Panic Attack and Claustrophobia are categorized as irrational fears in some books on psychology and human psyche (consciousness).
That being said——to those who experience them, they are still real phenomena, with real physical and emotional effects that should not be lightly brushed aside by instructors or training partners.
The first step in overcoming those internal feelings of drastic helplessness is to acknowledge them, and to some degree be happy that certain aspects of your trainings were effective enough in triggering those internal hidden fears come to the surface. That’s actually a good news in disguise, because now we can work on overcoming them.
The second step is, to never run away from them. If the person experiencing them runs away from those fears and quits training——those fears will follow them every where they go——manifesting themselves in different shapes and forms, affecting other subtle domains in life——be it any critical decision-making in life, career and relational commitments, intense school and college course-load demands, heavy stresses due to great and sudden losses, or any intense difficulty that can trigger great fears, worries, and uncertainties in one’s life.
The third step is, have the instructor aware of those specific panic occurrences, so he or she can assess the specific circumstances one begins to experience feeling those fears. That way, he or she can choose better suited partners for you to work with and monitor both the intensity of the resistance, and the actual moves that one needs to know in order to prevent and or escape from those critical positions which trigger that sense of panic and claustrophobia.
We have seen these patterns for decades and thankfully we haven’t had a single student that didn’t overcome these fears during the training. But again, the key is:
1) Instructor awareness.
2) Instructor’s observation in order to identify those trigger-positions, including the exact nature and the duration of the pressure that bring about those intense moments of personal fears or panics.
3) Instructor’s practical and objective solutions by showing, both the defense and the offense from those exact positions which happen to trigger that sense of fear, helplessness, and panic. This methodology is gradually and wisely followed by increasing application of intensity, strength, and pressure as one gets better and better in handling those weak positions which one previously could not escape from, and thus, felt stuck and helpless in them.
In conclusion, don’t run away from the type of fears that you can in fact control and change, though fear in essence is a good virtue in its rightful place, and a necessary biological complex. Make sure you let your instructor(s) know about them, so they can correctly and wisely help you overcome those fears and panics most often caused by the lack of necessary knowledge and skills to escape and/or deal with the strength and pressure of a crazed opponent.
We are certain that through a wise and continued training, you are bound to overcome your obstacles and far excel in your skills and natural talents. There is absolutely no doubt about this!
Coach SHAHRAM