Shooting at paper for fun is a lot different than shooting at a bad guy who is trying to kill you. All the training at the range cannot prepare you for the physiological changes that hit your body, but learning about them will help immensely.
Most people know that the adrenaline surge causes 1) elevated heart rate, 2) tunnel vision, 3) auditory exclusion, and 4) problems with fine motor skills. But what can we do about these challenges?
According to LTC Dave Grossman, author of On Combat, the best thing we can do is address our breathing. If the gunfight is over in an instant, then you haven’t got time for thinking, let alone breathing. However, if the encounter is one that escalates over a period of time or drags on, it is critical to know that you can “command” your body to get back into line with deliberate breathing.
The fact is that controlled breathing is a biofeedback mechanism that tells your central nervous system to calm down and get a grip. Slowly breathing in to a count of 4, holding for 4 seconds and exhaling over four seconds is what you want to do. Breathing this way will mitigate many of the effects of the adrenaline in short order.
Reading On Combat is a great idea for anyone carrying concealed. You can get it here: http://astore.amazon.com/illgunprorangebag-20
