Failure Of Imagination!

[sensei8]

Failure of imagination is a general term used to describe circumstances wherein something that was possible to predict or foresee was, in fact, not predicted or foreseen.

Success in any self-defense strategy and/or tactics are dependent on one to test its ability to have or haven’t ever been tried or considered. The "what-ifs" are both a variable and viable to be possible and in that, the "what-ifs" shouldn't be discarded as the impossible.

The effectiveness of any technique(s) in the martial arts is owned by the individual and not by the masses. What works for one doesn't always work for someone else; therefore, the "what-ifs" aren't about any said technique(s) failure/success, but to itself one way or another.

Every martial artist is always searching for the most effective ends to any mean in every possible scenario to self-defense strategies and/or tactics. To keep our imagination arrested only invites us to accept defeat before any and all possibilities can be considered and tried before it's discarded completely. Even then, the 'what-ifs' are constant and they must be revisited repeatedly and repeatedly because it's possible that we've failed to imagine everything...and everything is quite alot to research and ponder and wonder and figure and test its pulse and on and on!

The summation of 'why' is to the summation of 'because' and in this, failing to imagine any and all possibilities isn't the reason why any martial art exists. Why should I do this? Because it's effective! Why shouldn't I do this? Because it's not effective!

Application to see the 'why' of any and every technique possible helps to discover that 'it' does/doesn't work 'because', and now 'because' is unfolding, the 'why' continues to ask for the foreseen to be revealed, or at least, it should've been thought of.

Should someone say, "Oh, that's ridiculous!", then this is exactly why the untried technique(s) and strategies and tactics aren't allowed to be tried to see if the unforeseen/foreseen has merits enough to be tried and/or to succeed. I don't study Shindokan and believe in it because my Dai-Soke said so, no, I've tested it and I've tested it and I'm still testing it because the unforeseen are infinity. Just because someone like my Dai-Soke said so isn't enough for me to believe 'it' because of an immeasurable imagination, therefore, 'I' doesn't exist anymore.

Imagination is one thing but over thinking 'it' can strip away its true purpose and that true purpose is to find the most effective strategy/strategies and/or tactic/tactics. There is a time when one must say..."It is finished" but then our failure of imagination insists itself to ask..."Or is it?” We must foresee and prevent the unimaginable from near and afar, thus, our strategies and/or tactics must clearly be realized in every possibility.

Your thoughts?!

[KarateGeorge]

I think that's a well put thought.

There are countless possibilities of potential situations, and though there's no possible way to imagine every single possible one, and how to handle that attack, one can prepare for the most probable situations and how to best difuse them. We then train in basic principals. Since you can't predict every possible scenario, you can at least have an understanding of various things such as reading situations, awareness of one's surroundings, and should an altercation occur, general body mechanics and basic techniques. One's ideal goal when defending themselves is ultimately to be able to react without thinking, to just be able to flow through your techniques fluidly and without pause and react accordingly and with appropriate force to the situation at hand. If someone has a solid understanding of certain principals, they can be well prepared for those remaining situations that they may not have imagined.

How someone prepares and trains is different for each person too. Like you stated, what works for one person, doesn't always work for someone else. Different people have different strengths and weaknesses, body types, personalities, specific styles that they are drawn more towards and ways in which we best learn. All of these things can play a role in not just the ways in which a person prepares and trains for the foreseen and unforeseen, but also in the specific types of techniques and applications of those techniques that they train.

One thing my karate teacher likes to say is that martial arts is like a big pie. What he teaches is one piece of the pie, but there's so much out there. Different ways to train, different styles to learn, and they all have a place and serve a purpose and that what he teaches is what works for him, but that it may not be the same for others.

[tonydee]

Good posts both... I've not much to add but my agreement....

Cheers,

Tony