Conditioning Yourself To See Your Own Blood In Self Defense Situations

Hi everyone,

I would like to discuss how to condition yourself so you do not panic when you see the sight of your own blood in combat situations.

This is where training comes in; I believe that how to train for a situation and how you will respond to that given situation. You need to not only train yourself physically in first aid techniques but you need to train in the mental element as well when it comes to dealing with first aid situations.

You must prepare yourself to see your own blood but when SHTF you can remain calm and deal with the task at hand. The body can lose half a gallon of blood and still be able to continue fighting and functioning. Simply pour a half gallon of red Kool-Aid onto the floor and take a mental picture of it, that's how much blood you can lose and still function.

Just because you have been shot or stabbed doesn’t mean you’re going to die and you need to mentally tell yourself that during training scenarios so that survival mindset kicks in when you need it most.



The human body is extremely tough and resilient; I have interviewed countless people who have been shot and stabbed or have been beaten severely who have lived to tell there tale. The human body can take a beating and a lot of the times will not feel any pain until after the fact when you’re coming down off your adrenaline dump.

For individuals who do feel pain or have been injured and are bleeding do not panic, breath you are still alive, focus on what you need to do such as getting to safety. People can survive a gunshot wound to the heart and still live seven seconds after that and with today's medical advances the odds are in your favor.

Here are some suggestions to obtain a survivor mindset;

One way to have the "never say die attitude" is to read stories of people who beat the odds survived a violent attack yet fought after being severely beaten, stabbed or shot. So if the time ever comes and you have been injured your subconscious will kick in, remember these stories of survival and continue to fight because if those people could do it so could you. You must possess the will to survive so that you stay alive.

Also realize that getting hit or shot in the bone hurts but you won't die from those injuries. As well most people when stabbing someone stab people haphazardly To receive a lethal stab wound a major artery must be punctured.

When training in self defense techniques if you get shot or stabbed in scenarios do not stop fighting for if you do you are subconsciously telling yourself that you can’t take the injury and to just give up and die.

Mentally rehearse yourself getting shot or stabbed yet continue fighting your enemy This way if the day comes and you get injured you will continue fighting regardless of what injury you have endured and also the injury won’t be so traumatizing to you.

Remember to breathe to help slow down bleeding and to remain calm in a crisis situation. Here is a simple and very effective tactical breathing exercise that most law enforcement and emergency medical services personnel use.

Tactical Breathing: Breath in through your nose (abdomen should go out) for a 4 count as you say "calm" in your head or whatever your word of choice may be to create the feeling you choose to feel, hold for 4 seconds, then let it out through your mouth for 4 seconds (abdomen should go inwards), and hold for 4 seconds and repeat (mental reminder BREATHE). You can also do this on a different count if it works better for you. This will regulate your body's reactions to adrenaline and help you to remain calm.


There's no such thing as a dirty fighter only an educated one


Norm Bettencourt