Cultivating a Warrior Mindset

[2-BPM]

David Grossman's writing and teaching has been the greatest teacher of warrior mindset I’ve ever found. I first read "On Killing" when I was 16, and have read it over and over ever since, although these days I prefer "On Combat". I make my junior Marines read it, and write personal essays on what they have learned from each book, and then I sit down and talk with them about fostering the Gunfighter mentality. The ones that pursue this path get higher scores for promotion, and almost always end up being better Marines then their peers. When I first shook LtCol Grossman's hand, I looked him in the eye and said "Thank you Sir for saving my life." because he most certainly did. Many of my brothers have said the same, and I use his studies to fight off PTSD within my ranks. I realize now that I survived my first tour because of luck or divine intervention. It wasn’t skill. But after the Invasion of Iraq in 2003, it made me realize my luck wouldn’t hold out forever. I call this my "awakening". When I realized that this is my life, my calling, and my duty to self and junior Marines. The Gun Fighter mentality is this: "The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing" If you pride yourself as a good man, than you will take action, not words to back it up. You will accomplish your mission, protect the weak, and never stop preparing for your next fight. It is the driving force in your life, one that will cost you as much as it helps you. But in the end, if you have chosen to carry the gun for the right reasons it will be a fulfilling life. It means different things to different men, mostly beyond description even to our selves. It can't be taught, and not everyone who lives the life, lives by the code.

[Watrdawg]

For myself I think this has been cultivate by my life experiences. Being a military kid we moved or changes schools quite often. Being the shortest and most of the time the new kid on the block I was picked on quite a bit. To the point where I ended up fighting someone or multiple people at once a week or so. It became so bad that in 75 we were stationed at Ft. Ord CA and not only was I the new kid, the shortest and a minority. There were many a day that I had to fight multiple kids to get out of the bathroom and to class. I also wrestled from the 3rd grade all the way through high school and in the Army. The whole point of this is that life experiences can also cultivate a Warriors Mindset. My time in the Army just honed and directed it even more. To this day I have always had the mindset that you do whatever it takes to survive and protect the one's you care for. The only way I will lose a battle is if I am incapacitate to the point that I either cannot pull a trigger or throw a punch. I constantly evaluate everything going on around me so that hopefully I am not surprised by others trying to do harm. I train with my weapons and martial arts. I also try to keep my family prepared to act to whatever events. I try to teach my kids not to be a victim and prepare themselves also. They are 10, and 12 and have been in martial arts for the last 2 years. They also shoot all of my weapons and are very familiar with them. Hopefully I am cultivating that mindset in them and teaching them to focus it properly

[QuickStrike]

1). How do you define Warrior Mindset? What does it entail? Surely it is not simply synonymous with aggression.

Take with huge amounts of salt:

I used to think it is a large part of it. Anger/aggression is the most effective counter to feelings of pain and fear IMO. But this must be kept in check.

And some are able to perform in a robot-like fashion just like they've trained without going into berserker rage. Which brings me to the next idea.

2). How do you cultivate Warrior Mindset for yourself? Is it inherent in one's personality or is it learned. Like most things, I would imagine some of both. How does one train their mind/perspective to develop such a mindset?

I've been trying to figure this out myself. After reading "The Book of Five Rings" and others, I find "mushin" to be an interesting idea, it is very similar to Boyd's OODA loop IMO.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushin

Mushin is achieved when a person's mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during combat or everyday life. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction or what is felt intuitively.

A martial artist would likely have to train for many years to be capable of maintained mushin. This allows time for combinations of movements and exchanges of techniques to be practised repetitively many thousands of times, until they can be performed spontaneously, without conscious thought, thus changing your natural reactions to be more effective in combat or whatever else you may be doing.

From what I understand, one does not have to have to be a martial artist or fighter to have mushin. Most people have it when they sit in their cars driving in busy traffic. Through many repetitions of techniques used in operating their vehicles they no longer think about separate steps to to each action, and adapt/flow with any driving condition smoothly.

I believe the mindset of determination and diligence in training, is vital to smooth mushin/OODA. One doesn't always have the time to get amphed up for a fight IRL.

Just comparing notes. As a civilian, my 2 cents might be more like 2 pesos. But I wouldn't have posted it, if I didn't think it was useful.

[2-BPM]

Mushin is interesting, and I’m sure it exists to some extend in modern warriors. But I would say the concept of Bushido would fit better, it’s the code the Samurai lived by which shaped all their actions. Even the daily and mundane. It seems all warrior cultures relished the notion of dying in combat as the ultimate honor. (The Vikings, Spartans, etc.) While modern western civilization views Battle as something a poor 18 year old E3 gets "exposed to" for 4 years, before leaving the service to “move on with life”. As in not something to be mastered, just something to be taught quickly, used and then dropped as soon as service ends. Nobody has taught me how to kill. They taught me how to shoot green plastic robot shaped targets and walk really far with heavy stuff on my back. The mindset, the will to survive, the team mentality is all things some embrace on their own and believe, and others are forced to fake.

[CQC.45]

Some great responses so far.

One quick point: After rereading my post. I think I could have phrased my words a little better when I said "I would imagine that lack of emotional motivation would be nothing but a good thing". "Motivation" was the wrong word to use. "Emotional decision-making" would have been more accurate.

6933 hit the nail on the head (what I was trying to get at) when referring to the difference between using it as motivation verses letting it make your decisions. Channeling it instead of it channeling you.

6933: I also train in BJJ so I can relate, good points all around.

VMI-MO: I will be picking up "Gates of Fire" next time I am at the book store both for its relevence to this discussion and the fact that I am a Spartan (and Greek in general) buff.

Iraqgunz: I get the humor, but it seems like a legitimate and relevant topic to me. Perhaps you could provide some perspective if you disagree. If I am interpreting your post incorrectly, than please clarify. Thanks.


Keep the responses coming, there is some good discussion in here.

[DoomOnYou]

A warrior is a master of himself, his weapon, and his surroundings.

Quoted from the Book Of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. One of the greatest books ever written.

[QuickStrike]

Mushin is interesting, and I’m sure it exists to some extend in modern warriors. But I would say the concept of Bushido would fit better, it’s the code the Samurai lived by which shaped all their actions. Even the daily and mundane. It seems all warrior cultures relished the notion of dying in combat as the ultimate honor. (The Vikings, Spartans, etc.)

Mushin and bushido aren't mutually exclusive. Bushido is more of a code of conduct e.i, a set of rules or principles. A little like religion in that some people only follow the parts they like, but I digress...

Mushin deals more with application of techniques in a dynamic setting.

Today we hear things like, "We don't rise to the occasion, we fall to our level of training." or the OODA loop, and they're all basically the same principle rediscovered, and renamed (also refined in Boyd's version) IMO.

[RogerinTPA]

For myself I think this has been cultivate by my life experiences. Being a military kid we moved or changes schools quite often. Being the shortest and most of the time the new kid on the block I was picked on quite a bit. To the point where I ended up fighting someone or multiple people at once a week or so. It became so bad that in 75 we were stationed at Ft. Ord CA and not only was I the new kid, the shortest and a minority. There were many a day that I had to fight multiple kids to get out of the bathroom and to class. I also wrestled from the 3rd grade all the way through high school and in the Army. The whole point of this is that life experiences can also cultivate a Warriors Mindset. My time in the Army just honed and directed it even more. To this day I have always had the mindset that you do whatever it takes to survive and protect the one's you care for. The only way I will lose a battle is if I am incapacitate to the point that I either cannot pull a trigger or throw a punch. I constantly evaluate everything going on around me so that hopefully I am not surprised by others trying to do harm. I train with my weapons and martial arts. I also try to keep my family prepared to act to whatever events. I try to teach my kids not to be a victim and prepare themselves also. They are 10, and 12 and have been in martial arts for the last 2 years. They also shoot all of my weapons and are very familiar with them. Hopefully I am cultivating that mindset in them and teaching them to focus it properly

I had similar experiences growing up in Detroit when gangs were all over the place in the late 70s. When confronted you had two choices, submit, get robbed and your ass kicked, or go down fighting and take out as many as you could. If you submitted, they would look for you again and often. If you fought, you may still get your ass kicked, but it gave you their respect for not being a pussy and gave you the satisfaction that you kicked some ass too.

On active duty, we called it "flipping the switch" (the psychological switch) from war to peace mode. In the war mode, you did what ever it took to accomplish the mission and get your guys home safe. When you were on the plane coming home, you flipped the switch to "peace" mode, in order to spare yourself from the effects mentally, your family and society, from your experiences. It also allowed you to tone down that aggression that has become instinct and was instrumental in dealing with PTSD. It didn't work for some, but those who felt the mission was worthy, believed in it, their training, the men in the unit, and had high confidence in the leadership, it worked.

[Ash Hess]

I think Mr Howe said it best "I will F^(&ing Destroy you"

I have read the 5 rings, On Killing, and Starship Troopers. While interesting and relevant, if you take Howe's phrase and understand it, it says a lot. It applies to every situation, every place, and should place your mindset in the right place.
To make it true, you must train and train more. You must understand the target, the weapon, and the way to use it. Once you begin to master your thought process you begin to understand that you can do it,and therefore you understand that you don't have to.

Accuracy declines 50% during combat because of stress, lack of focus and timing. So a long and daunting "mindset" is not something you will have available.
Once upon a time, on a 2 way range, the only thing that mattered was eliminating the folks that were attempting to eliminate me, as fast as I could

[markm]

Play Call of Duty and Medal of Honor for hours at a time. That will help.

Halo isn't bad either.