Feral Jundi

     I got a kick out of this story, because it does have some application to our industry.  Call it meditation, call it visualization, call it ‘in the zone’, or whatever, guys have had to get into a frame of mind to deal with all sorts of activities.

     One of the things that I have practiced was visualization, both as a smokejumper and for shooting tests for contracts.  You visualize everything you need to do in order to execute the perfect parachuting operation or visualize all the actions for a specific shooting drill, all before you actually do it.  I find a quite place to think about it all, like in a hotel room or whatever, and go through the whole process in my mind.  It takes concentration and focus, and that is the whole point of visualization.  I learned the concept from sports psychology.

     As for the Warrior Mind Training program, I think it would be worth a shot trying it out.  I am for anything that gives you an edge, and if these techniques can help you to shoot better or deal with stress better, that that is great.  Hell, the techniques might actually get you a job, because you were able to calm yourself and get focused before vetting at schools and for shooting tests.

    Better yet, these techniques could help you deal with the stress of convoy and PSD work, and just winding down after ‘one of those days’. And contractors are up against the same deployment realities when they come home.  One day, they are running the roads and surviving as best they can, and the next day they are home and driving down the streets of their city.  We go through the same cultural and situational shock as the military, and anything to help guys continue to work a contract and not turn into walking burn outs, is alright in my book.-Matt

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Samurai Mind Training for Modern American Warriors

By BONNIE ROCHMAN Bonnie Rochman

Sep 7, 2009

Not long ago at Fort Bragg, N.C., the country’s largest military base, seven soldiers sat in a semi-circle, lights dimmed, eyes closed, two fingertips lightly pressed beneath their belly buttons to activate their “core.” Electronic music thumped as the soldiers tried to silence their thoughts, the key to Warrior Mind Training, a form of meditation slowly making inroads on military bases across the country. “This is mental push-ups,” Sarah Ernst told the weekly class she leads for soldiers at Fort Bragg. “There’s a certain burn. It’s a workout.”

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