Autogenic Training [AT] can have a significant part to play.
Consisting of a Mind?Body set of some ?six standard exercises?, where one addresses various body functions seeking to regulate them into a more ?in tune automatic response? state of normality.
The exercises are physically easy. But mentally perhaps less so. They could be considered a western approach to eastern meditation. Eminently suited to the western mind, AT is a powerful means of restoring equilibrium to part of the Totality of a patient's overall problem. No matter what the underlying disease or sickness, AT will almost always have an important part to play in the overall treatment schedule.
But in ? selected cases. Not every one is suitable for this form of therapy. Not every one is able to apply the mental commitment of regularly keeping up with the exercise routine. But if they can, the benefits are tremendous and fully documented in the medical journals.
One important consideration: Autogenic Training CANNOT be learnt from a book. It HAS to be taught by direct personal contact. The theory and technical details can be read and studied. But the actual application MUST be taught and guided by personal contact with a skilled experienced therapist. There is absolutely no getting away from this. Many helpful textbooks are available, but none can bypass the absolute requirement for personal contact and instruction.
Areas where Autogenic Therapy is known to be of much benefit include:
pain and stress management, behavioural medicine, chronic conditions, insomnia, fibromyalgia, cardiac and respiratory elements, circulatory and blood pressure involvements ? in all, almost every aspect of mind-body malfunction. It is not a cure all, nothing is But Autogenic Training ? the same thing - has an important part to play in almost every aspect of the totality of a patient's problems.
However, we are not concerned here with this. We are concerned with its application to the field of street-survival; of coming out of a mugging or rape confrontation alive and in one piece.
AT is now widely taught in sporting activities, to produce maximum physical and mental responses. The very first teachers? course in AT which I attended in the late 70's under Dr Malcolm Caruthers and his wife Vera Diamond concentrated in large part on this.
And Self Defence may be considered to be a ?Sporting Activity?. In one sense certainly.
You are reading this article. It has caught your attention. You have a concern in aspects of surviving if attacked in an attempted mugging or rape.
Clearly Autogenic Training has a part to play in your overall defensive strategy. In your overall determination not to be a victim. In your intention to Give More Than You Get!
And rightly so!
Without the need for a full six weeks course of AT, apply the following mental formula to your overall self defence protective environment;
?I AM A LEAN MEAN FIGHTING MACHINE!?
As part of your personal protection insurance, as part of your survival training routine ?
At several times EVERY DAY take a few seconds off, force a relaxation, then clench your hands and with the FULLEST mind-intensity drive this mantra into your mind ?
?I AM A LEAN MEAN FIGHTING MACHINE!?
And one day, when the dreadful need is there ?
YOU WILL BE!
Self Defence For Women
A System for Survival on the street, in the park, at your front door - in YOUR BEDROOM.
Yes there is!
Is it a Burglar Alarm? Well, not really. If he's in, he's in. And so are you! Problem! You have to face him there and then. The Alarm may warn you, and give you time to prepare - phone the police, hide under the bed, jump out the window ?
What about a fierce Yorkshire Terrier? A good idea, if its got a snappy alerting bark. But only to warn you, NOT to defend you. A burglar + a knife = a dead dog! Not a good idea. I'm all for having a dog in the house. And a goldfish; and a wife ? But to WARN you of danger, not to protect you against it. That is the job partly for the Police but mostly for You. You must make your own considered preparation for your own security. In the home and outside it.
House telephone, mobile phone, alertness training ? there are many aspects needing our careful attention and preparation if we want to walk safely down to the shops or even just to the bathroom. Is this extreme? No, I don't think so.
For example we need to know our legal rights if threatened. The amount of force an 80-old widow may be allowed to use if attacked by a teenage gang in a superstore car park. Or what a middle-aged man may do if yobs start throwing stones at his car outside his house. Even the situation where a High Court Judge exposes himself in a train (February 2007). In my personal instance, where two football thugs burst in at the front door and attacked my son in the porch. I am not a lawyer, but Knowledge is (often) Power. Bend your thoughts into these and other possible scenarios: before these situations really do happen to you.
But what about actual physical Systems? You know, karate, aikido, judo and all that sort of thing. (Dear to my heart indeed, in that I have been actively studying them for over sixty years). Well, great fun for a start. ?Go on Gran, get your track suit on and nip down to the gym for a three-hour workout ?? In ten year's time she'll make her Black Belt ? perhaps. Or perhaps not!
Or Granddad ? ?Get practising kicking that brick. Harder! Harder! Go on, Break it!? But don't be surprised when, after being kicked in the Goolies, the Instructor complains that you broke the rules ? I can just see the tears in the Crocodile's eyes as he death-rolls the drinking Antelope which bleats ?That's not fair! It's forbidden in the Rules of Life!? Maybe! Maybe!
If you stick to Rules, You Die. Simple. Obvious. If you train to pull your karate punches (in case you break your training partner); if you hold back on that wrist lock; if you throw him onto his back instead of his head ? YOU DIE!
ALL the martial arts are governed by rules to minimise training injury and protect students? lives. If you study these systems you may (MAY!) hold back at that very, vital instant when you should in fact burst the mugger's eye.
Instructors may scoff at this. But it is true. You MUST train in the manner you would actually apply the action in a real, genuine confrontation event. There can be no rules. Ask the Crocodile. See his tears? They are TEARS OF LAUGHTER!
In reality, any tears YOU see must be those that roll down the mugger's cheek from what is left of his eyeball ? Fact of Life!
You gather: I am not deprecating the Martial Arts. I absolutely love them. I am totally devoted to them. I was Area Coach to the West of England, could you want greater proof? Apart from my dog, my goldfish, my garden, my books, my music, my computer, my antique maps ? oh yes, of course, and my wife, that's all I think about. The Martial Arts are quite fantastic -
BUT NOT FOR YOU!
I see my brief as advising you on what systems you need to ensure your survival on the street, in the park, in the bedroom. Therefore forget about embarking on that ten-year study needed to become competent in karate, aikido, judo ? whatever. You need a System that works NOW. In this instant, With a minimum of training and study. Like ten minutes. Yes, even like nine minutes.
The John Roberts-James System is such a one. I commend it to you.
John Roberts-james has sinced written about articles on various topics from Legal Matters, Martial Arts and Bull Terrier Dogs. John Roberts-James is a Black Belt 4th Dan, Senior Coach, Therapist and author of a number of practical books on effective Personal Protection. He directs a health clinic in the North of England and founded the Institute for Autogenic Training in 1980.htt. John Roberts-james's top article generates over 33100 views. Bookmark John Roberts-james to your Favourites.
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