The Third Thing: Context Part II  

 “Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power or live a lie.”

·         Miyamoto Musashi

In the last Blog Post, I introduced the importance of how the “Context” in which we receive and view information influences how we act and respond to said information or stimuli. Again, in order to develop the “Moral Certainty”, you seek which is that of the Warrior. You must first understand things in their proper “context”.

As stated in my previous post, people need to know what they are looking at and they generally at least when they seek out self-defense training they want to know how to respond in certain situations. With that said in order to do so, we first need to know a few things or as I like to say “how the known universe works”.

Now, the way I see it there are several things here you see when dealing with another person what you are really doing as my Masters have taught me, is you are just dealing with their motion. Whether strong or fast, whether they have reached or not, big or small, in order to reach you, they have to make a move. So either you’re moving towards them, they’re moving towards you, or you’re meeting somewhere in the middle. The point is without movement there is no contact, without contact there is no fight.

The other thing is while we experience our world through our senses it is the context in which information is presented that influences how we act or respond. In other words, how we think about a thing in context “influences” how we move and how we move “reinforces” / “influences” how we think about moving.

Think of it sort of in the same way as the concept of “Quantum Entanglement” which is,

“A physical phenomenon that occurs when pairs or groups of particles are generated, interact or share spatial proximity in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even when the particles are separated by a large distance."

Now, I’m not an expert on this but the concept is apropos for what I’m talking about here. The point is these two things like Quantum Entanglement are inseparable and are always present working off of each other.

"Superficial goals produce superficial results."

       --Atilla the Hun

Why this is important is because no matter what we do there are the things that influence how we perceive things and how we respond to a given situation. Now in most endeavors in life, we accept this with no problem however it’s been my experience that when it comes to fighting for some reason we want to act like people are not capable of doing certain things.

This is also a major reason why when training within the Warrior Flow system whether teaching a specific skill or scenario-based trading. A premium is placed on framing each training evolution, every modality, every technique "the right way". The training must be “framed” within the proper context otherwise it just doesn’t make sense.   It's just too important not to do so. Understand that people come to you to learn life-saving skills anything less than your best effort to train them could be the difference between life and death. 

Think of it like this, looking at it graphically when we take in information as we train when we perceive the information within the proper context of the principles that govern combative movement. The information is able to be understood and stored in the body in a logical manner where it is “always” accessible.

In other words, by building it up in the body within the “right context” we reach the level of "subconscious competence" where we just "know without knowing".

(EDITORIAL COMMENT: I now call it this because, in retrospect, it is a much better and more accurate description than "unconscious competence" because it is knowledge and thought at a level outside of our conscious awareness. Besides if it were "unconscious" then it can imply that there is no thought to how this happens or that our brains are not operating thus "thinking" on some level. This is not possible! You cannot, "not think" and even the idea of not thinking is a form of thinking so this is not possible! Unfortunately, in the martial arts, because of the infusion of Zen Buddhism the concept of "Mushin" which implies "no mind" has created the perception that it is possible to operate on a level without thought of any kind. Understand that this concept is thousands of years old before we had the technology to prove that such a thing is not possible. I repeat not possible! I believe this is a misunderstanding of what they were talking about at least for the martial arts, and probably a better word to describe Mushin is "Focus" or "Total Focus". And that the key is to develop yourself to the point where you're able to perform without any conscious thought as to what it is you need to do when you need to do it. To develop what I call "Perfect Clarity". This is a subject that I will cover in another Blog Post at a later date but suffice to say when we discuss the idea of Mushin. We are in my view discussing a type of subconscious competence where we enter into what I refer to as the Warrior Flow State in which all under Heaven seems to fall to your will without effort.)

Anyway, this allows us to make the best possible choice in the body without conscious thought because the information coming in makes sense given the stimuli that are presented because you've trained to it to some degree. Is it perfect? Of course not because there's always the possibility for variation but as you will find over time as I lay out these concepts even training to deal with and accept change is an actual thought process (adumbration) that has to be trained to.

However, (oh… you know where this is going) if the information is framed "incorrectly" or presented in a confusing incomplete manner. The context is thus flawed and the result is a confused inappropriate action or response to the stimuli that the person perceives (garbage in... well you know the rest). This is exactly how bad habits develop. These incorrect yet learned behaviors. Understand that for the most part, our bodies don't know right from wrong only stimuli, and the context of that stimuli presented influences how we developed based on those perceptions of what we perceive to be happening within time and space. 

Even though how we move our bodies (even when we fight) is no different than how we move at high speed or in any other extreme situation. If you have developed your skills within the wrong context you are going to draw wrong conclusions in your actions or responses. In other words, the old garbage in garbage out metaphor is at play here again. And if you train within the wrong context of the battle all you’ll do is get to the wrong conclusion sooner. Remember that your perceptions will influence your actions even in training because this “entanglement” between thought and action even on the subconscious level cannot be ignored.

The way I see it, your body is your body and whatever you are capable of is “what you are capable of”, and usually, we are far more capable of things than we think we are, which to me is a good problem to have. But it also explains why there is a whole cottage industry built around helping people get past their own self-imposed limitations.

My point is that even under duress how our bodies work for the most part work the same way. While there is no question that in a heightened state we tend to move with more force or deliberateness and respond with a heightened state of awareness at the end of the day full speed is full speed even under the “mythological adrenalin”. (I refer to it in this manner because often in the self-defense community and the military we speak of adrenalin as if it were some “magic elixir” that grants almost supernatural powers and abilities outside of the known laws of physics). 

I believe, having been in a heightened state of awareness and responsiveness numerous times in my life. That the “perception” that we are moving at almost supernatural speeds or that everything and everyone around you is moving in slow motion and where you are performing with almost supernatural strength “effortlessly”. Is because until you’ve had to move like that you didn’t know you could do it.  In other words, whether intellectually or physically you don’t know what you know until you know it and you “won’t know it” until you know it. Also, in this state, you are so “focused” that all else around you seems to disappear.

This is why in training it is so critical to ensure that concepts and skills are presented in a manner where they are framed in the proper context in order to facilitate proper learning.

Listen, folks, when it comes to fighting for their lives people want to not only feel they have the moral right to “kick that ass” but know what to do when something happens. People no matter what want to understand in “context” the information presented to them because it makes all the difference in the world in a life or death situation.

This is why in Warrior Flow there is an emphasis on presenting information to the best of our abilities is presented in an as clear and logical manner, that is understandable to even a child. There should be no ambiguity in a person’s mind when training for self-defense as to the purpose and the context of the who, what, when, where and why of a given skill.

"Context" is important and should never be taken for granted. At the end of the day, we are talking about people’s lives. People come to us for help in order to learn these warrior skills necessary to protect themselves and their loved ones. Just as our students should train as if their lives depend on it we should also always strive to deliver on the promise to train them as if their lives depend on it from the moment they enter our training programs to when they go home.

As trainers in the art of war, we owe them nothing less...

This is the Way of the Warrior, the Warrior Flow Way!

In my next post, I will get into this in just a little more depth from the perspective of "Warrior Mind Focus". 

Thank you.

     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" (2019), 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).

For more go to https://protectyourself.mykajabi.com/

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