Stayin' Alive

Excellent post. I agree 100%!

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Given any level of training and familiarity, the mindset... the "will" to carry through ... is absolutely essential.

You can be the best-trained shootist in the world, but if you're going to hesitate when it counts, you're going to be dead.

That moment spent considering the consequences, or wondering if you're situational assesment is correct or valid... those are the moments your opponent is using to HIS advantage, and the situation doesn't go on hold while you figure things out.

That's why I believe training also must include a lot of mental conditioning, not only to enable instant recognition of "shoot" situations (good sims can help on this), but to get people prepared for the possibility that they may actually have to do the deed. You can't second-guess yourself while the bad guy's coming at you.

When you're being trained to fly, in the earliest stages of training you do a lot of stalls, in many different attitudes and flight configurations, all so you can recognize a stall when you're in one, as well as the circumstances that bring them about. By the time you're licensed, you react to them as second-nature.

That's what's needed if one's going to carry for protection, too, and wants to be at peak performance.