Grasping the Martial Arts

Again, an attempt to gain a good hand on the new tactual data  when supplementing both seeing and hearing for training and practice of martial systems. In the world of tactual encounters we once again connect to such things as hard, soft, seeing, hearing, the cycles of ebb and flow within and without the body along with the cycles of breathing in and out.

Rory Miller once spoke of, or better to way wrote about, tactile in self-defense. He alluded to the "feel" of the opponents body where the tactile or tactual information one feels from another can send signals to the mind on a response or action that would best nullify or deflect or allow a movement to better your position, etc. That speaks of two things regarding this new ninth goku-i line.

One is an understanding of the tactile symbols; duration-location-action-intensity-frequency-sensation. As an example the "sensation" a threat might feel triggers the tendency for the mind to lock on to that location and feeling where the mind, if not trained in this, tries to discover what is occurring and gain a tactical response and advantage. This is where the interruption of a person OODA loop occurs where continuing to change the sensation, location. intensity and duration keeps triggering the mind to lock on to the now new sensation reducing the minds ability to achieve a response.

By allowing my new line validity in the ken-po goku-i it might bring to the for of our minds the conscious attention and awareness of touch to achieve a greater understanding of the martial arts and our applications of its principles and techniques.

Two is an awareness of the tactual sense elements and how they function adding to the application of techniques to achieve additional advantage. These elements include, pressure; pain; pleasure; temperature; muscle movement of the skin; rubbing; pinching, etc. In a grappling art pressure, pain, rubbing, pinching and the movement of muscle under the skin apply. Just give it a moment and consider this, have you in your training, practice and teaching of martial systems.

Tactual data retrieval to train and practice can be seen and grasped literally as a function of the arts - martial arts. I can now realize that not taking touch to this level of thought may have contributed to a lack of full understanding on principles, intent and applications. Worth taking down and out of the attic and placing it in front of us so we can examine it with our eyes, analyze it with our ears to hear how it impacts practitioners, and touching on the value of its implications in teaching and learning.