Desensitizing Yourself To Violence

Hi everyone,

If you have been reading my posts for a while you know how much emphasis I place on the mental element of combat. I believe and I can’t repeat this enough that combat is 90% mental and only 10% physical. We need to train our minds to let go of barriers that inhibit us from becoming vile, raw and animalistic when it comes to using violence.

I remember the first time I bit someone in a fight I placed my enemies’ finger into my mouth and bit down hard. As I bit I watched the horror and shock inside my enemies’ eyes. I felt his bone of his finger make contact with my teeth and at that moment in time I knew that if I was going to bite down any harder their would be the sound of crackling bone and the warmth of blood that wasn’t inside my mouth.

I had prepared myself in my training to expect this and to make this event as something normal for me to do just like eating a piece of steak. I was prepared and ready for the brutality that I was to set upon my enemy. When I explain this to new students who come to train with me they all have the same reaction. They tell me that they understand that is something that they might have to do to survive violence but they do not know if they have it in them to rip and tear another human beings flesh off due to its brutality.

This is where the mental training needs to come into play for a person to be able to bite and tear flesh off of another person and be comfortable to have warm blood dripping and human meat dangle from their mouth. Or to be able to stab someone and feel the warmth of their enemies blood dripping on their hand as they penetrate a piece of cold steel deeper into their enemies’ body and watch the life of the person evaporate from their enemies’ eyes as they do so.

These are not tasks that anyone can do and are not like what you see in the movies. They are close quarters and very personal in nature. You need to prepare yourself to be able to do these things. So how do you go about doing this?

1.Go hunting and learn how to kill another animal and skin it. Remember respect nature when doing so by thanking the animal for their sacrifice and only taking an animals life for the purpose of food and not for the excitement of the kill.

2.Meditate vividly on images such as what I have described in this post like biting and tearing the flesh off someone or stabbing someone as you look into their eyes.

3.Look over real life images of someone being violently attacked if you can. There are countless images taken from security cameras in this regard. This will help desensitize you to the horrors’ of violence.

4.View footage from surgery’s or autopsies. Some medical agencies for a fee allow you to view medical professionals dissect a corpse for educational purposes.

5.Train your mind to go into the “Killer Instinct Mindset” when you are threatened with physical violence. More on this at http://www.tactselfdefense.com/fearmanagement.php


So those are just some of the things that helped me along the way to help me break down my mental barriers when it comes to using violence to its full potential.


Remember there is no such thing as a dirty fighter only an educated one.

Norm Bettencourt