Friday, September 18, 2009

Concept of Conflict FILTERS

In studying grafting in American Kenpo I have tried to narrow down mentally what happens at the moment the conflict becomes physical.

In exploring how we find our way to a viable response to someone's actual attack, I realize that the human mind, for most of us, runs through a series of things. Our initial reaction can be based on a number of factors.

I believe these factors are "filtered" to get to a quicker response. This allows us to setup what I refer to as the "Entry" to a technique. the Entry is the initial block, initial foot maneuver, and possible (but not always) initial counterstrike.

I divide these FILTERS into four types....

Knowledge Base or Skill Set
Preferences, Prejudices, and Preconceptions
Relative Body Positions
Target Availability



Lets take a closer look at each of these FILTERS.

First is a person's Knowledge Base or Skill Set Filter.

A knowledge base is the sum of all information you have available on the situation. What have learned, seen, explored, thought about, etc. This filter establishes if you have "any" prior knowledge of how to deal with this or a similar situation.

If a person has experience or training to draw from, they might be much more prepared mentally and physically to deal with the particulars at hand. On the other hand, if a person has no experience or knowledge about how to get out of a rear choke, for instance, he or she might have their hands full trying to overcome their attacker.

The second filter is an individual's Preferences, Prejudices, and Preconception Filter.

The brain is an amazing thing. Everyday the brain is bombarded with outside stimuli. In handling all of this information it builds shortcuts. This shortcuts help us make it through the normal day to day activities, as well as, what is perceived as emergencies.

For instance, do you have a favorite color? Why? Can you explain why you prefer a certain color over all other individual colors? Go ahead, tell me. I'll wait for you. Can you imagine how long it would take to compare your favorite color to every possible color in the universe? Do you have a color that you don't like compared to each and every other color? Do have time to compare and explain why you dislike that one the most? have you compared it every other color? Probably not. In both cases, your mind created a shortcut and you just "know" you feel a certain way about them.

What about food? What about certain attitudes, clothing, behaviors? What about religions, cultures, modes of transportation? We build preferences through the mind building shortcuts for us. I think we would go crazy trying to figure everything out all the time. If we had to evaluate every option for every decision we make it life, we would get very little accomplished.

These preferences become time savers that often let us run on autopilot. Think about these little things. Favorite soap, the manner of which you dry off after a shower, what leg do you put into your pants first, what jacket do you wear in the rain, etc. We build preferences to save mental time so we don't have to think through everything all the time.

In self defense, a person can train to use a technique in as many different situations as they can, because they have a preference toward it. maybe they really have a lot of confidence in "Thundering Hammers". In that case, they may have a preference and look for the opportunity to use it against different situations.

Prejudices are build over time. Real or unsubstantiated, we have them. Honestly, all of us have some. I don't necessarily mean about race. Personally, I have a prejudice against stupidity. I am not very tolerant of those who "glow under the light of stupidity".

Prejudices can be build around certain attitudes, behaviors, looks. Think about it, prejudices can be built around stereotypes as well. Fat people eat too much and are lazy! Right?! Not necessarily. Muslims are evil! Right?! Not most that I have ever met.

All white males are good? Jews are money-hungy liars? Mexican are thieves and not hard working? All black males are strong, athletic and in gangs? All women are weak and helpless? No, no, no, no and no!!!!! BUT, we can easily have negative images toward those who are not exactly like us and it takes work to constantly break our prejudices down.

Prejudices that we may carry can affect how we respond to conflicts with people who are different from us. An older white female might react differently if approached by an older frail looking white guy than a young fit black male, if both ask for bus fare. Reality is reality.

These mental issues often lead to preconceptions. Preconceptions are opinions formed beforehand about something. Our mind will try to shortcut information to quickly arrive at a conclusion. Many times our preconceptions can change about people or events after we obtain experience, but prior to gaining experience, we often have an opinion based on what we think the experience would be like.

The third filter concerns Relative Body Positions.

the Relative Body Position Filter is very important. This filter will setup our initial physical response and from this spatial environment will look at how our knowledge base or skill set with come up with options.

The ideal phases of American Kenpo techniques can be used as "snapshots" of perfect scenarios. the Relative Body Position filter will look at what information is in our skill set. It will determine IF there is any available data on how to respond based on the position of the attacker and defender. It will look at what can be done from there, as well as, where can we go from there.

For instance, a beginner in American Kenpo might respond to a left roundhouse punch with only the technique "Sword of Destruction". A slightly more skilled Kenpoist would have that technique plus maybe Shielding Hammer.

Someone experience with both sides of their techniques might also see "Five Swords" on the second side. A more experience person might see all of those plus find a way to make "Unfurling Crane" effective under this circumstance.

In addition, the Relative Body Position Filter might show a Kenpo practitioner that with a little adjustment they might be able to pull off something like..."Shield and Sword" on the front side of the body or pass the arm overhead and end up doing "Thundering Hammers" on the second side.

Our mind will use this filter to look at what we can do, and we can go from the entry of the technique using the filters already applied to the situation.

This brings us to the fourth basic filter, the Target Availability Filter.

In using this filter we determine the best course of action for our first counterstrike. Our mind can quickly look at the available targets and setup a response.

The more the brain understands what the effects are of striking different targets with differing amounts of force, the clearer we can choose a viable option from available targets. It takes training and practice to quickly run through options and pick an appropriate response when necessary.

It must be understood that a fight is very dynamic and most cases does not end with a single blow. As we use these filters, the attacker is filtering our responses through his brain at the same time in order to attempt to dominate the situation. So this dangerous game of chess is active in both the attacker and defender.

So an attacker might very well be actively trying to hinder or negate your next move. the more experience we have operating under pressure, simulated or real, I believe the better our brain will use these filters in "live time".

Til next time....

2 comments:

  1. That's really some great writing Mr.Piper. I know this is just a sample of what's in your "Grafting" book so I look forward to getting it & increasing my knowledge as a Kenpoist.

    ReplyDelete