Surges

I think the things anyone looking at BUD/s fear collectively, or at least question their own ability to endure, are the same. Everyone knows what goes on there. The cold water, the sleep deprivation, and getting physically broken.

All I have to do is get in a warm shower and flip the water to its coldest. That sudden surge and panic, the feeling of your breath getting cut off, it is a quick reminder that there will never be any getting used to it. There is no science that says our bodies adapt to withstand the cold (Not true with heat), not much more than increasing cravings for fatty foods. The only thing I can do is learn how to react mentally.


As mentioned before, most of my mental conditioning in turbulent situations is from karate. There have absolutely been times in the last 15 years of my kumite training that I had surges of panic or fear with certain opponents for whatever reason. Maybe its realizing that you're tired and he is not, or that he has gotten in a lucky shot that took your air. You first question your ability or desire to go on, that inevitable, but the next execution is a surge of aggression that rushes through your body and fills your core with motion. It lets you drive on and perform. Not to be confused with anger, just a mass focus of willpower.

Its this mentally flux that I use for the cold tests. Sometimes I even envision the opponent that I have to drive into, covering a great distance to land solid and connected. Will this hold up day after day, or through Hell Week? How should I know?

But you have to have something to execute or else all that's left is the question of whether or not to keep going. You just cant leave something like that for your human mentality to decide.