When you are attacked or confronted with a potential attacker your body will react. This reaction is known as Body Alarm Response or BAR. Most of the reaction is caused by a sudden rush of ADRENALINE ! This is a good thing.

If you have good self defence habits you are less likely to be caught off guard, and if you are you will be mentally prepared, as you will have visualised countless times how you will react - with calmness and control. Be warned BAR can be frightening. You will feel like a rabbit caught in a spotlight. You will be hit with the "fight or flight" syndrome and you may actually FREEZE !

BAR is characterised by :

Accelerated Heartbeat
Rapidness of breath
Numbness of fingers and hands
Tunnel Vision
Loss of fine motor skills
That “sick” feeling in the pit of the stomach

Many people mistake this BAR for fear itself instead of what it is - the body preparing for action. The surge of adrenaline will give you incredible strength and speed. The blood is drawn to your vision and your heart so that you can see minute details and you are ready to move. Blood floods into the chest leaving the hands numb and this causes a loss of fine motor skills such as writing. Ever been in a car accident and tried to write down your details? You feel that ‘panicky’ /’sick’ feeling in your gut.

What you must realise is that this is a normal reaction to a dangerous situation and you are now stronger more observant and primed to react. Don’t let BAR spook you into freezing. When you do react it will feel like you are under water – another aspect of BAR is the loss of sound and this “slow motion” feeling like everything has been slowed down. You may think that you are reacting slowly when in fact you are moving like lightning.

When you do react remember your loss of fine motor skills so keep hand movements simple and concentrate on what you have to do, like holding, cocking and aiming you gun.