Yes, it’s self-defense. As the name might suggest, it’s self-defense where you have to hit at full force (otherwise, they don’t fall down upon you hitting them) while you’re scared to death by their behaviors.

Over and over and over.

It gets your body used to using adrenaline for “fight or flight” like Nature put it there for, rather than “freeze” like an unnatural life makes so easy for us (since we haven’t had to use that adrenaline as much as, say, a squirrel or a pre-society human).

The neat thing is that many people who take such training find that they can let other people get closer, physically, because even if those other people start having violent behaviors once already inside a close range, the adrenaline-state training grads have confidence that they will be able to throw punches & kicks, rather than be shocked into a stupor, after such behaviors start.

(Of course, I’m not trying to say grads get stupid. I’m just saying that when it seems more practical to let someone be physically close than not to do so, they have more options that seem doable!)

Is adrenaline-state training self defense?

Just a thought that went through my head.