A talk about what works. Please participate.

I'm a bit confused about this Cooper stuff.

I'd not heard of it, on the wiki page it says it is not about alertness levels, but then the descriptions of the colours (and Dean's comment above) appear to be talking about alertness levels.

?

 

It's been adapted to awareness training. You go through the levels as threats present themselves, it's just a drill to use to foster good habits.

White: Asleep. . You're not in white when you're out and about.
Yellow: Alert and aware of what's going on around you.
Orange: You see a potential threat, a group of lads on the corner, so you are ready to jump to red if needed and act based on your trigger, boundaries etc. Nothing happens so you're back to yellow.
Red: It's kicking off.

 

One thing I've noticed in people is the "paranoia barrier" they have to get through at some point.

I've known a few people who had a hard time with being unable to switch off awareness, but after a while all those mental routines end up running in the background and people can be chilled and aware simultaneously.

There are big psychological factors that seem to be ignored all too often in MA.

 

My Dad manages it. He's a retired copper and is ridiculously laid back all while never missing a trick.

 

Look both ways? Pfft don't be daft.

You need to move up this end of the country! I think you'll be in for a shock.

Depends on what your day to day living entails.

 

IME awareness eventually leads to a calmer demeanor, once you get through that barrier I mentioned previously. It's largely about positioning and knowing what you could do from that position in relation to everyone around you, how to use furniture and obstacles to your advantage, what objects could be used as weapons in what way and by whom. It can be overwhelming until it becomes largely subconscious.

Reactions are another thing; how appropriately you react when in your "white" state. I've scared the hell out of people who have woken me abruptly.

 

The car keys example explains it very well.

 

One last thought; as the body works by analogue threshold levels, adrenaline rushes caused by shocking stimuli are much more of a problem when going straight from "white" to "red", than if you start at "yellow" (hey, these Cooper codes are pretty useful for codifying )

 

Absolutely.

Hubris is a killer.

 

I just got into the habit of checking my SOS every few minutes. My trainer when I was getting my security lisence called it his "three minute mantra."

Self - me physically, mentally, emotionally, and capabilities
Others - presence or absence and same as above
Setting - physical and social

Many people monitor for the second, and sometimes the third, but many forget the first.

 

I understood the colour code as originally introduced by Jeff Cooper, had nothing to do with tactical situations or alertness levels, but rather with one's state of mind. Which interacts with the degree of threat one is willing to do something about and which allows one to move from one level of mindset to another to enable one to properly handle a given situation.

Cooper has the four colours discussed in this thread but some add black at the end which is the feeling of panic, an uncoordinated response, not acting with cool decisiveness.
Some do teach it as an awareness state with for example yellow; you would feel mostly relaxed not alert, cautious not tense. One doesn’t necessary need to move through the levels like a traffic light orange then red as you can go straight to red. Although some people argue that you do do it if only for a milli second.
An excellent book on as the author puts it ‘thinking without thinking’ is Blink by Malcom Gladwell. The most applicable chapter for self defense is the last one chapter 6 ‘seven seconds in the Bronx’ . An analysis of a LE shooting in New York. Is about seeing, interpreting what you see or think you see or believe you see then making split second decisions. To me this chapter emphasises the point Which one Judge remarked in a self defence case of ‘not having the luxury of the coolness of reflection’.

 

On the original topic of the thread... I know it's going to elicit a good "DUH" response, but... Grappling works.

I think it's important to say it because even though everyone in this forum probably takes for granted, it's incredible how much of the population remains completely oblivious to what grappling and submissions are (and how to react against them).

Might be more obvious in Europe than in the States... We barely watch MMA fights here, and even among the martial arts crowd, they will either not know about grappling or think it straight doesn't work. That's what I thought during all my years of Aikido and KF training. Admittedly I didn't research much but still... It puzzles me that I had zero knowledge of even the most basic ground fighting principle for that long...

 

The police teach two levels which is high or unknown threats.If dealing with anyone in any potential conflict situation these are how you should approach it.

For selfdefence whatever you drill the most will come out under pressure none of this "i think i will use tech A or B if they do this" rubbish.Until something happens you wont know how you will respond or not respond in a lot of cases.

Recently i had the pleasure of dealing with someone who was being aggressive towards me and making out he had a knife.I had my fence/guard up keeping him back by default as these situations arise a fair bit unfortunately.I had a massive adrenaline rush this time,something i dont normally get, and this guy is lit up like a xmas tree in my mind covered in targets.I cant explain it, i just went into some sort terminator heads up display.By now i had lost the hearing and became conceciously aware of the tunnel vision kicking in.

I pushed him hard away,breaking his centerline by putting my foot between his as i did it and shouting "get back stay back".Now i had plenty of witnesses watching who the attacker was so its game on if he wants to ramp it up.
At this point he looked totally confused by the shouting and dropped the ive got a knife act and took off his belt to use as a weapon , not the best choice eh ?
By now im ready for his lesson in pain as he approached but luckily enough i was able to step away onto a bus which pulled up behind me,he didnt follow,sorted.

The thing is even though ive had my fair share of idiots starting even i got the adrenaline and its effects.The effects alone can lose you a fight if you are not aware of them as they can decrease your performance as well as enhance it.
When he was threatening by making out he had a knife my hands were getting the shakes, i conciously made myself look around me so i didnt get caught out by the tunnel vision i knew was coming.I only knew to do this by training for these situations and also knew my martial arts experience was going to hold up especially with the belt malarky.I had already envisaged the first swing then im inside shutting you down type thinking, my turn etc.

Mental and physical states are so important just as is the psychology of the situation.Bataris box is something you should all look at if you havent heard of it.Ive used it defuse situations many a time,it really is important you are able to remain calm when dealing with agression as a tool to a means.

Its not a does everything tool, sometimes agression is just as useful tool too.

 

As Geoff Thompson would point out, grappling works fantastically well one on one, but you don't want to be grappling with a guy when the guy's wife stabs you in the kidneys or when the guy's pals jump on you. Grappling is an important skill to have - sometimes you don't get a say in whether the fight goes to the ground, but only a fool looks to take a streetfight down deliberately.

 

Depends on situation.

Throws are grappling too and hitting someone with the planet can work quite well. in addition Not all fights are too the death, just as if I had to 'end someone' a fully applied RNC for an extended amount of time will do the job.

 

Its the job i do, people dont like me as im good at it,pm sent with more detail.

 

True, and I like a good sweep as much as the next guy, but when people talk about grappling in this context, they're talking about going to the floor with their opponent. It just aint a good strategy in 90%+ of cases.