MA and the mind

[Taku-Shimazu]

A couple of days ago I was walking in a field near my home and I looked back and then was going to look back but then I jumped and had a kind of rush and I found myself in fighting stance shouting Osu! at a small plant I had just walked into.

 

This all happened in an instant and it took me a few seconds to figure out what had just happened, I mean Karate was at the back of my mind and then it was controlling my body without my concious mind knowing.

 

Have any of you ever experienced anything like that?

[Thaegen]

Nope, I wonder, I read a lot of mystical events.. like yours. Never happened something like that to me. But I have the feeling most of you think MA is something mystic. it is not. It's just your body moving. There are no great mystic powers

[Taku-Shimazu]

Yes I understand that but,

 

Why did my body defend itself without my knowing?

 

Subconsious instinct?

[Thaegen]

defend against what? A plant?

[Scand]

Also known as reflexes. You'll get familiar with those.

 

If someone grabs or chokes me from behind there is a good chance that I'd break free "automatically". Or I'd try to anyway. This is a remain from my hoijeonmoosool days as we trained a good amount of techniques against such attacks.

 

It happens sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. It seems that it pretty much depends on a time of the day (and quite naturally my current mood). Because my body acts without me "telling it" I suppose that it's fair enough to call these events simply reflexes of some sort.

[Thaegen]

When someone tries to choke you it is a natural reflex for everyone. Trained or untrained to get free. That you have that reflex has nothing to do with your martial training. What your training does is that you have a structured reflex, so that you do something what actual sets you free of the choke and not some spastic movement.

[Scand]

I'm sorry. I was being unclear with my pääd inklish (bad english).

 

What I obviously tried to explain was exactly what you said. By reflex I didn't mean my martial training, but I merely used it as an example of such natural self-defence mechanisms.

 

What I truly meant was that I believe that Taku experienced just that, a structural self-defence mechanism.

 

It's like someone throws a punch at you. You raise your hands to defend your face.

[ShotokanKid]

When people try to choke you, the most common instinct is to try to pull their arm away, but I've been thinking, it would be so much more effective if you elbowed them.

[Taku-Shimazu]

defend against what? A plant?

 

That is irrelivant. It could have been an attacker, a squirrel, or whatever what I am talking about is what I did, not the plant!

[Shorin Ryuu]

Sounds like you were a little jumpy. What distinguishes a master from a good technician of the martial arts is the ability of threat recognition and response only when it is needed. You should be alert at all times, but reacting like you did to every bit of stimulus isn't going to work. By the same token, if you're so calm that someone attacks you and pulverizes you before you can respond, that won't work either.

 

I've heard how many masters, like Chibana Chosin, would always pause before entering a room to scan it for anything out of place. Only a very brief pause, but nonetheless, shows the true attitude of a warrior. It's hard to be constantly vigilant. As humans, we want to kick back and relax, and there are probably some situations where we can totally let our guards down (It's not a good idea to be ready to fight your wife to death in bed). Reflexes are important, but they should make sense in relation to what set them off...