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How to Stay Calm in Combat

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What’s the worst thing you can do in a self-defense situation? Nothing. If you haven’t prepared yourself for how to handle combat, you can freeze up and find yourself unable to make a decision. Stress can hurt your ability to defend yourself. You can make poor choices and, even worse, have poor aim when it counts.

How to handle yourself in combat.

If you can’t avoid being attacked, you’ll need to take specific steps to protect yourself. These situations are the reason that you practice drawing, firing and reloading your concealed handgun regularly.

1. Breathe. The foundation of surviving combat is to keep breathing. Stress makes your heart pound and your pulse race. If you’re in danger you may either stop breathing or hyperventilate. Keep your breath steady and smooth. You’ll supply your brain with the oxygen it needs and keep a calm demeanor.

You can learn to manage your breathing through practice. While at home or in minor stress situations at work or in the car, regulate your breathing by counting to three as you inhale and exhale. Be mindful of your breaths and how rapid or slow they are. Practice slowing your breath down. If you have access to an outdoor firing range, you can do push ups, jumping jacks, or a short run before you pick up your weapon and fire. This will help you experience how it will feel to be under stress.

2. Maintain a strong grip on your handgun from start to finish. Several things can happen if you do not keep a strong grip on your handgun during combat. You increase the possibility of an attacker knocking it out of your hands, rendering you defenseless. Your grip must be strong and confident. Use your training and control to keep your finger off of the trigger unless you must destroy your target.

You can practice this at the range and at home. While firing your weapon at the range, accept the recoil and let it raise your grip and gun naturally. Return your hands to firing position and maintain your sight alignment on your target. When you’re at home, ensure that the gun is unloaded and safe to handle, then practice gripping and releasing the gun appropriately to train your mind and hand to recognize the features of the gun without the benefit of sight.

3. Use the best shooting stance that you can manage. A critical defense situation is very different from target practice. You’re just trying to use the gun as well as possible in a fight, not keep perfect body positioning. When you feel threatened, it’s natural to lean slightly forward and put your weight on the balls of your feet. Maintain bent knees and straight arms. Remain athletic and this will make you more resistant to being knocked over. Bent arms can make the gun less reliable by raising the muzzle upon firing and disrupting the gun’s ability to chamber the next round.

It’s crucial that you practice drawing and firing your gun from a variety of positions and stances. Practice firing and reloading while also moving, as you may need to avoid return fire or manage attackers from different directions. If possible, practice firing from the ground as well.

Things to Remember
Remember that many self-defense scenarios can start out as small and avoidable conflicts. Don’t let arguments escalate into fights. If the other person asks you to “take this outside” or taunts you into hitting them, don’t take the bait. If you accept their invitation you’ll have trouble proving that you acted in self-defense.

By managing your body’s natural reactions to danger, you’ll be able to stay calm in combat. Your body is built to protect itself, so work with it to survive. Practicing steady breathing and relaxation exercises will keep your mind calm and clear. A strong and practiced grip and a dynamic shooting stance can keep you alive in the most dangerous of situations. If you’re ready to learn more, check out our other articles and videos on self-defense tactics.

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