Using stress in training - the right way

“Train as you fight” and “realistic, warlike training” are two of my favorite examples of maxims that are misunderstood 95% of the time in tactical training – whether in firearms instruction, hand-to-hand combat, or anywhere else.

Participants are often put under pressure: during firearms training, every mistake in handling or marksmanship earns loud and disrespectful feedback; in H2H training, the opponent is instructed to give maximum resistance – always. Preferably full contact.

Some of you might already feel like shooting back at me here – after all, this is about real combat!Of course training has to be hard! It’s about lives and about the mission!

And I agree, let me make that clear right away – stress is EXTREMELY important in tactical training.But: only in the right place!And that’s what we’re going to look at now.

Didactics usually distinguish three stages of learning:

• Knowing – the participant understands how something basically works.

• Being able – he can reproduce and apply the processes.

• Mastering – he is capable of reliably executing the right action even under the worst conditions.

  
  

Stress – whether through massive resistance in half- or full-contact grappling, or through shouting and physical exhaustion in firearms training – is an essential part of the last stage – Mastering.

The problem: many instructors introduce stress already in the Knowing or Being able phase.That almost inevitably leads to frustration, poor learning outcomes, and in the worst case, the internalization of mistakes.

An example:If a beginner in his very first shooting lesson gets screamed at because his magazine changes aren’t clean yet, what he will mostly learn is insecurity.His brain won’t connect the skill with routine, but with chaos and failure.

Or in hand-to-hand:If in the first week of training a student is only beaten up in full contact, without having first learned the techniques properly, he won’t develop body mechanics or self-confidence – only injuries and aversion to training.

The right way is a progressive build-up:

1. Knowing: Teach the technique in isolation, without pressure. Focus on clean movements and understanding.

2. Being able: Apply the technique in controlled scenarios, analyze mistakes, correct them.

3. Mastering: Only now add realistic stress – time pressure, physical fatigue, resistance, surprise scenarios.

   
   

This is what creates true stress inoculation training: body and mind adapt to pressure, but on a foundation of ability.

Performing under stress is an advanced training objective – comparable to running a half-marathon. Unfortunately, phrases like “train as you fight” are often used as justification to adapt training as close to reality (and the end goal) as possible right from the start – adding stress, bulky gear (“We train in full kit – train as you fight!”) etc. way too early.The result: sabotaging the learning curve.

Just as no running coach with an IQ above room temperature would suggest to a complete beginner, six months before his first half-marathon, to run a half-marathon today… in my humble opinion no tactical instructor should confuse the end state (flawless execution under stress in full kit) with the path to that goal.

I actually once had the “pleasure” of experiencing a CQB (or OHK, for the old guard) initial course in full kit inside a cramped bunker, with a very impatient and loud instructor. Fascinating how little a platoon (about 60 men) can actually learn in one full afternoon. 😉

So yes: training in full kit, with gas mask, under sleep deprivation, with uncooperative partners, etc. are all essential steps on the path to real operational capability.

But too early, in the wrong phase, or used as an end in itself, they only hinder the development of the very skills we’re trying to build.

So remember – from light to heavy: Crawl, Walk, Run.

Stay aware, stay safe!

Alex