Internalizing information

When I was in training for my job as a patrol officer, we used to do training scenarios to help us implement our communication, safety, and law application skills that we were developing. One training day in particular, my class was struggling with translating what we were learning in the classroom to applying that information to make real time, split second decisions. My defensive tactics instructor gave us a piece of advice that has stuck with me. 

He said, “It’s not good enough to be familiar with the information. You have to internalize it.” 

So what is the difference between familiarity and internalization? A rudimentary level of understanding of self-defense law may be good enough to help you get through a written test in a classroom setting. However, take that same level of understanding and try to put it into use in rapidly unfolding, possibly violent scenario. You’ll find that the level of understanding that was good enough in the classroom breeds hesitation under stress. 

Why is that? 

Basically, it’s the way our brains are designed. Higher brain functions such as learning, thinking, and reasoning are controlled by the front of our brain (cerebrum). When we are under little to no stress, we can use our “front brain” effectively. We can sit and think about laws, policies, and tactics and how they might apply to theoretical situations.

However, when we introduce a sufficient amount of stress into the situation, our front brain shuts down and our mid-brain takes over (cerebellum). The mid-brain controls our learned skills, but it does not have ability to think rationally like our front brain. This means that our ability to come up with a rational response to the threat/problem all but vanishes, and we fall back to our learned behaviors and responses. If we have nothing to fall back on, the most likely outcome is freezing. 

The best way to prepare for any situation is to put yourself in that situation in a controlled way through training. You can take first aid classes with hands-on skills to prepare to administer aid under stress. You can perform simulated force on force, scenario based training to prepare yourself to for engaging a deadly threat. However, this doesn’t necessarily address the problem of knowing what is a lawful response is to a particular threat in the heat of the moment. 

It’s impossible to visualize the nuances of any potential threat you could face in your life, and there are many factors to consider. What if the threat isn’t a clear cut deadly force situation? It’s easy to say that someone is presenting a deadly force threat if they are firing bullets at you. But what if they have a gun held by their side? What if they have a visible gun in a holster but haven’t drawn it? What if they make threats about using a gun but have no gun visible? 

Hopefully you get the point. The way to prepare to make a lawful response is to learn, know, and understand self-defense laws. If you internalize the laws, they act as bumper pads on a bowling lane. You may not have a perfect response pre-planned for the specific scenario in front of you, but the established understanding of the law can keep you from making an awful decision that will land you in the gutter. 

The Bible addresses this concept in Psalm 119:11, “I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” The writer was aware that the way to live his life in a God-honoring fashion was to have the words of God stored up ahead of time in his heart. Notice he didn’t say, “I have a vague notion of what Your Word says in my head, so I can figure out the right response when a problem presents itself.” On the contrary, the writer internalized God’s words so that they were there to guide him in every situation in his life. 

My encouragement to you is to be proactive in this area. Don’t wait for a bad thing to happen to stumble your way through the legal issues. Even in trained individuals like police officers, responses to threats aren’t perfect. That’s the nature of violent, rapidly changing situations. However, if you know what the law says and act in accordance with your reasonable belief in the moment of stress, you’ll stay out of the gutter of making an unlawful response and landing in jail. 

If you’re looking for a training where we discuss self-defense laws and some of its nuanced application, consider attending one of our concealed carry trainings in northern Colorado. You can sign up for upcoming classes here. 

Until next time, 

Be a warrior…

Stand in the breach…

Hold the line…

- Isaac C.