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A great article on the meanings of the "Fight vs. Flight" mentality to a traceur by APK member Ronster82
Turning
the corner casually walking home from school you accidentally bump into
a big guy with a short temper. This guy is angry with you, and you can
see right then and there that he wants to fight you. In any potentially
dangerous situation your body will automatically receive impulses from
the brain, and release epinephrine. (Not to go into detail.) In other words you get
that adrenaline pumping through your blood. What follows this physical
phenomenon is an instant mode, your body reacts "fight or flight". Discuss in the forums here .
Few people would stand their ground and
fight this guy. In this case I'm going to be taking on the flight
position. Though it may seem there are more choices then just "fight or
flight," flight can be broken up into different categories. When they
refer to the term "flight" they are actually saying what you would do
to avoid the fight. So it could be talking your self out of it, sending
your friend to fight, or running away is what usually comes to mind
with most traceurs.
In today's society
it almost seems like running away from a fight would make you "less of
a man" or "a wuss" depending on the seriousness of the situation. It is
often the seriousness of a situation that determines what actions we
take. Either way all of us (or most of us) practice parkour which takes
on the ability to efficiently escape someone chasing you, or rescue
someone in need like a fire fighter may. The actions we take in any
given situation may be heavily based upon your training or practicing.
Traceurs are training in ways that would make great escape. So it is
very likely placing a traceur in the situation above they will take the
flight response, because in the back of their head this is what they
train for. Taking the "fight" position you could easily refer to
someone who practices martial arts. The reason they practice martial
arts may be varying, but the route of all martial arts is to create a
means of self defense when a fight is necessary or that is the path
which is chosen.
It
makes perfect sense doesn't it? "Fight" is to martial arts that
"flight" is to parkour. Many traceurs also practice martial arts which
will in turn effect the decision they may take in the situation above.
There would be no reason to fight the guy unless it comes down to;
should you run away and dismiss any physical confrontation, or fight
the guy so you don't take on the name society has put on us for
"wussing out"? Though I don't think our decision should rely on how
others will see us, but more importantly it should rely on what you
would predict the final outcome would be. In many cases your decision
may have to be quick and rely on instinct, and every situation is
different. There may easily be a situation where you are cornered and
must fight your self out, or you might fight if you must defend some
one else, you wouldn't want to take running off while your friend is
getting beat up. Or sometimes flight may be the only option. A
situation might not always consist of confrontation with another
person; it could simply be you are escaping a burning building.
So many
situations to prepare for, so what do you do? Do you try and visualize
every possible situation that might come up? That would be near
impossible because the varying situations are limitless. So now what?
Just go out and hope for the best? I think not. There's something I
call "training instinctively". While in your normal training sessions
(whether it may be parkour or martial arts) you can learn to train
instinctively. The number one thing while training is to be aware of
your surroundings, anything that may be around you; the birds flying,
or cars driving by, but still keeping focus on your body's movement and
thoughts. In any given situation it is always important to know what is
going on around you. What is ahead of you? What may be behind you? What
can you use for potential tools to help your situation?
Beginning
your training session, something important you can do to have the
"training instinctively" mind setting is to go into your training
session prepared. "I got my two .44 magnum hand guns, a bullet proof
vest, and a pack a gum, so I'm all ready for any situation." No not
that kind of prepared, you don't want to be carrying all of that around
with you where ever you go. Also traceurs train with only the bare
necessities (a pair of shoes and hopefully clothes on their back). You
can have all the equipment in the world but without the mental state it
will do you no good. The mental state I find is one of the most
important places to start when taking on a discipline such as parkour.
It's your mind that controls your body, actions and your instinctive
nature.
Go into your
training session with awareness of everything and everyone one that is
in that area. Constantly keep an eye on things around you through your
peripheral vision, but still focused on what you are there to
accomplish. Practice running through your training grounds with out
having to stop and think what you want to do. These techniques don't
even have to be done while training. They can be done any where you may
be. At the grocery store look for any exits in your head if a situation
were to arise. Think of routes you might take, what obstacles would get
in the way and what obstacles may work to your advantage. And if any of
you have an imagination like me it shouldn't be hard to day dream doing
a sweet parkour run while you are at work. Obviously the situation you
are imagining isn't likely to happen, but by keeping your mind
constantly moving you will have improved instincts on what to do in any
situation. Some of this may be tricky to do at first but you can never
improve until you are willing to practice it. All of this will prove
useful in any situation because in any situation whether you decide to
take on the "fight or flight" position, it's the way your mind reacts
to the situation that will bring the final outcome.
This is just the
beginning, I could write a whole separate article just on "training
instinctively" (which I may do). The most important thing though is
that you can be prepared within your body's movements on how well they
perform, and your instinctive thoughts which will lead to the actions
you take. Even though this is a parkour community I tried to not be too
biased between parkour and martial arts. If one is to prepare them self
for any situation I don't think it should be just for the "flight"
tactic because that tactic might not always be available (referring to
those of the parkour community). So if one reason you are training
parkour (besides it being fun) because you want to be prepared for any
given situation, I would highly recommend some form of martial arts or
self defense be included with your normal parkour training, or the
other way around. Any form really will do; boxing, tae Kwan doe, kung
fu etc... Which I know quite a few already do here in the community. If
you don't have the opportunity to take classes, just remember "training
instinctively" and you will be surprised with the way your training
sessions will change and the way you will view your environment.
- Ronnie Shalvis
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So yes while I agree MA is a great skill to have I definitely think it should be supplemented by PK.