In this video from the online self defense training “Martial Studies: Defense Against Multiple Attackers” discover through an amusing anecdote, where your Reptilian Instinct, also called “Survival Instinct” is situated.
The reptilian instinct is your survival instinct, and it goes through a particular part of the brain.
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Quick anecdote
I remember a trainee who didn’t stay in the club for long. He was a nice guy, but he was a bit of a show-off. For instance, during his first test training, he would be coaching my trainees. Believe me, it’s not easy to be a martial arts instructor these days.
He had already practiced martial arts elsewhere, he was already a blue belt, a brown belt, he was good at it, but he had a very poor education!
So he came to the test training, I didn’t know him at all, he came to greet me “Hello Sir” and I told him “yes, go ahead, you can train with my trainees”. He trains with one of my trainees, one of the highest ranked in the club, and he starts coaching him, saying “yeah, that’s good”, he was talking loudly, “yes that’s good, protect your head, protect your head, yes that’s good”. As a coach, I was telling myself “shut up, what’s wrong with him?
“Go get yourself some proper education!”
Imagine going to someone’s house, you don’t know him, only you have mutual friends, and you tell him “oh you’re going to change this wallpaper. The baseboard is dirty, you clean it. The sofa is not in its place, put it over there, it’s more feng-shui, you know?” We agree, out of politeness, we keep our comments to ourselves. It has to do with education! Today, we insult each other by saying “go get educated” – this insult is great, use it from time to time – education? what is it? I don’t know – I’m kidding.
In the end, I wanted to tell him “listen, I’m going to kick you out”, and then he stood in front of me and dared to say “no, I didn’t correct the trainee”. Finally, I kept him anyway – a beginner’s mistake – I had just opened my club in La Ciotat. Fortunately, he watched his step, otherwise he would have left with a kick in the butt. Except that at one point, he was being clever, while I was talking about reptilian instinct and therefore survival instinct, he told me “I know about the reptilian instinct, it goes through the amygdala!”
As I am open-minded, I answered him “Really? through the amygdala?” and he said “yes, it passes through the amygdala”!
So I took the time to investigate, and I found out that it goes through the amygdala, which is a part of the inner brain, but he thought it went through the amygdala… What am I supposed to do with that?
All this to say that in the end, for your general knowledge and to avoid being stupid, you must know that it goes through the amygdala, which is a very small peanut, in the brain – for those who have one – I’m kidding – but this way you’ll avoid being embarrassed during a family diner.
