[I heartily
encourage a reading of Part 1 to gather all the threads that lead to this point.
While what follows is valuable and useful information—context sets the cognitive
hook. You can read Part
1 here.]
When we left off
we were asking the following questions.
ONE-Why
when engaging in power-based or stressed based tasks [combat, competitive sports,
power-contact tasks] do we place the dominant hand/foot to the rear as opposed
to advancing the “good side” forward?
TWO-We
also implied the “Hidden Question”…
When we “retreat”
the strong/coordinated side to the rear we are also placing the dominant eye to
the rear, in essence, further from the targeted opponent/task before us—why would
this seemingly sub-optimum gaze placement be a “good” idea?
THREE-Why
is it that this “good side” to rear stance seems to be a human default and not a
later tactical “choice?”
That is, humans
default to this position before any training comes along and says “This is
the right way to do it.”
To Answer These…
We begin with a definition
and then proceed to neurological science and then finally to art studies.
THE DEFINITION
Allocentric:
Having an interest or focus on other people and objects rather than oneself, or
a frame of reference that is independent of the observer's body.
In short,
external focus—attention is shunted from internal states [egocentric thinking]
to humans, objects, environment.
The benefit of allocentric
attention in combat is the same as one finds in the skilled performance of an
athlete in any endeavor: the ability to “turn off” thoughts of the self and constant
performance evaluation and take up more cognitive bandwidth with the opponent or
task before us. “Getting out of one’s head” or, in old school sports parlance, “Avoiding
a case of the yips.”
We hear just this
concept echoed in Samurai Bushido mushin.
Mushin translates
roughly to “No Mind.” It does not mean a state of stuporous thoughtlessness,
rather it is a state of mental clarity and calmness free from conscious
thought, ego, and distraction.
Mushin
and allocentric thinking still involve focus, still involve thinking but…it is
outer-directed thinking.
Mushin
is echoed in Comanche ‘mak’u meek’u,” Indian acitta, and various states
described by Knights Templar and Christian mystics of the medieval period.
Now, you may be
asking, “What the hell do these ancient practices and a modern definition of
this internal state have to do with stance?”
Well, it seems
that just as Samurai, Comanche Warriors, Knights Templar and Warrior/Religious Orders
the world over sought to clarify the mind to “get out of one’s head” so to
speak, one of the most useful tactics to do this was in the mere act of how we position
ourselves to the world.
THE NEUROSCIENCE
Kenneth Heilman
of the University of Florida in Gainesville has conducted a series of experiments
to show that the left and right cerebral hemispheres exhibit different attentional
biases.
That is, our normal
physiological biases [the unconscious decision to step the dominant foot to the
rear for example] combines operations at both the sensory-receptive level [allocentric
or egocentric options] and the motor-activity level [our coordinated actions in
response to the allocentric or egocentric view of the world.]
Certain visual “skills”
of our right hemisphere become highly relevant to allocentric processing and coordination.
Notice the hard
emphasis of the word SKILLS.
The science demonstrates
what mushin, mak’u meek’u, and other ancient warrior traditions stumbled
upon: That by hacking into certain inherent cognitive constructs, we are not merely
utilizing the inherent properties of our neurological anatomy, we can improve
that property. Moving a natural tendency from a baseline performance to an advancement
thus rendering it a learned skill.
The implications
and ramifications here are remarkable. If you’re not aboard yet, stay with me
as this next bit sinks the linchpin hook.
But First
Another Question: The Big Question
“What are
the conditions during which my right hemisphere’s normal sensorimotor
mechanisms are so biased that they can attend, and perform, with greater
efficiency?”
There are two conditions.
Condition One
When the visual
target is located up to the left and stimulates your left upper
visual field.
·
In other words, once we place the “good
foot/dominant foot” to the rear and tuck the chin slightly for good defensive position
just as warriors armed and unarmed have been doing for millennia—we gaze at our
opponents via an upper left visual field.
·
By gazing in this manner we engage the
sensorimotor allocentric bias so greatly that we can attend and perform with
greater efficiency.
Condition Two
When this left
upper visual target is located off at distances increasingly farther away from
your own reaching hand.
·
In other words, fighting distance plus dominant
hand/reaching hand to the rear multiplied by the left upper visual field effect
we are intuitively maximizing greater allocentric attentional focus, streamlining
performance and increasing efficiency.
·
If we then overlay training—making conscious
choice to use the orthodox stance [the inherent stance] and tweaking it to maximize
the allocentric cues we then increase overall efficiencies in both physical
execution and cognitive perception.
Further Implications
of the Orthodox Stance Feedback Loop
·
The propensity for mushin in everyday
life, that is, “calmness of mind/spirit.”
·
A predilection for allocentric
meditation practices/behaviors.
·
A gravitation towards Honor Culture—association
that are less egocentric.
·
How the combat training may lead to
these directions and conversely how the “sedate” side of Warrior Training dhyana,
zazen, Comanche
Suakhet’u improve combat via increased dendritic connection in the allocentric
centers.
·
What “Light Sourcing” can tell us about
increasing combat speed and allocentric environmental awareness.
·
What the Old Masters of Art knew that
these Old Masters of Combat knew.
We’ll hit all
these in Part 3.
As for Training Materials Historically Accurate, Scientifically Examined,
and Viciously Verified in the Comancheria Living Laboratory, well, see the following
resources!
Resources for
Livin’ the Warrior Life
The Black Box
Store
https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/
The Indigenous
Ability Blog
https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/
The Rough ‘n’
Tumble Raconteur Podcast
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