{"id":7243,"date":"2018-08-15T07:00:11","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T07:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/?p=7243"},"modified":"2021-03-31T15:27:26","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T15:27:26","slug":"special-agent-tactics-3-steps-to-becoming-a-warrior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/15\/special-agent-tactics-3-steps-to-becoming-a-warrior\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Agent Tactics: 3 Steps to Becoming a Warrior"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Developing a Warrior Mindset<\/h4>\nIn a previous article, I wrote about the warrior mindset, and I told you I would describe how to build that mindset. In this article, I will do just that. When I was a federal agent I read somewhere that there was a saying that many cops have to live by, and it goes like this: \"Be polite and professional but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.\"\n\nThis is a harsh reality that all law enforcement officers and soldiers have to live with. We have to have the warrior mindset that tells us that we could be talking to someone one second and have to escalate to deadly force the next. To survive and win you must prepare, commit, believe, and never give up. Let me give you three steps to help you develop your warrior mindset and become a true warrior.\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

Step 1: Prepare Like A Warrior<\/h2>\nWhen it comes to being a warrior, you can prepare yourself mentally all you want, but if you're a couch potato, you're probably not going to be able to perform effectively in a stressful combat situation.\n\nIt's essential that you spend sufficient time preparing your warrior body by working out, eating right, getting enough sleep, and training in a fighting system<\/a>.\n\nThis is no great revelation for you, but something I need to say.\n
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Where to Start<\/h4>\nTRS<\/a> has some GREAT training DVDs that will teach you some of the best fighting techniques in the world<\/a>, but you do have to practice them...at least a little. People continue to ignore this advice and end up paying the ultimate price when they are attacked.\n\nWhen I was a defensive tactics and firearms instructor for several federal agencies, I would tell my agents to practice regularly. It was obvious which ones did and which did not. They would show up for their quarterly firearms qualification and would shoot like crap initially.\n\nSame for defensive tactics training. I would not want some of them backing me up. You can't break the mind-body connection and expect your peak performance to be there when you need it the most without proper practice and training.\n\nI am not saying you have to train like an athlete. Hell, I am almost 55 years old and far from being an athlete, BUT, I continue to stay in decent shape so I won't be caught out there should violence jump off and I need to act. Though there were exceptions at every agency I ever worked with, you can't expect a 55-year-old like me to train the same way a 25-year-old does.\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

What should you focus on?<\/h4>\nYour main objective is to maximize your conditioning, maintain many of your acquired skills, and increase your tolerance for stress in order to preserve a constructive mind-body connection. It is not about how much weight you can lift (I don't lift heavy anymore) or about how far you can run. I can't run on these knees anymore either. It's more about you being able to perform at your best\u2014whatever that may be for you\u2014under extreme circumstances, surviving, and winning.\n\nWhen it comes to survival, it is not always the biggest and strongest who make it. Sometimes it's those with the most heart that prevail. Those with the strongest survival mindsets are the ones that are best equipped to survive. It's those who keep on going no matter what comes at them. This is a lesson I want you to remember if you want to become a true warrior.\n
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Here's what I mean<\/h4>\nAs an example of a true warrior mindset, I want to relate a story I read recently. A Georgia grandmother was stepping outside her home to take a picture when she was attacked by a rabid bobcat. Now THIS<\/span> is a warrior's mindset!\n
As soon as it took the first step I was in trouble, and I knew it. It leaped on me... I grabbed it by the shoulders and pushed it back away from me... and I took it down. If I had ever let it go, it would have been me, so I made sure I never let it go.<\/blockquote>\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

Step 2: Believe You Can Prevail<\/h2>\nPeople often say what you can conceive (believe) you can achieve. Well, there's a reason for that. Mental imagery, or visualization, is one of the most powerful skills you can use to enhance mental toughness and performance. Athletes do it before a sports match and I used to do it before a martial arts tournament.\n\nI would see myself defeating my opponent, and I often I did. Then, even as an agent, I would visualize certain scenarios that could occur during a search warrant or an undercover operation and would prepare myself for that outcome.\n\nEven today, if I am on an elevator and a couple rough looking guys get on, I visualize how I would take them out if I needed to. Belief and visualization is not used as a substitute for hands-on training, but can definitely supplement your preparation.\n\nResearch has shown that if you prepare mentally and believe you can accomplish a task, you will increase your chances of accomplishing it. If you allow negative thoughts and doubts to enter in, they will decrease your chances of winning.\n
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How you can simply use imagery training to enhance your skills<\/h4>\nFirst, think about a situation you might find yourself facing. Then think about the action you will take and are about to practice. Go over it a few times in your mind and imagine yourself doing the task while sitting or standing quietly.\n\nNext, think about it again but this time actually pantomime (do or rehearse) the motions. You might have seen someone with his eyes closed talking to himself, moving around and pretending to perform a task. Although he may look like he's in a trance, he's not crazy; it's just a form of cognitive rehearsal. Think about the Karate practitioner doing a Kata. They are pantomiming a fight scenario.\n\nThe last part of this, of course, is actually practicing the task or technique. This can be done with hand-to-hand techniques<\/a>, weapons, or even with your gun<\/a> (empty of course) as you practice drawing, squeezing the trigger or retaining your weapon.\n\nThis type of training helps create a bridge between the psychological and physical aspects of what you are trying to accomplish. If you do what I suggest here, new skills won't seem so new when you try them for the first time because you will have done them many times in your mind. Repetition alone will not do the trick. You have to go beyond just going through the motions. You have to want to be successful, and you have to see yourself being successful as you perform each task. You have to focus your mind on getting better.\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

Step 3: Overcome and Win<\/h2>\nMany of you are already warriors in some aspect. Being a warrior means throwing your heart and soul into something you believe in and never looking back.\n\nHaving a warrior mindset means you won't quit. Like the Spartans of old, you either back your shield or be carried back on it.\n\nHaving a warrior mindset means doing whatever it takes to be prepared because warriors don't just survive, we overcome and win. At the end of the day, being a warrior is a mind game, and your job is to play the game to win because your life might just depend on it<\/a>.\n
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Final Thoughts on Thinking Like a Warrior<\/h4>\n