This will sound a bit familiar, atomistic is where you divide something into separate and often disparate elements. Holistic is a means of viewing the whole with out looking or seeing the individual components and the goal is to have a whole system feel that feels right in practice.
I posted that it takes a break down into the smallest components to learn and teach martial systems and I expressed emphatically that it does not end there. It continues down that path until you reassemble the individual components into an integrated "whole." The ideal is to see in detail the atomistic aspects of martial practice with an end result of assembling it into a integrated whole that simply feels right to the individual practitioner.
I have alluded to the reasons for this method loosely and over the weekend my research has uncovered more information that may explain why the human condition seems to naturally gravitate toward this method of holistic to atomistic and back to holistic aspects of the practice, training and learning.
Apparently our brains run on a dualistic process. Our brains spend a good deal of time labeling everything we perceive. Our senses are taking in undefined data all the time. This is our perception through the senses then one side or the other of various parts of the brain process that data until it is converted from undefined to defined according to our perceptions and beliefs. Out concepts, our words, and the labels we attache shape the awareness we experience.
Our brains are equipped with a holistic capability that will take the sum of all the individual components or parts and provide us a "feeling" for the whole of all those parts or components. This is a fundamental system of sensory organization. The left side of the brain takes care of processing and formulating information of a logical, rational and a reductionist processes, i.e. the atomistic activity. The right side of the brain is where we view the world in an integrated way and where our connectivity to all the myriad things of the world are stimulated. When something feels intuitively correct this is our holistic view of the entire whole of any combination of sensory undefined data as processed by that side of the brain.
A good example is "facial recognition" is processed by the holistic functioning of the brain. You might think that it would have been the atomistic side for the details but the process is more holistic apparently and we may need to consciously activate the atomistic side to describe a face. This is apparently the reason facial descriptions for criminals tends to be misleading, convoluted and prone to greater error.
If we are perceiving the holistic aspects of reality we are less inclined to require the processes of analyzing, comparing, quantifying or justifying our perceptions and beliefs. Because it feels right we have accepted this as a belief and thus feel no need to cut it up and perform such functions on the components or parts.
We tend to have a holistic feeling toward reality when our overall impressions as identified by some previous analysis of specific features or facts give us that impression or feeling of "this feels right." Holistic is not a function of language since there is no need to express or validate the data with it. Look at the holistic side as a more "intuitive skill."
The dualistic nature of life and the brain requires us to have a left and right side as both separate and distinct functions are necessary to achieve a feeling of satisfaction and a feeling of a whole or completeness. The parts can be considered only in relationship with the whole and the whole cannot be if not for the parts so we naturally take that which does not feel correct or right or just and perform a atomistic action by breaking it down, labeling them and then analyzing, discussing and data mining to validate and then reconstruct into a whole that is either accepted as right or discarded and "not right."
Where martial systems drop the ball is they take the holistic form and break it down into a atomistic form that promotes analysis, discussion and validating actions but then drop it in lieu of reconstructing it back into its whole system.
Lets discuss a bit more detail as to the reductionist form we naturally gravitate to in sensory analysis, the atomistic aspect of training and practice and life. Atomistic is a type of reductionist activity that our survival instincts require. Our brain labels everything that the senses receive. The process then takes the data and either sends it to the right or the left side of the brain where it is either accepted as holistic or "it feels right." Then the rest is sent to the right or left side to be deconstructed into the smallest bits and pieces it can for detailed analysis. This is where we identify all the leaves of the tree and let the whole tree reside in stasis until the process of analysis, validation and identification are completed.
The holistic aspects of the brain depend on the gathering of sensory data more by perceptual elements, intuition or imagination and then comparing that with our stored memories. It may be why we tend to freeze in stress situations as our holistic side is searching short and long term memory to find an appropriate match. Anything that has no match in memory is discarded. If this is so this is important for our training and practice. Train and practice to store the appropriate data so important and previously unidentified data is not discarded when the holistic part searches memory.
I would feel personally that the atomistic aspects of the brain are more important during the training and practice functions in martial systems. It also feels right that the holistic, the whole of the atomistic, are what we depend on in stressful situations. If we train and practice right it will reside in memory and depending on the importance of the data may remain in short term memory for quicker retrieval.
It may be the reason why advice of putting the more simple and most important actions in short term memory so as to give the holistic activity of the brain the time to retrieve the more appropriate responses and actions. In short term the "break the freeze" and the "move" and the "act" permissions may be a method to give you time to act or run or what ever to avoid, deescalate, etc.
Does this make sense? Perception takes us to reality. Reality is subjective to personal perceptions. Perceptions are subjective to social and personal beliefs resulting from various sensory encounters. Reality results to the individual where results of s synchronic matching to others provides for social cohesion by a certain flexibility induced due to survival instincts governing groups. Perceptions and realities seldom truly match so a balance is achieved with brain belief acceptance of a kind. Synchronic communications are necessary to achieve tribal/group cohesion and adjustments to belief systems for survival. If there is a belief disparity the group through this synchronic vibration match accommodates achieving an equilibrium acceptable to all parties.
Bibliography:
Newberg, Andrew MD and Waldman, Mark Robert. "Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth." Free Press. New York. 2006
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