Tachypsychia

How to Deal with It

Soldiers and martial artists use a technique called conditioned response, combat breathing, cycle breathing, or autogenic breathing to manage the "adrenaline dump" that occurs after an event to increase their performance during stressful situations. It involves breathing in through the nose to a count of four, holding the breath for a count of four, exhaling through the mouth for a count of four, and holding that for a count of four, and then repeating the four part cycle, breathing deeply and methodically, and filling and emptying the lungs completely with each inhale and exhale.

All of this means you cannot count on some complex self-defense system to help you when you need it most. Complex moves may work when controlling a person not intent on killing you, such as an unruly drunk or a mentally ill person, and they may possibly work in a life or death situation if you are able to overcome the effects of your fight-or-flight response. Weak, complicated sport sparring techniques may be awkward and ineffective when you are in fear of your life. To be more certain of how you will perform under these circumstances, you should learn simple, basic, powerful, and potentially deadly techniques that do not require a lot of thought and are easy to execute.