Combative Based Action Imagery


Combative Based Action Imagery (CBAI) is nothing more than the way you learn to focus your mind on a particular task or idea, thus influencing one’s performance. In fact, CBAI is way more than just “visualization”, due to the fact that it involves many sensory modalities of the body, which equates to a more realistic experience. It is also important to remember that some people just can’t visualize, and because of this fact, they find this training attribute extremely frustrating. This is why, as a Certified Hypnotherapist, when conducting a CBAI session, I always ask the student to “visualize, imagine, or even pretend”; these three words will capture all students due to the fact that those who have trouble visualizing, will be able to either imagine or pretend. What is important to understand about CBAI, is that it is not a shortcut to success. One cannot sit on a couch, watch a self-defence video, and expect that CBAI is going to change you into a highly skilled street fighter. CBAI is not an alternative to physical training. You will always have to learn the physical “guts” your fighting system, practice the techniques involved, and develop your body to the best of your fighting ability. Once you have learned the “physical” of your fighting system, you can now use CABI to give you that winning edge. Although some believe that CBAI has no benefits to motor skill performance/enhancement, recent neurological findings have shown that patterns and areas of cerebral activation during CBAI are similar to those produced during the execution of the genuine overt motor action (Cramond, 1997, Cunnington, 1996). Using positron emission tomography (PET SCAN) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques, these studies revealed several similarities in brain activity between imagining and performing a motor action; movements are planned and controlled by similar specific areas of the motor cortex, the basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum, and brainstem.

What I am going to share with you in this post, may seem a little involved when you first start practicing this training technique but, as you become more familiar with this process, it will become easier to the point where you will be able to deliberately place yourself into a state of self-hypnosis with a single finger drop. In addition to the combative benefits of a CBAI, it will also provide a state of extreme relaxation. Just remember that you will need to practice the skills of CBAI regularly, so that it will become second nature.



STEP#1:


· Find a quiet location and get yourself comfortable. To do this, wear clothing that is not restrictive, and adopt a semi reclined position without crossing your arms or legs. DO NOT LIE IN A PRONE POSITION. A prone position is the position of sleep to the body. Remember we do not want to sleep; we want to conduct a CBAI session.









· During your CBAI you can always move or shift your position at any time during the session to make yourself more comfortable. This includes swallowing or scratching
· Also remember that during a CBAI, you will hear everything around you. You will have full conscious awareness, though you will feel a little as you do when awake and daydreaming.






Step #2: DESENSITIZATION OF ENVIRONMENT:

· Now take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a two count, and then as you breath slowly out through your mouth, allow your eyes to close
· You now want to familiarize yourself with some of the sounds that you might hear during your CBAI
· You may hear:
· Music playing in the background
· The sound of my computer booting up
· The sound of the fridge in the background
· The whistling of the wind in the trees
· The phone ring
· The sounds of street noises such as cars, sirens
· My father in law letting “corky” the dog outside
· Me standing up and walking around or shuffling papers

· Say to yourself; “THESE SOUNDS YOU HERE ARE THE SOUNDS OF EVERYDAY LIVING. THEY WILL NOT DISTRACT OR DISTURB YOU, BUT WILL CAUSE YOU TO GO DEEPER AND DEEPER DOWN INTO A STATE OF CALMNESS AND TOTAL RELAXATION”





Step #3: CENTERING:

· Continuing with your eyes closed, and in your mind’s eye, I want you to locate the wall directly in front you. See it and touch it in your mind’s eye
· Now pull yourself back into the center of your body
· Now, in your minds eye, locate the wall directly behind you. See it and touch it in your mind’s eye.
· Now pull yourself back into the center of your body
· Now, in your mind’s eye, locate the wall directly to your left. See it and touch it in your mind’s eye
· Now pull yourself back into the center of your body
· Now , in your mind’s eye, locate the wall directly to your right. See it and touch it in your mind’s eye
· Now, pull yourself back into the center of your body
· Now in your mind’s eye, locate the floor at your feet and feel the slight pressure of the floor beneath your feet.
· Now, pull yourself back up into the center of your body
· Now, in your minds eye, locate the ceiling above your head. See it and touch it in your mind’s eye
· Now, pull your self back down into the center of your body, pulling all of your energy inwards, just like a turtle pulling itself into it’s shell, pulling in, pulling in feeling warm and cozy and very together




STEP #4: PROGRESSIVE RELAXATION:


· Now continuing with your eyes closed, I want you to visualize, imagine, or even pretend that there is a warm wave of total relaxation and calmness that is going to start at the very top of your head, and move very slowly and calmly down your body to the tips of your toes. While this wave of calmness and relaxation is moving down your body, every single muscle, every single tendon, and every single ligament it touches, will become totally limp, loose, and relaxed. Once this warm wave of calmness has reached the tips of your toes, it will once again move back up your body, again causing every single muscle, every single tendon, and every single ligament it touches to go totally limp, loose, and relaxed.
· Now starting at your forehead, that place which truly shows the stresses of the day, the warm wave of calmness and comfort begins its soothing descent. All those muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the forehead are now becoming totally limp, loose, and relaxed thus allowing the tension of the day to flow away
· Now the warm wave of calmness and comfort begins to flow down to your eyelids. Feel how even now every single muscle, every single tendon, and every single ligament in and around your eyes are becoming totally limp, loose, and relaxed. Your eyelids are feeling oh so heavy as all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments surrounding your eyes are now totally limp, loose, and relaxed
· Now the warm wave of calmness and comfort begins to flow down to your cheek muscles. Every single muscle, every single tendon, every single ligament in your cheeks are now totally limp, loose, and relaxed, as the tension just melts away
· Now the warm wave of calmness and comfort flows down to the strongest muscles of the body located in and around the jaw. Now visualize, imagine, or even pretend that this warm wave of calmness and comfort is now flowing up both sides of your jaw towards your ears. As it does, every single muscle, every single tendon, and every single ligament it touches becomes totally limp, loose, and relaxed allowing the release of any and all tension in those jaw muscles so that those muscles just hang completely loose. If your mouth begins to open and it becomes more comfortable to breath allow yourself to do so.
· Now the warm wave of calmness and comfort moves down to both your neck and shoulder muscles. As this warm wave touches each and every muscle, tendon and ligament in these areas, they become totally limp loose and relaxed again allowing for all the tension of the day to just melt away
· This warm wave of total relaxation now moves down your shoulders, arms, and chest muscles, which allows these muscles to simply go limp, loose and relaxed.
· As the warm wave of calmness and comfort now reaches the muscles of your diaphragm which have the important job of bringing air in and out of the lungs, you will notice that every time you breath in, you are breathing in calmness, and every time you breath out, you are breathing out any tension, anxieties, and any stress that is in the body. Breathing in calmness, breathing out tension ( 2-3 reps). Calmness and stress can not co-exist so every time you breathe in calmness the body is filling with it and replacing the tension that used to be there. Breathing in calmness, breathing out tension (2-3 reps)
· Now this warm wave of calmness and comfort flows down to your stomach muscles. People do not like to let the stomach muscles sag, but now we will as every single muscle, every single tendon, and every single ligament in and around the stomach area become totally limp, loose, and relaxed as you are breathing in calmness breathing out tension. Breathing in calmness, breathing out tension.
· This wave of calmness and comfort continues it’s descent down through your hips and thighs. This is where the strongest voluntary muscles in the human body are located. They are needed to support the body when it walks, so take an extra minute and allow every single muscle, every single tendon, and every single ligament in your hips and thighs to go totally limp, loose, and relaxed allowing yourself to melt into the chair.
· The wave of calmness and comfort is now moving down your legs, DOWN through your knees and into the lower legs muscle as every single muscle, tendon and ligament it touches goes totally limp loose and relaxed
· As the warm wave of calmness and comfort continues its downward course, it flows through your ankles, your feet, and to the very tips of your toes. You may feel a slight pulse or tingle sensation, don’t worry about it because some people feel it, some do not, and either is normal. What is important is that every single muscle, tendon and ligament in your ankle and foot are now completely and totally limp, loose, and relaxed.
· Now the warm wave of calmness and comfort begins its return journey back up your body, and as it does, again, every single muscle, every single tendon, and every single ligament it touches will become totally limp, loose and relaxed.
· Now traveling up the back of your feet and ankles, the warm wave of calmness and comfort reaches and touches your heel, Achilles tendon, calves, hamstrings, and every other muscle, tendon, and ligament of the back of your lower legs, knees, and thighs. Again all these muscles, tendons, and ligaments are now completely and totally limp, loose, and relaxed. As calmness, comfort, and relaxation move UP the body, the body goes DEEPER DOWN into a limp, loose and relaxed state of pure comfort and relaxation. Again, breathing in calmness, breathing out tension. Breathing in calmness, breathing out tension
· The warm wave of calmness and comfort continues its ascent reaching the lower back where a lot of tension is held. Again, spend some extra time here and allow every single muscle, tendon, and ligament in your lower back to completely and totally go limp, loose, and relaxed, becoming more peaceful and serene as all of the days tensions are released.
· As the wave of calmness and comfort goes up your spine vertebra by vertebra, every single muscle, tendon, and ligament surrounding and connecting these vertebra become limp, loose, and relaxed as you melt even further DOWN into your chair
· The warm wave of calmness and comfort has now reached the back of your neck and head. Again every single muscle, tendon, and ligament in these areas are totally and completely limp, loose, and relaxed.
· Now having finally reached the top of your head, the warm wave of calmness and comfort allows those muscles, tendon, and ligaments of the scalp to become totally and completely limp, loose, and relaxed. Blood is now flowing freely through out your body and especially in and around the neck, head and scalp. All is calm and normal the way nature intended it to be














Step #5: DEEPENING TECHNIQUE

· Now (student’s name) I would like you to visualize or imagine that you are on the tenth floor of a building. Any building, either real or imaginary. I now want you to visualize, imagine, or even pretend that you see yourself walking toward the bank of elevators in the building. Now the images are becoming more vivid. See yourself reach out, pressing the button to call the elevator car. And you wait a moment. You hear the little ring of a bell signaling that the elevator has arrived. Now see the doors as they slide gently open. Now you walk into the elevator, you turn and face the doors. And as you face the doors, you raise your eyes and look directly above the doors and you see the number 10 is lit up, and glowing. You are on the tenth floor. You here the hum of the machinery as the door glides closed, and you begin to feel the elevator drifting down towards the ground floor, and as it drifts down, it is going to carry you into a much deeper state of hypnosis and relaxation than you are in now.
· You watch the number 10 and as the number 10 blinks out you feel the elevator drifting down farther. And then number 9 comes on, and as you pass the 9th floor the number 9 blinks out. You drift still deeper into hypnosis and relaxation, becoming more dreamy and drowsy. You see the number 8 come on. It glows brightly, and then as you pass the 8th floor, the 8 blinks out and the number 7 lights up, and as it does you can feel yourself drifting even deeper, and deeper down. Now you watch the 7 go out and the number 6 lights up. As you pass the 6th floor, you drift deeper and feel total relaxation flowing through your entire body. The 5th floor, now even deeper. Now the 4th floor, still deeper and deeper down into hypnotic relaxation. The 3rd floor, and going ever so deep ( speaking more softly now) 2nd floor now and drifting even deeper and deeper, 1st floor, and still deeper and more relaxed. And now (student’s name) the ground floor, totally relaxed, feeling serene, calm, comfortable and deeply relaxed








Step #6: ACTION BASED MOVEMENT IMAGERY SCRIPT:


· CBAI scripts should reveal the relevant properties of the environment-actor system at a certain moment in time. This can be accomplished by providing personalized action descriptions within imagery scripts, showing the student a video of the required motor action, or allowing the student to perform the required motor action prior to their CBAI session
· CBAI scripts should also include both the stimulus (attack) but also the response of the student utilizing as many of the bodies senses as possible
· Again remember, the subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality. The more realistic the CBAI session, utilizing all senses, the better










Step #7: POST HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION:

· Prior to exiting from the CBAI session, give yourself the following post hypnotic suggestion:


From this moment on, each and every time you find yourself in a self-protection situation, either in training or in an actual street confrontation, you will act without conscious thought based upon the training you have received. You will not think about what to do, but rather you will know what to do, and WILL just do it. Offensive mindset / Killer Instinct is the key to battle, and as such, will be something that you will both harness and use to your advantage. There is no such thing as the right or wrong way when it comes to combatives, only desirable and less desirable. Everything we do is desirable and as such you will continue to fight without pause or hesitation no matter what you or your opponent does. The physical techniques that you have now learned and mastered will flow easily and effortlessly. You are a modern warrior, and as such, you have the right to self-protection when the options of either walking away or negotiation have either failed or are inappropriate given the circumstances in which you find yourself in. You have the absolute right to defend both yourself and others under your control always understanding the fact that you do so given the legal constraints in which to do so. You will not use excessive force, but rather only that amount of force that is reasonable, given the facts and circumstances faced, to immediately stop the threat.








Step #8: EXIT:


· In a moment I will awaken from my deep body sleep. When I awaken from this sleep Iwill be more refreshed and more invigorated that I have ever felt before in my whole life. You will always find hypnosis relaxing, refreshing, and invigorating. When you awaken from a hypnotic sleep, you awaken with the physical relaxation of a champion athlete. Relaxed and perfectly normal, relaxed, and ready for anything. Relaxed with a vigorous, dynamic, relaxation that gives you pep, energy, and perfect co-ordination. You have enjoyed your session, and the relaxation, and you are looking forward to your next session, which will be even more pleasant, and helpful. All the suggestions today take complete, and thorough effect upon your mind, body, and spirit, all these suggestions are completely reinforced, over, and over, again, and again, with every day that passes. Again, these are permanent suggestions, permanent suggestions, and these suggestions now take complete and thorough effect upon your mind, body, and spirit, sinking into the very deepest part of the subconscious mind, never to be removed without your permission, sealing and stamping themselves indelibly on every single cell of your brain and your body.
· Now , I’m going to count from one up to five, and then I will say “WIDE AWAKE” At the count of five, my eyes will open, and I will be fully aware, feeling calm, rested, refreshed and relaxed
· Alright, one, slowly ,calmly, easily and gently you are returning to full awareness once again
· Two, each muscle, tendon, and ligament in my body is loose, limp and calm and I feel wonderfully good
· Three, from head to toe feeling perfect in every way. Physically perfect, mentally perfect, emotionally calm and serene
· Four, eyes begin to feel sparkling and clear. On the next number I count, eyelids open, fully aware, feeling calm, rested, refreshed, relaxed, invigorated and full of energy
· Five, fully aware. Eyelids open. Take a good, deep breath, fill up your lungs, and stretch and say out loud the words “Wide Awake”






I have now provided you with an eight-step process, which I use weekly, needed to conduct a CBAI. The more you practice these steps, the better you will get. Having said this, there is no better way to experience a CBAI than to locate a Certified Hypnotherapist who can act as a professional guide in this endeavor.


Another idea is to audiotape the above noted script, and play it back following your own voice until such time as you can conduct a CBAI in your minds eye.

Ultimately however, remember the words of Sir Darius who stated:

“ When one is imagining an action or a scene, one cannot be sure about the truthfulness of it. In addition to imagery one has to test the reality of the image. Imagery will not uncover whether an imagined action or scene or their consequences are actually possible or not. In the end, we have to stop imagining, get out of our comfortable chair, and start moving…..”



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