·      The Fright Reaction is the simplest, nastiest, no-brainer response to virtually any surprise or near-surprise attack, BUT—you have to do it right!

·      Done right, it syncs with your super-fast, adrenaline-fired, natural nerve reflexes, amplifies your balance while upsetting the enemy’s, protects your head and neck, and delivers a rock-solid elbow spike if they’re right on top of you.

·      It is the quintessential Dropping move and acts as a springboard to a barrage of drop strikes.

·      Initial responses other than the Fright Reaction in a surprise attack can upset your own balance, make you flail with strikes vulnerable to injury by a lack of body unity, and leave you open to further attack.

·      John took a while to perfect the Fright Reaction and you can see the differences between the way it is taught now and the way it was shown on our earliest videos. Your arms should be vertical and form a spiked nest around your head with your hands near the back of your neck/spine.

·      Master Joe demos a Fright Reaction where the enemies are not quite within striking range so he Box-steps to a superior position. This is an important lesson to study. [Note: the Box-step is shown in great detail in the Attack Proof Companion Video Part 2 under “Stepping Drills”].

·      John works with several students, pointing out critical errors such as:

·      1. Preparatory movement

·      2. “Pre-loading” the Drop by going up first (sometimes found in tai chi, by the way)

·      3. Dropping at an angle instead of straight down

·      4. Raising the arms horizontally….and other flaws to fix.

·      Eyes-closed Spin Drill shown with attacks from random angles.

·      The Fright Reaction is potentially even more nasty when performed by women because male attackers tend to get closer while dropping their defenses. This lends itself well to them getting impaled in the eyes or throat with a spiked elbow.

·      The stimulus for a Fright Reaction can be sight, sound or feel. In general, you always Drop straight down but the angle of your upper body/elbows tends towards the direction of the stimulus. This lends itself to the enemy getting impaled and/or their attacking limb getting struck and/or deflected.

·      The Fright Reaction is the perfect springboard to a Chop/Palm/Knee attack against the source of the attack or the nearest attacker [see the GC Combatives vid for complete training].

·      The Fright Reaction is the CRITICAL move for successfully accessing your knife or gun -- because if you go for the weapon first, you will be overwhelmed. This topic is covered in depth in the ESSENTIAL GC video: “Bare hands to Handguns”.

·      NOW, if the initial stimulus is you feeling a grab right on your weapon, then you Drop with your arm or elbow into the offending arm. You then instantly RICOCHET without pause into a throat or eye strike with the same arm in one motion. This is why GC sensitivity training is critical. If you go for a counter-grab trying to secure your weapon, you can get overwhelmed or knocked out.

·      DROP, DROP, DROP!

·      Even though you might think it’s just a defensive move, when done well, it is astonishing how devastating the Fright Reaction can be. This is clearly shown as John guides students to do it properly.