What is fear? Can we learn to control it?
The way we as people experience fear begins in the part of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala is the part of the brain where many of our emotions are processed. simply put . The fear response.
When the amygdala is activated due to possible danger, it elicits the fear response. Now This can happen when we are in actual danger, or when we believe we are in danger, in the practice of martial arts we try to simulate that type of danger in order to create a fear base type of stimuli in order to insight the fear response so the practitioner can learn how to deal with the way they respond to fear in a safe space. Ie The dojo. While the amygdala processes emotional experiences, the frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex control things like language and impulse control. When we experience fear, our brain re-routes energy to the amygdala, slowing down processing in other areas. That is why it can be difficult to speak or make rational decisions when we are afraid. As martial artist we strain to control that response.
In this episode Barak Yalad Shidoshi and Israel Lopez sensei discuss dealing with the fear response from Martial Arts's perspective.
We hope you enjoy
