The Inverse Relationship to Movement Part IV

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

·         Viktor Frankl, Auschwitz Survivor

What a powerful statement! Viktor Frankl really nails it. You see at the end of the day no matter what we do we have for the most part a choice, a choice to take action, or to do nothing and within that choice, we have the power to decide what we are going to do and to some degree (because the bad guy gets a vote in the fight) the outcome of the battle. Even when we do nothing we have still made a choice.

I remember my Master once telling me,

“It doesn’t matter whether your arm is up or down, whether you move this way or that way, in that moment, in that instant you are the master of that motion…”

These are words to live by in your martial training and development because all too often people think that how they move or respond to something has no impact on the outcome of the fight when in fact a lot of times even if were are not consciously aware of it, the choice we make is really two sides of the same coin. For those who are confused let me help you here because it has everything to do with the fight and as Col Jack Sparks, my old Regimental Commander used to say,

“There ain’t no such thing as a damn coincidence, this shit does not happen in a vacuum”.

Meaning if it happened on some level it was supposed to happen. In this post, I’m going to speak more philosophically as I tie a few more things together regarding understanding and how to develop the ability to use the Inverse Relationship to Motion. Because it is also going to lead in to my next blog series on the Warrior Flow Concept of Subtle Muscle Control.

On Choice

Choice…

We all want it and to a degree we always have it, but once we have it and can see it we can easily become overwhelmed by it.

You hear it in people's voices all of the time when they ask about self-defense and what they should do in this situation or that situation. The truth is they are the right questions to ask. I’ve found though that when people ask such a question what they really want is for you as a self-defense instructor to remove a level of uncertainty from them but at the same time not limit their options their choices. Even as an instructor of self-defense if you are not careful you can actually overload a person where there are seemingly too many choices of what to do in a given situation.

This is one of the reasons why I’m not really big on doing scenario-based training unless the purpose is to teach a response to behaviors rather than the scenario itself. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years in the Marine Corps is that no matter where you go, no matter what the culture, assholes behave the same way no matter where you go. The only thing that may change is the context in which the behavior arises but once you understand what you are looking for it becomes pretty obvious to you. Meaning that much of the ambiguity of the situation goes away. The reason is simple, we’re all human and our emotions once triggered causes us to react generally speaking in the same fashion. In other words, whatever scares you scares you and causes you to react out of fear. Whatever pisses you off causes you to react in anger and exhibits the same emotional feelings as anyone else. The only differences are how we are conditioned to respond once we are either afraid or angry or how we choose to respond.  

My point is we’re all human and how we choose to respond I believe is a learned thing. If it were not so, then why do we spend so much time and effort in the military desensitizing people in training to overcome irrational fear while at the same time teach people to recognize danger?

Because the two are not the same and yet each one has to power to cause you to respond in ways that if you make the wrong choice could get you killed.  

The Infinite Possibilities of the Infinite

“From one thing, know ten thousand things”

• Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

Now when we talk about the Inverse Relationships one of the problems as people have told me they first start to see is that there are as one Instructor described to be, “all of these options, they’re just all over the place…”

This I believe is because until you could see it in your mind you couldn’t see it with your eyes even though it is not only in right in front of us, but was there all of the time.  This is the reason when training people they will often hear me ask questions like,

“Are you sure you are touching my hand or am I allowing you to be there?”

“Are you holding my arm or and I allowing you to hold it?”

“Did you enter on me or did I allow you to enter into the space I created for you?”

Because let me tell you, something folks, how you answer the question will greatly influence how you move how you respond, etc. and is the essence of understanding how to develop the ability to see the inverse relationships in all things.

Trust me when I tell you I can go down a very, very deep rabbit hole on this because the possibilities are endless. I do this to get their minds to start thinking in a different fashion as to how they perceive what is going on so they can make different choices based on what they feel or perceive through their perceptual awareness.

I mean you do want to win the fight right?

Well, this different type of thinking is a learned thing and can be trained but you first have to see it and know what it is in order to get there.

In Michael Stocker’s Plurality and Choice, he states in his these is that plurality is an obstacle to choice. The point he was making is that the more choices you have the more hesitation and less decisive one can be if there is no ability to prioritize those choices. However, as he also goes on to discuss how we are somehow able to bring together seemingly disparate information and yet make sound judgments.

This skill is important towards developing an understanding of how to use and recognize Inverse Relationships to movement because often what we see or experience seems at first to have no discernable pattern of correlation when in fact they are just another facet of the same thing. It only appears this way because these things which are outside of our experience seem as if they do not fit.

“You must understand that there is more than one path to the top of the mountain”

• Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings

You see, one of the problems I’ve discovered as many people once they begin to think in this manner find. Once you begin to see things in the inverse is the number of choices expands exponentially.

Shrinking The Haystack

It is for this reason why Warrior Flow focuses on how we as humans interact with each other within the known universe. Without there being some form of objective measure or way as to how things work. It is not in my view possible to make the proper judgments based on how a thing works or what choice to make in a given situation. Or even how to train to it given that the number of choices or this “plurality” if you will, including those that do not seem likely which may present themselves in battle (i.e., the Fog of War).

This is the reason I've spent so much time explaining how the universe works because as we operate in it we cannot escape nature and the natural order of things. In doing so we shrink the size of the haystack so to speak to narrow down the amount of searching required to make the best possible choice. Movement is movement and fighting no matter what style is no different. There is another thing when you can see the inverse of things once in action it alters our perception of time. This is one of the reasons why I train people in the skill of understanding and taking action when they perceive the inverse relationships on how it affects their perception of time.

You see, for the person who sees the possibilities the inverse, time expands due to their ability to see options that allow them to take advantage of the movement of the other person. In the same way, a baseball player waits for the ball to come to him as he is already prepared to swing on the ball. Conversely, for the person who cannot see the inverse time collapses on them because even if they know how to appropriately respond to something they do not have enough time to accomplish it because they are not taking into consideration how their own movement is influencing what is happening to them until it is generally too late.

Also, I want to point out it because this is a topic that comes up frequently when speaking to folks regarding the study of other arts and how this understanding relates to them. We are all human and we generally all move in the same fashion because our bodies are designed in the same way. Some of us have more ability than others but our bodies still function the same way this is why we find it so amazing to watch some high-level athlete or circus performer doing things that seem to defy physics. The martial arts are no different.

Understanding the Shape of Things to Come

“If you do not control the enemy, the enemy will control you”

• Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings

So, it is not that we do not learn about other arts, on the contrary, we do study other arts but not from the perspective of matching counter moves against moves, but to recognize the pattern the impression of movement or the shape of what the movement is to become. In order to neutralize it if possible "before" it ever becomes a problem because by understanding these different arts shows what humans are capable of (i.e., The Adumbration of Movement). Like anything else when you know what is possible you know what to look for provided you’re willing to train to it.

“If you wish to control others you must first control yourself”

• Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings

One point I want to make, I can’t speak for anyone else so I’ll just tell you here in Warrior Flow we move in a way not follow anyone’s movement but get ahead of things and lead if possible. This is why we emphasize in our training not to move for the sake of moving but move with a purpose and we understand the regardless of speed. In order to achieve the level of skill and control we desire we must also be able to not only adjust as we move along but understand the importance of acceleration and deceleration in that they work hand in hand. That there is a duality an inverse to all movement and that no movement no matter how slight is in isolation of the body as a whole (i.e., Quantum Sphere Concept)

Move (Or Don't Move) But Do So With a Purpose

“Do nothing that is of no use”

• Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

Philosophically speaking, because we understand the ebb and flow of movement where our movement and even position in time and space influences the actions of the other person. We do not believe in trying to resolve problems with the same thinking that created them but train to get ahead of them if possible and look for a more efficient solution to end and win the damn fight!

You see at the end of the day you are still just dealing with motion. So if it is just motion then we should at least give consideration to how humans move within time and space. As well as the mechanisms that control human moment within the laws of physics and human physiology develop the ability to understand how to use and manipulate them to our advantage.

Last point I’ll make and then I’ll move on…

“When you come to the fork in the road… take it.”

• Yogi Berra

Now most of us have heard the sage wisdom of Yogi Berra, and he has some really great sayings the one I like the most is,

“The difference between theory and practice is this, in theory, they’re both the same, in practice they are not…”

You got to love it but he makes a great point about taking the fork in the road and the point I’m making here is. As you develop the ability to see the inverse of things one thing you have to consider is that making a choice as soon as possible is better than making no choice even if the choice is to remain patient and allow for things to materialize. (Full disclosure the other reason Yogi Berra used to say that is because he lived in a cul-de-sac in NJ, and his house was at the end right in the middle of the cul-de-sac on the opposite end of a wooded area so no matter which way you went you always ended up at his house).

“Whatever the Way, the master of strategy does not appear fast… Of course, slowness is bad. Really skillful people never get out of time and are always deliberate, and never appear busy.”

• Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings

When Musashi discusses slowness here what he is talking about is slowness in response, slowness in timing but not necessarily speed because once again it is a timing thing, a patience thing. This is a very powerful skill to develop because what I’m asking you to shape your thinking in a way when you train that allows you to see the future. In the same way, a great athlete sees all of the arcs and lines and even dimensions of what a thing will become beforehand (i.e., playing where the puck is going to be). This is no easy skill because you have to be patient with yourself and believe that it can even be done in the first place. People in sports do it all of the time and many folks in the martial arts even if they are not aware of it (especially in sport fighting) do it all of the time, but when it comes to self-defense most people act as if this shit doesn’t exist. Their loss. Shame…

However, in Warrior Flow, we have a different view of things a different phyiloso[hy, a different etymology. We're all about the art of the possible, of what is possible, of how things in the universe actually work and in that is where we find almost infinite possibilities in what we can do within the bodies we have. 

Well, that closes this out I hope you enjoyed reading about this as much as I enjoy writing and teaching on this stuff. In my next installment, I'm going to get into the concept of Subtle Muscle Control within Warrior Flow and how you can develop better control over your body for yourself.

Thanks. 

P.S. for those who want to learn more about how to develop this type of movement.

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     Al Ridenhour

     CEO, Creator Warrior Flow™

Al Ridenhour is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the US Marine Corps with 28-years of service active and reserve with multiple combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. He has also served as a Law Enforcement consultant to the NJ State Police Special Operations Section, NJ Transit Police Operations Section, The NJ Regional Operations and Intelligence Center, the FBI Philadelphia Bomb Section, and subject matter expert to the US Department of Homeland Security's, Explosives Division. With nearly 40-years of Combative Arts experience, he is recognized as a self-defense expert worldwide and is highly sought out for seminars, workshops, lectures, and special individualized training.  He is the author of "Warrior Flow Mind" (2020), Co-Author of "Attack Proof: The Ultimate Guided in Personal Protection (Human Kinetics, 2010) and the Co-Author of "How to Fight for Your Life" (June 2010).

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