Mind control, chi development, fight or flight, controlling fear, adrenaline – all these phrases spring to mind.
Martial Arts, as well as being a journey for many people to explore their potential, also digs deep into one’s self. Mind control, chi development, fight or flight, controlling fear, adrenaline – all these phrases spring to mind.
Managing Fear…
Having read up and experienced physical conflict whilst training in Martial Arts and as a police officer I started researching fight or flight and managing fear. This was some time ago in the 1990’s. I also had an interest in fire walking on hot coals. This is a real mind control and confidence challenge. I still, one day would like to try it, just for a laugh.
I once read an article on confronting your fears in stages. One of them involved picking up a spider. Something that I had never done. In theory it is quite simply analysing what could go wrong and doing some very simple self hypnosis. The thing to bear in mind is that in the UK there are no poisonous spiders, although the False Widow Spider in recent years has appeared in the UK which could give you a nasty rash, so what harm can come to you in picking it up. With all this in mind I quickly conquered my fear of domestic UK spiders.
In the early 2000’s I had a particularly low period in my life. I tried having counselling which served no purpose at all. I was recommended a psychotherapist to bring my mental dilemmas up to speed. After five or six sessions my life became fulfilled again and I was able to return to normality. The Psychotherapy consisted of a fair bit of hypnosis which guided me through offering me the ability to be confident once again.
Hypnotherapy Diploma
In 2006 I decided to learn how to perform hypnotherapy myself which would enable me to practice as a professional hypnotherapist.
I enrolled in a Diploma Course in Hypnotherapy with Chrysalis Courses. They specialise in training hypnotherapists, psychotherapists and counsellors. The course was split into theory and practical learning both in the classroom and course work. After 18 months I received my diploma.
Hypnotherapy in the Martial Arts
A Martial Artist may wish to either undergo hypnotherapy for performing in competition or overcoming a fear. It could be that a person has experienced a viscous assault and wishes to conquer their fear of walking out alone, or feel confident being around people in crowded places.
The below excerpt links to an article on sports performance and hypnosis from peakendurancesport.com which is a more in depth article focusing on preparing for sporting events using imagery and self-hypnosis.
What are imagery and self-hypnosis?
Mental imagery can be defined as the process that occurs when we recreate experiences in the mind using information that is stored in the memory. Dreaming is an unstructured form of imagery, but the type of imagery we’re interested in here is structured imagery, where the athlete uses his or her imagination in a controlled fashion to recreate specific images. There are a number of different ways of visualising images or experiences recreated in the mind….CONTINUE READING
The below Youtube video is a 22 minute session of hypnotherapy for Martial Artist’s
In the coming months I may be producing hypnotic videos to assist in people in confronting their fear. Stay in touch
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