G.I.G.O.

QUOTE

There is little doubt that we do not see the world as it is, we see the world as we perceive it, and this perception, this image, is built up incrementally over the course of our lifetime, it is never set in place and undergoes many reinventions.

As ‘out there’ as it sounds, the easiest way to improve something is simply changing how we see it, which in turn changes its importance. And this cascades into trust and priority, which we may not realise it is the basis of choice.

Last week’s training was mostly about punching, so keeping it in line with this, how do we see/perceive our punch and punching? How and where do we file it away in our ‘Battle Computer’?

I do not remember how many punch variations we worked on but let’s call it four.  

Did you perceive this as four separate punches or four variations of the one punch?

Why is this relevant?

Hick’s Law states that the time it takes to make a decision increases logarithmically with the number of choices available. Logarithmically means that every added choice takes longer to make than the previous choice.

Theoretically, deciding which punch to use will take more than four times as long as deciding to just punch, and although we will not consciously compare the variables, we will do it subconsciously.

How we SEE our punch might just be the difference between going home or going to the hospital.

Sticking with ‘PUNCH’ for the moment, what do we punch with? 

Are we using a FIST, or are we using a HAND?

I am sure you have a good IDEA of where this is going, depending on how I see my training to hit someone I may need to choose between a punch, a palm strike, a knife hand chop, a slap, a backhand, a hammer fist or a finger poke.

Refer back to Hicks Law to see the problem here.

Without meaning to over-egg the cake, “What are we striking with”?

Hands do not float independently in the air; they are connected to our wrists.

Consider my Sifu’s maxim of “Shoulder pushers Elbow, Elbow pushes Wrist”.

It is possible to get lost in the weeds with this type of regression to a point where we end up thinking that everything is initiated by the collective “BODY”, or if we are hooked on specifics with our Big Toe, so some level of compartmentalism is advised.

“Shoulder pushers Elbow, Elbow pushes Wrist” is, in essence, describing the general mechanics of all of our Hand Strikes, it is the fundamental mechanics of using an ARM.

Again I ask, why is this relevant?

As Martial Artists, we subscribe to the IDEA that it is INTENTION, and not conscious decision-making, that drives the physical application of our Martial skill, this position has been held for as long as there has been Kung Fu and is a central tenet of the work.

Now modern Neuroscience agrees with this age old wisdom, and while Conscious Intentions are formed through deliberate thought and awareness, where you consciously decide on a goal and the steps to achieve it. 

They recognise that Unconscious Intentions stem from deeply ingrained habits, unconscious desires, or past experiences, influencing behaviour without conscious awareness.  In other words, how we train.

Advances in neurological medical scanners have allowed scientists to observe brain activity, which leads to movement before conscious thought.

Intention happens before we think about doing things.