PERSPECTIVE: Observation

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Kansatsu [観察] translates to English as, "observation; watching; survey." The frist ideogram means, "outlook; look; appearance; condition; view," and the second, "guess; presume; surmise; judge; understand." 

Kansatsuryoku [観察力] is the power of observation.

Kansatsusha [観察者] is one who is the observer. 

Kansatsugan [観察眼] is the observing eye.

Kansatsutekikenkyuu [観察的研究] is the art of observational study. 

In the OODA process the first step is to observe, observation is how the sensory systems detect external stimuli and the ability to differentiate between all the stimuli, the ability to also auto-ignore the type that poses no danger and to detect that which is of need and danger must dominate. The only way to achieve that is to observe in a training and practice mode and create triggerable-concepts appropriate to what your objectives are in any given discipline like self-protection for self-defense. 

Every facet of our martial arts training regardless of objective intent requires observation skills. It also requires the study of things so that the mind can connect the academic understanding to the actual reality understanding that occurs in training and practice. If you don't know it you can't recognize it during observation and without adequate understanding even if observed the mind will often discard it as not necessary/irrelevant.  

Example: a student has become unable to hands-on train, the first response is to be excused from training and practice and then do go off and do something else. This is a failure to properly use all our sensory skills to train and practice even when in a state that makes it unwise to participate BECAUSE the student would benefit greatly by observational training on the sidelines, i.e., through observational skills that utilize our visual acuity, our auditory abilities and even that of touch, smell and taste they can use their mental acuity, focus and stimuli to analyze, assess, synthesize and then later make use in actual hands-on, i.e., that mental academically oriented understanding that when properly triggered later provides the practitioner that, "oh-crap, that's it" moment. 

This is when one can enhance and practice and test the same observational skills to allow them when out and about to unconsciously observe external stimuli of others and the environment that would trigger the appropriate concepts that allow us to orient then decide on action, i.e., when done right like avoid or escape-n-evade, etc., then move on safely and securely. The mental observation and orientation skills must be honed and tempered just like the body, mind and spirit especially in the discipline that provides self-protection in self-defense. 

So, as you can visualize naturally, when you can't train, train anyway with your mind and make use of the mental observational and orientational skills necessary to sharpen the edge of our OODA abilities for it is those that will allow you to get a head start on that other who may want to test your metal, make it so he sees the sharpness of your blade and makes haste to find other sources of income and/or process needs. 

Practicing observational skills develops our understanding and it develops our focus and it develops our attention span/focus and it develops appropriate understanding toward what is relevant and what is irrelevant to our overall awareness both conscious and unconscious. Make sure you practice, train and exercise that mental observational or orientational skill set, it matters. 

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