Please take a look at Articles on self-defense/conflict/violence for introductions to the references found in the bibliography page.

Please take a look at my bibliography if you do not see a proper reference to a post.

Please take a look at my Notable Quotes

Hey, Attention on Deck!

Hey, NOTHING here is PERSONAL, get over it - Teach Me and I will Learn!


When you begin to feel like you are a tough guy, a warrior, a master of the martial arts or that you have lived a tough life, just take a moment and get some perspective with the following:


I've stopped knives that were coming to disembowel me

I've clawed for my gun while bullets ripped past me

I've dodged as someone tried to put an ax in my skull

I've fought screaming steel and left rubber on the road to avoid death

I've clawed broken glass out of my body after their opening attack failed

I've spit blood and body parts and broke strangle holds before gouging eyes

I've charged into fires, fought through blizzards and run from tornados

I've survived being hunted by gangs, killers and contract killers

The streets were my home, I hunted in the night and was hunted in turn


Please don't brag to me that you're a survivor because someone hit you. And don't tell me how 'tough' you are because of your training. As much as I've been through I know people who have survived much, much worse. - Marc MacYoung

WARNING, CAVEAT AND NOTE

The postings on this blog are my interpretation of readings, studies and experiences therefore errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. The content surrounding the extracts of books, see bibliography on this blog site, are also mine and mine alone therefore errors and omissions are also mine and mine alone and therefore why I highly recommended one read, study, research and fact find the material for clarity. My effort here is self-clarity toward a fuller understanding of the subject matter. See the bibliography for information on the books. Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented.


Note: I will endevor to provide a bibliography and italicize any direct quotes from the materials I use for this blog. If there are mistakes, errors, and/or omissions, I take full responsibility for them as they are mine and mine alone. If you find any mistakes, errors, and/or omissions please comment and let me know along with the correct information and/or sources.



“What you are reading right now is a blog. It’s written and posted by me, because I want to. I get no financial remuneration for writing it. I don’t have to meet anyone’s criteria in order to post it. Not only I don’t have an employer or publisher, but I’m not even constrained by having to please an audience. If people won’t like it, they won’t read it, but I won’t lose anything by it. Provided I don’t break any laws (libel, incitement to violence, etc.), I can post whatever I want. This means that I can write openly and honestly, however controversial my opinions may be. It also means that I could write total bullshit; there is no quality control. I could be biased. I could be insane. I could be trolling. … not all sources are equivalent, and all sources have their pros and cons. These needs to be taken into account when evaluating information, and all information should be evaluated. - God’s Bastard, Sourcing Sources (this applies to this and other blogs by me as well; if you follow the idea's, advice or information you are on your own, don't come crying to me, it is all on you do do the work to make sure it works for you!)



“You should prepare yourself to dedicate at least five or six years to your training and practice to understand the philosophy and physiokinetics of martial arts and karate so that you can understand the true spirit of everything and dedicate your mind, body and spirit to the discipline of the art.” - cejames (note: you are on your own, make sure you get expert hands-on guidance in all things martial and self-defense)



“All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.” - Montaigne


I am not a leading authority on any one discipline that I write about and teach, it is my hope and wish that with all the subjects I have studied it provides me an advantage point that I offer in as clear and cohesive writings as possible in introducing the matters in my materials. I hope to serve as one who inspires direction in the practitioner so they can go on to discover greater teachers and professionals that will build on this fundamental foundation. Find the authorities and synthesize a wholehearted and holistic concept, perception and belief that will not drive your practices but rather inspire them to evolve, grow and prosper. My efforts are born of those who are more experienced and knowledgable than I. I hope you find that path! See the bibliography I provide for an initial list of experts, professionals and masters of the subjects.

Paying Attention

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
  • Why would paying attention be a post in karate Self-fense?
  • In general, what do I mean by pay’ing attention?
  • What results from the process of paying attention?
  • How does cognitive functioning work in regard to paying attention?
  • Can we multi-task?
  • How does choosing what we are attentive of effect our paying attention?
  • How do we redirect the attention of someone?
  • How can we utilize such information for training, practice and applications? 
In the English language, we are said to “Pay” attention, which plainly implies that the process extracts a cost. Regarding cognitive functions: when attention is paid to something, the prince is attention lost to something else. The human mind appears able to hold ONLY ONE thing in conscious awareness at a time, the toll is a momentary loss of focused attention to everything else. 

In the cognitive functioning of our attentive minds there are always multiple “tracks” of information available, we consciously select only the one we want to register at that moment. Any other arrangement would leave us “Overloaded” and “Unable” to react to distinct aspects of the mongrelized input. For humans to handle multiple channels of information is to “Switch back and forth among them,” opening and closing the door of mindfulness to each in turn. 

Although it may seem that humans are concentrating on more than one thing simultaneously, that’s an illusion, we are just rapidly alternating our focus. Just as there is a price for paying attention, there is also a price for switching it. Each time we switch we lose about one half a second of focus, we experience a mental dead spot, called an “Attentional Blink”, when we can’t register the newly highlighted information consciously. 

When you can tell one is engaged in another task it shows that the a partner in communications is willing to lose contact with the information one party is providing to make contact with the other information, i.e., trying to talk to you and text at the same time. It tells us that one persons input is considered relatively unimportant. 

What we “choose” to attend to or away from reflects what they value at the time. The point of the influence process: whatever we can do to focus people on something - an idea, a person, an object - makes that thing seem more important to them than before. If someone leans forward (gets and moves closer), into the information - an embodies signal of focused attention and intense interest is perceived. Reducing the distance to an object makes it seem more worthwhile. 

Understanding how our attentive functions work helps explain a good deal of what works in martial disciplines as well as it is applied in self-fense. Another aspect is how attentiveness and its traits and effects and obstacles can be utilized to speed up our OODA looping in self-fense. Since we are unable to actually be attentive to more than one stimulus at any given time we can use such information to explain how tells work, how the feint can misdirect an adversary and how we can overwhelm an adversary’s mind to allow us a dominant position in self-fense. 

Information is power, knowledge is power and Understanding is the ultimate power because it is knowledge, understanding and the ability to apply it toward self-fense in karate and martial disciplines that makes for success, progress and continued growth. 

Bibliography (Click the link)

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




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