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Originally Posted by FrontSight
Is the rationale for this: because instinct is pure survival and survival reactions are counter to... responding with specific reactions needed to deal with the situation and survive.
From technique or things being too consistent?
Well said.
FrontSight
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FS - You're trying to get me in trouble with the boss. Short answers - cause I'm on the clock and HE's watching (besides I need to be able to articulate this stuff in front of hostile audiences anyway).
#1. Instinct is self-survival. This is the "Fight or Flight" - or catatonic withdrawal lecture. You've heard most of it before. The psycho-babble du jour is BAR - Body Alarm Reaction. (This launches 30 minute lecture on autonomic nervous system w/discussion of sympathetic/parasympathetic aspects.) The only thing important to an operator is perceptual narrowing: tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, and "snapshot" observations. Those are the reactions that take the combatant out of the game (OODA Loop stuff). Every encounter is potentially lethal and every situation is a complex chain of critical decisions that usually have to be made under extreme stress. Instinct causes the combatant to focus on the most obvious threat, which may not be the most lethal one. That's why SJ wants tips to overcome tunnel vision. The only answer is training. Quality training seeks to overcome instinct by habituating participants to perform under stress. Progressive, sequential training culminating in Force on Force, reality based scenarios provide the optimal situations to force students to "keep their heads in the game" and not rely on instinct. Stress levels should be gradually escalated so that students learn coping skills and are not overwhelmed by unsolvable scenarios. Bottom line - It's all a head game, like any game practice improves performance.
#2. Training scars are the result of putting artificialities in training scenarios. Train the way you'll fight because you're going to fight the way you trained. My favorite example is the LEO found dead at the scene of the crime with empty shell casings in his pocket because when he trained at the range he didn't want to have to police the brass - so when he needed to reload for real he did the same thing he practiced - and got killed. Another pet peeve of mine is tactical reloads. Save them for when you're in a lull (behind cover w/the cavalry laying down suppressive fire) - otherwise dump the expended mag, reload, and continue to fight. If you win, you can go back and police the mags, if not it won't matter - at least not to you.
#3. Thanks - we try hard. FWIW - Peregrino