teaching us how to think

[ninelivesarentenough]

this is going to be an agree or disagree thing. since i've joined karate, i've learned lots of techniques and throws and strikes and whatnot. but honestly i think the most important thing i've learned so far is how to think when i get into a fight. most of the actually techniques i've learned will prolly go out the window when i'm in an actually confrontation, but what i'll retain is that when i see a punch, i'll see and extended elbow joint for an arm bar/break, i'll think to get to the outside of it instead of just trying to back away from it, i'll see all of the open targets they've left, and i'll prolly not once use and takedown or knife hand strike or anything. considering i've been in it for a year, is this really what i should have gotten out of it?

[Sandhoppa]

I havent been in the MA long enough for things to become automatic for me yet but I'm sure the other great people here will be able to shed some light.

[jarrettmeyer]

I'll respond from my wrestling background, since I've only been at karate for a few months now...

 

It sounds like you are at an appropriate level for 1 year of dedicated practice. You see openings; you know your techniques; and you know how your techniques apply to those openings.

 

There are 3 phases of mental state in combat.

 

1.) Action: "I am going to do this technique." It takes about 1000 repetitions of any technique before you learn it well enough to use it effectively, correctly, etc. Depending on your physical ability, you should be able to reach this level pretty quickly.

 

2.) Reaction: "I see see my target is giving me this opening, and the following techniques apply." There is an analysis phase going on here. This reaction time drops with practice. Slow sparring, fast sparring, and freestyle are all utilized to develop your mind and muscle memory.

 

3.) Proaction: "I have such a knowledge of my opponent and my abilities that I CHOOSE for my opponent to present to me the following openings." Now this is just speculation. I can personally say that I have never met anyone this good. Not when I wrestled. Not when I boxed. Not since I started karate. I've been told that Hanshi Herb Johnson can fight at this level. These would be the all-time greatest fighters. (Please see other posts regarding this topic.)

[Killer Miller]

jarrettmeyer had a pretty good reply for a beginner. Some of what he says is very true. However, you have not been doing MA long enough to really "think" about what you are doing yet. Point two, you should never have to actually "think" about using MA. It either happens, or it doesn't happen... You don't really have a choice in the technical aspects of an Art. The moral aspect, you definately have a choice "to harm" or "not" to harm. The moral aspect must be decided way before the physical aspects are determined.

 

In terms of the mental aspects, read my article on "Mind Dumping." However, your post actually is pertaining to the Moral aspect of your decision. More maturity in MA is needed before making these types of decisions. Of coarse, the answer of your question of to harm or not to harm is always "No." But when you have no choice but to use MA is not a choice you make, you just have to react accordingly to the situation presented to you the best you currently know how to deal with it - no more and no less than needed to resolve the situation. This is where maturity of years and years of training will assist you...

 

- Killer -

this is going to be an agree or disagree thing. since i've joined karate, i've learned lots of techniques and throws and strikes and whatnot. but honestly i think the most important thing i've learned so far is how to think when i get into a fight. most of the actually techniques i've learned will prolly go out the window when i'm in an actually confrontation, but what i'll retain is that when i see a punch, i'll see and extended elbow joint for an arm bar/break, i'll think to get to the outside of it instead of just trying to back away from it, i'll see all of the open targets they've left, and i'll prolly not once use and takedown or knife hand strike or anything. considering i've been in it for a year, is this really what i should have gotten out of it?

[G95champ]

Ive been in MA for 12 years now and I think you are mostly correct. You react not think however. You have worked certin basic moves so many times it just happens. I will disagree that you will use knife hands and other odd strikes without knowing. You don't do Martial Art, Martial does you its just happens or comes out when it is needed.

[gheinisch]

I'll go with what G95Camp said. Our Hanshi says the goal is to be able to react without thinking. You get to the point where things come natural too you much like walking. Hanshi uses an analogy about driving your car. Do you think about putting the key in the door to unlock it? Now sit down and place the key in the ignition.... You get the idea. You just do it now, but as a beginner you may have thought out each one of these things. Some students in class who have been training for a while sometimes question weather they would be ready in a real life confrontation. Hanshi tells them that when the time comes they'll be ready and react to the situation at hand. Other things come into play here as well, confidence, attitude and the level at which you train are only a couple.

[Bleeding Lion]

From what ive learn, the goal is to build reflexes so that you wont have to think when you fight. We do 1000 blocks, punches and kicks every week so that when comes the moment to block, punch or kick, we are ready to do so without too much thinking.

 

Let me use a calculus analogy. The best situation you can be on a test is when you've done so many exercises that you fly through the test without much thinking, doing operations and analysis at ease. You see a function and you already know more or less how it behaves doing a quick derivative in your head.

 

Back to MAs. when you're in a real life situation, you get in that state where it seems like you are watching somebody else take control of your body and fight for you.

 

Many techniques from what ive learn are not practice to use them in a fight but to help us in another way in a fight. Im not too advanced to fully argument this but let me take an example: sanchin dachi in goju ryu. According to Seikichi Toguchi, the sanchin position, a position that feels very weird the first times you do it, was introduced in Go Ju to practice balance. the MAist is not expected to use a perfect sanchin dachi, kick her heels out and get as low as she can in a real fight. However she will perform a perfect sanchin dachi in practice to train her leg muscles and balance which is very valuable in real life confrontation.

 

When you say you would "throw out of the window" the things you've learned, you would still keep the reflexes and the main ideas of combat you've acquired. Your techniques wont be perfect but as you get higher in your ranking system, you will learn to keep your cool and use most of what you've learned.

[delli04]

gheinisch... excellent analogy your hanshi uses. I also use a car analogy, however a little different. I always talk about when your first learning to drive a car everything you have to think about; brakes, gas, looking in all your mirrors, stickshift etc etc. I tell my students to think back when they first started driving, if they are old enough, thinking about all of these things... How would you react if a car pulled out in front of you??? Oh gosh, so many things to think about; brakes clutch, down shifting etc etc. mass panic. Now, however many years later, you would probably handle the situation without even thinking, probably talking on the phone. You just might be a little mad....