Survival Preparedness
Of course not. If you were an expert in survival and I
said that you could become an expert in front of your computer you would
probably stop reading right there. The truth is that the things that you
learn in books and online are great sources of information but without real
world practice they are going to be hard to pull off in a crisis.
So how do you do it? Besides packing a backpack with a wool blanket and a spork
and heading into the woods for a year, how can you become an expert in
survival? Perhaps you have been interested in survival and preparedness
for years now and have been bouncing around from one topic to another only to
realize that there is still so much you could learn. Or perhaps you have
just been through a crisis in your life and have vowed that next time you will
be better prepared.
You can become a survival expert the same way that you become a martial arts
expert, a good teacher and lots of practice.
The path to becoming a martial arts expert "black belt" is really
quite simple. You start your training as a white belt which requires you
to humble yourself to the rest of the class. You can then engage in the
lessons appropriate to your level. Most students find this hard and want
to practice the harder flashy techniques that they see the black belts doing.
The instructor has to keep them focused on the multiple repetitions that
they must complete to make it to the next level.
The secret here that most people don't know is that when a black belt has to
use their skill to defend themselves 99% of the techniques that they will use
are those same white belt techniques that they learned as new students.
This doesn't happen by accident it is the goal all along.
Let me describe how a martial arts technique is mastered and then show the
relevance to survival skills.
When a student first learns a technique they are taught how to stand in the
proper stance and how to balance their body before they even start to move.
Next they are allowed to slowly practice the technique, let’s say a front
kick. They extend their leg over and over again until it seems like it
might fall off. What this is doing is producing muscle memory and
conditioning of the muscles that are used in that kick.
After owning the kick they now have to make it effective. By adding speed
and power the likelihood of success of this kick is increased.
Once the kick is fast and strong it is time to learn when to use it.
Sparring practice emphasizes the timing and opportunity to use this
kick. They continue to practice over and over with repetitions and
sparring exercises until the final plateau is reached where they have
mastered the kick-Thoughtless application. (When they can use that
technique without even thinking about it) It becomes a natural reaction
to the situation.
This isn't the end though for the student. There is more than one
technique to any system. The student must master them all to become a
black belt. They don't master one and then start on another. They
learn a set of techniques for each belt that they obtain. Usually the
techniques of one level are just slightly different from the previous level so
it enhances the mastery of the base technique. They progress up the belt
ranks getting better and more capable as they go.
That is the technical part of becoming a black belt. There is another
side, a more important transformation that happens to the student throughout
this journey. As they continue to make their techniques more and more
refined looking at them with an enhanced level of scrutiny, they begin to
do that to their character as well. They don't judge themselves by a set
of skills but more a set of values. They become black belts. When
the belt goes on their uniform it is merely a representation of what they have
become. The belt doesn't make them black belts, their dedication to
personal development does.
To become an expert in survival you need to have levels of training that allows
for you to start as a humble beginner and to build upon basic skills until they
become second nature. You first must learn skills like building fires and
finding food. Then you learn to do them better and faster.
Eventually you do them with a level of confidence that takes them off
your crisis worry list.
When you own the skills, like building fire, you then learn the best
application of that skill. Like where to build it and how to gain the
most benefit from it. You learn to make it in the snow or with a bow drill.
You master that skill. But there are more skills to learn.
There are more skills to learn in survival than in the martial arts but they
require less practice as they will likely not need a reaction as fast as
combat. You will be able to think your way through a crisis using your
knowledge and experience together to succeed.
The final step and most similar feature between the martial arts
and survival is the black belt mentality. If it is practiced with the
same level of personal perfection required for the simple front kick it will
elicit the same response in the student transforming them into an expert, one
that doesn't need a belt to prove it.
There are more complexities in the martial arts than just these few that I
listed here but this is the foundation to all the fighting arts. The
techniques may be different but the goal is the same. In the martial arts
we have an expression that says "there are many ways to the top of the
mountain but the view from the top is the same". Survival is just
another way up the mountain.
Of course not. If you were an expert in survival and I said that you could become an expert in front of your computer you would probably stop reading right there. The truth is that the things that you learn in books and online are great sources of information but without real world practice they are going to be hard to pull off in a crisis.
So how do you do it? Besides packing a backpack with a wool blanket and a spork and heading into the woods for a year, how can you become an expert in survival? Perhaps you have been interested in survival and preparedness for years now and have been bouncing around from one topic to another only to realize that there is still so much you could learn. Or perhaps you have just been through a crisis in your life and have vowed that next time you will be better prepared.
You can become a survival expert the same way that you become a martial arts expert, a good teacher and lots of practice.
The path to becoming a martial arts expert "black belt" is really quite simple. You start your training as a white belt which requires you to humble yourself to the rest of the class. You can then engage in the lessons appropriate to your level. Most students find this hard and want to practice the harder flashy techniques that they see the black belts doing. The instructor has to keep them focused on the multiple repetitions that they must complete to make it to the next level.
The secret here that most people don't know is that when a black belt has to use their skill to defend themselves 99% of the techniques that they will use are those same white belt techniques that they learned as new students. This doesn't happen by accident it is the goal all along.
Let me describe how a martial arts technique is mastered and then show the relevance to survival skills.
When a student first learns a technique they are taught how to stand in the proper stance and how to balance their body before they even start to move. Next they are allowed to slowly practice the technique, let’s say a front kick. They extend their leg over and over again until it seems like it might fall off. What this is doing is producing muscle memory and conditioning of the muscles that are used in that kick.
After owning the kick they now have to make it effective. By adding speed and power the likelihood of success of this kick is increased.
Once the kick is fast and strong it is time to learn when to use it. Sparring practice emphasizes the timing and opportunity to use this kick. They continue to practice over and over with repetitions and sparring exercises until the final plateau is reached where they have mastered the kick-Thoughtless application. (When they can use that technique without even thinking about it) It becomes a natural reaction to the situation.
This isn't the end though for the student. There is more than one technique to any system. The student must master them all to become a black belt. They don't master one and then start on another. They learn a set of techniques for each belt that they obtain. Usually the techniques of one level are just slightly different from the previous level so it enhances the mastery of the base technique. They progress up the belt ranks getting better and more capable as they go.
That is the technical part of becoming a black belt. There is another side, a more important transformation that happens to the student throughout this journey. As they continue to make their techniques more and more refined looking at them with an enhanced level of scrutiny, they begin to do that to their character as well. They don't judge themselves by a set of skills but more a set of values. They become black belts. When the belt goes on their uniform it is merely a representation of what they have become. The belt doesn't make them black belts, their dedication to personal development does.
To become an expert in survival you need to have levels of training that allows for you to start as a humble beginner and to build upon basic skills until they become second nature. You first must learn skills like building fires and finding food. Then you learn to do them better and faster. Eventually you do them with a level of confidence that takes them off your crisis worry list.
When you own the skills, like building fire, you then learn the best application of that skill. Like where to build it and how to gain the most benefit from it. You learn to make it in the snow or with a bow drill. You master that skill. But there are more skills to learn.
There are more skills to learn in survival than in the martial arts but they require less practice as they will likely not need a reaction as fast as combat. You will be able to think your way through a crisis using your knowledge and experience together to succeed.
The final step and most similar feature between the martial arts and survival is the black belt mentality. If it is practiced with the same level of personal perfection required for the simple front kick it will elicit the same response in the student transforming them into an expert, one that doesn't need a belt to prove it.
There are more complexities in the martial arts than just these few that I listed here but this is the foundation to all the fighting arts. The techniques may be different but the goal is the same. In the martial arts we have an expression that says "there are many ways to the top of the mountain but the view from the top is the same". Survival is just another way up the mountain.
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