Seeing, Truly Seeing
One of the lines in the ken-po goku-i as presented to the folks who practice Isshinryu Okinawan karate. I speak or write of the self defense aspects, the combative stuff, the fight itself and not the sport or way aspects. The stuff that gets down and dirty to get the job done so you won't pay the price of violence or violent encounters.
Complexity seems to me a major obstacle to understanding true real life self defense. Do we see a technique or combination of techniques as simple, fast and effective? Do we analyze the SD component as reality effective? Not many do and go for the complex set of techniques to give ourselves comfort that we know something. That something seems to be a part of our culture and belief system. We seem to think that a lack of complexity means value. In the fight value is simplicity itself along side its opposite effective.
What is the nature of violent acts? If an assault is the complex system able to get the job done? Do you know, understand and accept that violent assaults regardless of the reasons is hard, fast and a total surprise? Do you realize that the attacker had a plan long before he attacked and that every single moment and every single moment of delay allows him to do something - different? Do you realize how this wrecks havoc on your orient to the attack that slows down your progress toward the act part of the OODA loop?
Do you realize the ten step combination or technique you do could be streamlined into a one, two or three step process with effectiveness and speed? Do your realize that the ten step system leaves a lot of room for error and that the adversary with his pre-plan in progress will be changing the dynamics of the fight constantly keeping you in the orient phase of the loop? Do you ask yourself these questions in training and practice?
Seeing all sides of anything means you look at it in a multi-dimensional view that takes the physical, non-physical, and mental views of all things from all sides. It means taking what you do, say and hear outside that box that society, your environment and your lessons in life to beyond the comfort zone that blinds you to what works and what does not work.
Does your training remove reality from the matrix? Do you consciously seek reality in your training and practice? Does tori-n-uke stray from the model, the regimen, the training syllabus? How often do you ask questions? How often do you seek real answers and not just accept the first answer that makes you feel comfortable and safe?
Bibliography:
Miller, Rory. "Training Blindness." Tuesday, April 16, 2013. <http://chirontraining.blogspot.com/2013/04/training-blindness.html>
“don’t let the ‘perfect’ be the enemy of the ‘good.’”