Enough with the fight or flight so called choice

The fight or flight choice is one of my pet peeves. Ive seen way to many articles and way too many
instructors (some of which are GOOD instructors) talk about the so call choice between the two.
The problem with this paradigm is that it is incorrect for two main reasons: 1. Fight or flight only
describes 2/3 of the phenomenon, and this 2/3 is ass-backwards. 2. There is no choice.
To make this short and sweet, this little write up will divide to three: 1.relevent information about the
brain 2. Understanding the phenomenon; and 3. Training the system to respond (there is no choice).
1. The human brain can be seen as made of three brains:
a. Reptilian brain, which we share with, well reptiles like gators. It controls our bodily automated
regulatory systems, things like breathing, heart-rate, perspiration etc. It is important to know
that this system and its structures supersede emotion and cognition. We can influence it
indirectly (if we decide to start running the system will react and adjust if we focus, visualize,
meditate etc. the system will react and adjust)
b. The limbic brain, also known as the mammalian brain. We share it with other mammals; dogs,
cows etc. For our purpose, this brain regulates and transmits emotions via its structures to other
parts of the brain and the rest of the body. It also plays a major rule in memory formation. It
regulates hormones, neurotransmitters and brain factors, which supersede brain and bodily
functions. It is slower than the reptilian brain, but much faster than the neocortex which
governs cognition.
c. The neocortex, the human brain. This is the newest part of the brain. It governs cognition. All
those specialized executive functions like problem solving, reasoning, planning, fluid intelligence
etc. This is the part that can make decisions and choices. This is where the conscious mind
interprets reality. This is the part that allows as conscious control over the body (this last
sentence requires an article of its own as technically there is no such thing, only an illusion of it).
It is the slowest brain. While it can affect indirectly the other two, it is slow. This is why we get
angry (limbic system) over an algebra problem faster than we can solve it (neocortex).
2. The stress response:
The stress response is a limbic response to a threat. Originally evolved to allow us to react to, and
save us from life threatening situations, it is easily triggered, to any threats real or imaginary (oh yes,
the brain cannot and does not distinguish between realty and imagination and responds to both).
Regardless, the response is the same. Keeping it simple, it has three phases: Freeze (!), Flight and
Fight.
a. Freeze: The first respond it to freeze. It may last a split tenth of a second or a few seconds. Most
predators track their prey through its motions. Most of these predators dont have great eye
site and if the prey freezes the predator may lose sight (this is why a deer will freeze on the road
when it sees headlights instead of running away). We, as humans, have not outgrown over
100,000 years of evolution. This is also why so many people freeze when someone talk with
them aggressively or inappropriately; same stress response. Just to make it clear this is caused
by a bunch of hormones, brain factors, and neuro-transmitters. It affects every part of the body
and force the freeze response. At the same time though, heart rate and blood pressure go up, as
well as muscle tone and other bodily functions in preparation (if needed) for the next part of the
stress response.
b. Flight: Next on the stress response is escape. If after the freeze, the predator/danger is still
there, we will attempt to outrun it. Again this is mediated by a bunch of hormones, brain factors
and neuro-transmitters. If this doesnt work finally well fight
c. Fight: as anyone who passed childhood and teenage years should know fighting hurts. It is also
dangerous, as much damage can take place. So, it is the last course of uncontrolled action the
stress response mediates.
This is important to repeat: the stress response is a limbic reaction. That means its activated before
cognition, and influences the body before you get a thought. It is under unconscious control. So
what can be done to give us options? The answer is training
3. If you are not trained you have no way to know how long will you be in freeze mode. Will it be less
than a tenth of a second before you go on or will it be the end of the fight for you? Sparring is not
the same as having a full stress response. Ive seen seasoned operators, who have been through
some serious situations and acted as well as can be expected under the worse kind of situations,
FREEZE when a street punk picked a fight with them. The reason for it is simple: they were trained to
go into combat, they were not trained for a situation in which a punk picks a fight with them next to
their local hangout (wonder why you have all those SEAL stories about picking fights and never
backing down in a bar.oh yes its their mentality to be ready, never back down and always be
aggressive. Maybe thats why their successful at what they do). The way to train this is the same
way they train the pros not the freeze: emotional training. That does not mean practicing how to
cry and weep. It means you need to be stressed in your training. You need to work on surprise
attacks; you need to know what is the (your) emotional response to having your loved ones
threatened. It means going against bigger stronger guys than you. It is going against a threat that as
hard as you hit him will not stop and keep pushing you. And it also means training to discriminate
between a real threat, a perceived threat and a surprise non-threat (e.g., a guy creeping behind you
in the dark, only to tell you hes out of town, out of gas and asks where is the nearest gas station.
Sometime hes a human predator out to get you; sometimes its just a guy whos scared and out of
gas). There are many ways to go about emotional training (stress inoculation, aggression training,
the soup, terror circle, etc.). What this training does, is it takes you off the autopilot. It trains
your neural pathways, your unconscious neural pathways to respond in different ways than just
following the freeze flight fight, stress response. It trains your brain to decide threat/no threat
unconsciously, at a limbic level. It reduces the acute response the body has to all those hormones,
factors and neurotransmitters that floods the body. It gives you trained unconscious responses,
maybe even buying you enough time to activate cognition.
So to conclude; the stress response is an automated, unconscious response to a threat. It is faster than
cognition, hence superseding it, and affects both brain and body in an extreme fashion. It has three
phases that always follow in the same order: freeze, flight, fight. Your only chance to not be a victim of
your own stress response is to train yourself under emotional taxing situations.