Circadian Rhythms

Driven by a circadian clock and this is tied to the "day." These are biological, built-in, rhythms based on a 24 hour period. It is affected by daily rhythms, tidal, weekly, seasonal, and annual rhythms but for this post we are concerned with daily although each daily set of rhythms are also changed by the others. 

Remember reading the Bible of Karate, it also references such rhythms as to what you are able to do at any given moment along with the effectiveness of any one technique depending on the time of day, etc. 

One way to realize this is to note how you perform in daily activities, i.e. whether you have a lot of energy or you end up running out of steam. Some of us perform our best in the early parts of the day while others the later parts of the day. It goes to show that this rhythm of life and the body-mind as to applying martial arts are also affected by these rhythms. 

The most important rhythm connection is those governed during daylight. A recent article about sleeping during the day can throw off the internal rhythms of our genes, i.e. read the article here: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20140121/sleep-during-the-day-may-throw-genes-into-disarray

Our rhythms are affected by the "light-dark" cycle of full days. How we physically and mentally handle the effects of light-day or day vs. nights relie on being reset each day and resisting that rhythm reset does have adverse affects on our bodies and minds. It just goes to validate that these effects would also have an adverse affect on our abilities to handle stressful situations including violence and the use of legal self-defense. 

In one small aspect of self-defense where avoidance is dominant we should train ourselves to sense our rhytms through out the day and night so that we can realize when our bodies and minds are not at their best. When not at their best is when we might want to avoid certain situations and encounters that could lead to social or even asocial conflicts simply because we are at a low rhythmic state and subject to "losing control" that might lead to violence. 

If true, then it would also mean that if we encounter that state and are attacked that we also may not have full draw on our abilities or even if we do they may not be as powerful as needed simply due to these lowered rhythms within the body as effected by the day, the time of day and other natural rhythms that affect us. 

There is a reason why the ken-po goku-i makes references in the first two lines about circulation, which can be what the authors believed were the bodies rhythms, and the sun, moon, heaven and earth references. Nature does have its roles in how we learn, practice and apply martial arts so it should be a part of the self-defense martial arts curriculum. 

Bibliography:

Wikipedia. "Circadian Rhythm." Last modified January 5, 2014.

Goodman, Brenda. "Sleep During the Day May Throw Genes Into Disarray." Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014 (HealthDay News).