this day and age most people don't know what to do with tranquility if they ever experience it, hell, I don't know what to do with it half the time. As Dan Millman said in his book "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior," "It is the way OF the peaceful warrior, not the way TO the peaceful warrior and walking the path itself makes the warrior..." This is essential especially when working under stress.

This attitude of staying calm under fire; being the eye of the storm will help you in life and in crisis, but it needs to be cultivated and constantly worked on. As Jack says, "A warrior does two things, fight in wars or trains. So if they aren't in a war they are training for war."

Without staying calm in a situation you put yourself and others more at risk.

Some hints for staying calm are:

Keep a good attitude:

Have a certain amount of faith that things will workout alright even if...especially if you don't know exactly how it will happen, be open to opportunities that you weren't expecting.

Positive internal dialog:

Keep that coach inside your head telling you positive things that will help you to keep yourself under control (rather than not).

An example of this would be:

Let's say you were having a conversation with someone who you don' t think is listening to you how do you respond to them? Or how about if you were waiting for a loved one to get home and they were late: If your Internal Coach was telling you that the person that you were waiting for was in a horrible accident you might be anxious or upset; but if you were thinking that they may be running late because they were picking up something nice for you, then you may be in a different state of mind.

Our Internal Dialog frames the neutral event and we tend to play into how we frame things.

Breath:

Taking a deep breath helps to clear the mind. Maintain a slow steady breathing pattern from the abdomen.

Remember the acronym T.A.C.T.E.? We went over it in a previous blog:

T- Take a deep breath & think clearly

A- Assess the situation

C- Create a simple plan

T- Take action

E- Evaluate your progress

So there you have it.

Happy Holiday's everyone!!

Be well,

~Craig