Practice Freezing

[MorGrendel]

You have been misled.

Since childhood you have been told that there are only two responses to danger: Fight or Flight. However, there is a third option, Freeze. Simply take a walk and you will see this is true; the silent deer does not attack and the timid rabbit does not immediately give ground. Moreover, the hungry wolf that stumbles upon the mother bear freezes in place, hoping not to be seen.

In an attempt to nurture the best kind of person, our culture teaches that to “do nothing” is unacceptable. However, nature teaches that inaction, whether purposeful or instinctive, is necessary for survival. Freezing is used by both the hunter and the prey.

As a fighter, you must learn to use freezing to your advantage when the time is right. A quarter of the brain is dedicated to sight, and a large portion of that is designed to interpret motion. This means we are predisposed to “see” that which “moves”. So like prey, if you want to disappear, simply stop moving.

However, like the hunter, you can use a purposeful freeze to stalk your opponent. Not being where you previous motion would have indicated is an excellent way to surprise your opponent. The best spearmen disguise their movements so they appear still. They can kill even when they are being looked at, because they are not truly seen.

Freezing can also be used to “pass on” motion. If you freeze as someone passes by you, the opponent’s eye will fixate on the moving body. You become a shadow and are ignored. If you can wait still, the opponent will address the greater threat and is likely to open up a target to you.

Finally, stillness can also create “calm spot” in the battlefield. Opponents will allow themselves to be flushed into a pocket of calmness to be killed, perceiving the calm spot as less dangerous than their current position. This is how the pack of man has hunted for thousands of years.