F-I-T-N-E-S-S

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

When I say this word, use this term, humans will have triggered an automatic extraction of internal information about exercising to achieve a physical fit body, a body fit, healthy and strong to apply karate and martial disciplines. But, is this the end explanation of fitness? Not exactly for we have two other fitness explanations that seem to fit, the first is a mental fitness of maturity, morality, attitude, knowledge, understanding and the innate ability to apply these in the words and actions often rendered in self-defense through karate, martial disciplines and the self-defense principle. The second comes from the very essence of human existence, survival of the species and our fitness is about those evolutionary enhancements of our abilities and senses that over eons resulted in our present state of evolutionary survival of the fittest state of being. 

It is about natural selection, the survival of the “fittest” and how that translates to those traits, etc., that say, “This person survived so they procreate and pass on those abilities and traits to the offspring” cycles of evolution and experiences, etc.

For example, one theorist provided this concept after extensive research, i.e., “Perceptions and internal-information-bearing (knowledge, experience, and understanding, etc.) structures are useful for F-I-T-N-E-S-S-preserving or enhancing behavior because there is some mutual information between the predicted utility of a behavior (like escaping) and it actual utility.” - Hoffman and Prakash

Without this and other processes of and for natural selection we then have to comparative external and internal data that will increase mutual information thus F-I-T-N-E-S-S is low and stays that way where those who are not fit find themselves not surviving and not procreating.  

I look at one fitness principle as example, i.e., “Perspective,” for perspective in our sensory detection driven my the past and present knowledge and understanding of our minds can determine and influence how we perceive therefor how we make distinctions in relation to how we see. Once many centuries ago all our species observed and believed the world flat but through the sciences and individuals there came a shift, call it a paradigm shift if you wish, that allowed a different perspective demonstrating that the world was not flat but round (actually egg shaped but that came later in more modern times and sciences). 

Our natural-selective processes are about perceptions and how they, along with the internal, tell us about reality where in one view reality may be a flat 2D model or where by a simple shift of perspective turns a 2D into a 3D sphere. 

In the karate and martial discipline communities it is all about how each practitioner perceives what they are exposed to in the dojo and how they distinguish that expertise when synthesizing it to fit themselves as individuals. It is best to remember that one who distinguishes the system one way one day because of open-minded studies will often find a shift from that perspective to another entirely different and new perspective.

All of this comes from the very essence of the human species, survival through natural selection by external/internal perceptions and distinctions that allow for the F-I-T-N-E-S-S of the species, not necessarily a perceive reality but a more realistic objective properties of our external world for species survival.   

Once again, we make assumptions in regard to our perceptions when in fact that reality differs from true objective realistic properties of the world, in critical survival respects, differs from our perceptions. There is a proven mismatch between our perceptions and certain aspects of reality. 

Bibliography (Click the link)

D. Hoffman, C. Prakash. Objects of consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology, 2014.

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)