Social Distancing

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

“It’s not new!” SD has been around as long as mankind itself. It is also a yin-yang principle with “Social Positioning” as a yin to the other’s yang. Take a moment to contemplate this.

The social distance of today is a socially mandated distance to ensure one’s health, safety and security against a particular threat that spans all people’s regardless of race, creed, culture, beliefs, etc. It is a difficult need because it goes against our natural nature as a social species to collect in groups, allowing us to collectively socialize for support, security and most of all for survival. By this I mean, that normal distancing we assume in groups. 

Natural social distance and positioning are principals and instincts we use to set personal and tribal boundaries that are as close as a couple’s intimate moment to as far as 4+ feet to maintain a secure space against a physical attack.

We who practice martial self-protection call this, “ma-ai.” 

Now everyone is setting a heath-safe distance of 6” to protect one another from a anomaly of nature as in the virus so dangerous to our species way of life. The COVID-19 Virus.

I found that this social-distance of six feet interesting because of the distance, minimal, we need to establish, so if physically attacked that distance provides us space-void and time to avoid, escape-n-evade and protect ourself and others from attack/sickness that has the “potential” to cause serious harm-death.

In martial self-protection, as explained by a professional by the name of Mr. Marc MacYoung, you determine your immediate safe space by setting a distance equal to that as measured from your eye/nose level to the floor set down between your position to just in front of a potential adversary that is about six feet, give or take a few inches.

That social-boundary setting means a potential attacker has to move to get distance to be able to hit or kick and for a well trained individual is enough to act in self-protection for self-defense.

Now social-distance for our health-n-safety has to be set consciously because the adversary is invisible to us and we can’t judge its movement/attack. It may or may NOT be in or on a person in your environment so like our self-protection we have to first, and foremost, do our very best to avoid it, that insidious virus COVID-19 Corona-virus!

Like a social event we must be aware and alert, with a dose of understanding and caution, because every soul we meet or encounter may or may not have or carry the invisible adversary. It’s like self-protection; we have to have the knowledge, understanding and skills to effectively perceive and detect if a threat is present or its just another social passive encounter. In self-protection that means seeing, analyzing and assessing the presence or absence of a threat, potential threat or attack vs. just another person in a normal social brief encounter.

As to today’s social-distancing boundary; it has to be set, static and maintained as to our vigilance and awareness constantly out in public because of its very nature and high threat level to ALL OF US!

This can be exhausting and helps explain the required need of stay at home mandate. Like martial self-protection we know that a constant and continuous level of high alert/vigilance is not possible, so we have to trigger our various levels of alertness to remain safe and secure; so it is prudent to use a multi-layered security posture to remain protected.

Another good reason why society has set various levels from staying home, to minimal outings for heath and to setting social-distance/boundaries when we meet and connect with others, regardless of being friends, extended family or social acquaintances.

It came to my mind that those of us in martial arts, especially in regard to self-protection, have the skills already in place so we can consciously make the necessary adjustments to achieve and maintain the very much needed social-distance.

Second, I mentioned social-positioning and alluded to it in the example I gave above. We humans use S-D all the time in social settings and environments. 

Look at the way groups gather and the position assumed, especially as to group status. As example in mixed gender gatherings. females tend to position in a more face-to-face while males will take a position at an angle to one another. (one-on-one) 

As the numbers in the group increase those dynamics change but in all circumstances one status dictates positioning. You just have to be aware and alert to a group dynamic to build your understanding of social-positioning. Note, this is a simplistic example and the subject warrants additional study, training and practice because other factors are involved such as,

1. One’s experiences,
2. One’s cultural belief/realities, 
3. One’s perceptions based on experiences. etc.
4. One’s status/position in a group dynamic.

Our social distance should be one that sets a protective boundary not only to keep the virus away but also to avoid conflicts and potential violences. We need to remain vigilant when out and about and we must remember that according to the local, state and federal requirements we must avoid such situations to reman safe, secure and healthy and that means remain in place, stay home and use the seclusion to not just help yourself, but your family and society as a whole as in not just immediate but world wide. 

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Ma-ai [間合] and Self-Defense

The character/ideogram means "space (between); gap; interval; distance; time (between); pause; break; span (temporal or spatial); stretch; period (while); relationship (between, among); space; room; time; pause." 

The character/ideogram means "space; room; time; pause." The characters/ideograms mean "interval; distance; break; pause; distance between opponents (kendo)." The first character means, "Interval; space," and the second character means, "fit; suit; join." 

Space and interval, often referred to within the timing of an event, i.e., in martial arts applications. There are distances a martial artist must have knowledge of and be aware of in physical altercations. 

How you manipulate and use both space and timing can make the difference between damage and death or avoidance and no damage. This is also something left to natural learning as one spars or competes in sparring matches. It is seldom taught outright outside of the sparring training module but can be taught using various techniques. 

The complexities are numerous and many MA and SD models don’t touch on every aspect of ma-ai. Ma-ai is also relevant toward visual distortions regarding the adrenal stress induced flood of chemicals that have varying and differing types of effects on folks who are forced into self-defense. 

With visual distortions one must learn to gauge distances in a different way to achieve good SD. In a state where distortion occurs you will feel and fear the perceived proximity of an adversary, an attacker. There is a technique that can be practiced so that when it happens you can judge and gauge the actual distance between you and an attacker. Marc MacYoung writes and teaches that ma-ai, or distance, is important in the SD arena. Distance provides you time, time to avoid, deter and/or deescalate creating a possible way to avoid conflict and its associated violence. How that technique is done requires one thing from the reader of this post, you read his book, “In the Name of Self-Defense.” 

Another aspect of ma-ai in SD is associated with the art of “Uke.” In learning and teaching about Uke the mind-set and mind-state must be changed and this applies to SD as well. That change is more about receiving with a product of losing the impulse and desire to “Win” toward a more “Not Lose” mind-set/state. We use ma-ai to create opportunities to attack and this mind-state of “Attack” opens the door to winning but also opens the door so that one can leave the room called Self-defense and enter the other room that is fighting or the illegal fighting room. 

In SD one must remain within the circle/square of SD. Always aiming for the win often takes you right out of the circle/square and straight into the repercussions that include economic ruin and prison let alone the ongoing adverse effects toward family over time, a long time.

All to often when teaching about ma-ai in MA circles it is about winning, and winning at all costs. Yes, there are rules in the competitive forms of MA that control such things but if a mistake is made that breaks those rules you have referees to stop things and get things back on track. In SD you have yourself who is so intent on winning they fail to see those rules that take you out of the SD circle/square and straight into the circle/square of illegal. There are no referee’s and with a mind-state/set like described often unchains the Monkey and that ain’t good. 

There is so much more to all this in the MA world and this is but one effort to train the mind toward a new mind-state/set, toward one that takes the win out of the SD arena and puts “Not lose” in there. It is a paradigm shift that must be taken if you use MA or other skills for defense.

AND

Ma-ai or Distance

In any self-defense situation the distance you have and maintain between you and your adversary is important. As long as you have distance you can dial down your need for dangerous activity that can both get you hurt or killed and get you out of self-defense and into jail. 

The following quote is from the book, “In the Name of Self-Defense,” by Marc MacYoung. It is a quick way to determine and practice how to judge safe distances with an adversary. There is not hard and fast spacing, like say five feet, due to the size of an adversary. As the height changes so does that distance where an attack can occur.

“Stand if front of a friend and measure the distance from his or her eyebrows to the floor. Take that same distance and lay it down on the floor between you. that is pretty much an empty-hand person’s attack range (weapons extend that range). that’s the distance they can reach you with using an empty-hand attack without taking a step. Draw a line halfway through that distance. the half closest to you is kicking range (where they can reach you with a kick). The half closest to him or her is punching range where he or she can strike you. But to do that, one has to step closer.” page 74, chapter three of In the Name of Self Defense

Note that this is just what it is and is easily changed due to various conditions including but not limited to adrenal effects, etc. In other words your spatial acuity is changed in a violent situation thus making this a bit harder to actually determine accurately. This is why one should get the book and read the entire thing cause there are so many variables. 

I just thought this quote would be a good starting point for a newbie martial artist trying to get a handle on ma-ai concepts. One additional aspect to the concept of ma-ai is that many martial artists attribute only that type of ma-ai that involves sport competition type encounters but in INOSD it is about that range that will tell you someone is within attack range. Add to this, attack range without other variables is simply an attack range. The danger may or may not actually be there. There is more …… Think JAM and to find out about that part, guess what :-)

Bibliography:

MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.

AND

Attacking Distance

It came to me like a light bulb going nova and then blowing out, it is about distancing. Distance term for martial disciplines is, “Ma-ai.” It seems to me that many martial practitioners focus heavily on their distancing, i.e., for remaining outside their adversary’s range, getting into range and other such complexities of the fight game (not really a game but this sounded good at the time of writing).

I know I have had this dyslexic type of thinking but what practitioners should base their actions on is the distance of the adversary. The adversary has his or her distance where they can use their techniques to attack. There are a variety of many aspects that govern how they use their distance, with and without tells, as how they assume a stance or kamae to hit or kick and so on. A more natural stance may require movement before launching a kick while another does not - it can get complicated.

Marc MacYoung wrote (hey, if I got it wrong don’t look to Mr. MacYoung’s article. It is my problem) a piece on distance in response to someone stating, “How to hold one’s hands when an attacker is in your face,” to properly protect yourself from getting hit. This is about those comments so I want to stress that one’s perspective should not be about your distance, indirectly, but the distance of your adversary, directly. What the ….?

Mr. MacYoung says (think my assumptions here) that you can know your adversary’s attack range. Knowing his or her range is really critical when it comes to his or her hitting you. The attack range of your adversary, the distance he or she can attack without having to move or take that step, is found by eyeballing the distance from his or her eyebrows to the floor. Now, this next part has at least two benefits, look down at the floor and create a measure from their closest foot to you using that eyeball distance. If you are outside that range then he or she has to move and that movement is your tell. Maintain that or a greater distance along with bringing your environment into play as obstacles to his or her ability to close that distance. Looking down, takes a millisecond, also helps with the adrenal stress conditions that can cause tunnel vision and that term meaning you are seeing the threat as closer to you than they actually are type thing. 

Looking down for that millisecond from time to time helps you avoid some of the pitfalls of the adrenal dump. Keep that in mind as well, things tend to inter-connect and meld together creating a strong chain of defense or a weakened one when one or more links are stressed and/or broken.

What I am getting to here is “Control the Distance” by controlling your distance according to, “His or Her” attack distance. Just a quick note that one tidbit of detail is his or her stance be it normal and narrow over wider and more stable changes his or her distance as it effects kicking as in too close vs. hitting as in to far he or she has to move type thing. 

Mr. MacYoung writes that your hands and how you hold them becomes less important depending on your adversary’s distance so you need to know how to guage or judge that distance then maintain control over his or her attack distances. The hands and hand position when they are well within that attack range are more about keeping them at a distance over blocking or defecting a hit. Hits happen in milliseconds and believe me your arms and hands are not fast enough to block the hit at that distance so …. Control the ma-ai by using your adversary’s distance of effective attacking, not yours. 

Look at it this way, not using this means you might make judgements according to your attack distance and an adversary who just happens to have a shorter or smaller attack distance may hit you before you can do a damn thing about it and that sucks. 

I will go back even further, avoid the conflict first and it that fails then control the distance using his attack distance and the environment for obstacles, etc. until they cool down. Remember, control the distance to convey to the adversary you are capable and ready to apply force if forced. That alone may deescalate allowing them to choose a better path. If they continue to display aggressive behavior and close the distance regardless of what you say or do then that distance allows you to stop the threat, not react to an attack or have to do damage control (Marc MacYoung says about damage control: “no damage control is ever as good as keeping it from going down in the first place.” 

For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)