Warrior Flow Glossary Of Key Terms

The purpose of this glossary of terms is to serve as a quick reference to some of the concepts, common terms and phrases associated within the Warrior Flow System. Since some of these terms may have other uses the definitions only focus on what they mean within the context of the Warrior Flow System.

We earn our keep based on our ability to communicate how we do what we do for people who don’t know the when, where, what, and how, that want to learn Warrior Flow. How we say what we say when we say it is of crucial importance.

We have but one job, to train people as best we can to be able to fight for their lives. Period. We have no higher calling. Words have meaning and words matter and we need to mean what we say because if there is no consensus as to what a term or thing means then nothing means anything.

Over time as we discover new and better ways to express things or discover new things we will add to it as need be.

WARRIOR FLOW GLOSSARY OF TERMS

The Five Essential Concepts of Warrior Flow – there are Five Essential Concepts to Warrior Flow that are based on the immutable laws within the known universe of how humans move and interact in it. They are not my laws but God’s laws of how he designed the universe and us, and how we operate in it. If you don’t believe in God, it still doesn’t matter because it doesn’t change how the known universe works so HE still gets the last word on this. I changed the names from previous descriptions of these things (i.e., balance, looseness, sensitivity, body unity, adaptivity) because I felt the other descriptions were inadequate and in some cases mislabeled. So I tried to identify them for what they really are and how they function. They are as follows:

• Equilibrium Control – the ability to control your equilibrium while striking or evading from any position or while moving at all times.
• Subtle Muscle Control – the ability to control your body in a way to manipulate, create space, take space, create different states (vapor, liquid, solid) within your body, with different parts, and everything in between, and sometimes all at the same time. This also include the concept of micro-movement or ideomotor movement (i.e., anticipatory-movement).
• Perceptual Awareness – the ability to use your body’s natural senses (kinesthetic and proximity awareness, synesthesia, interoception, etc.)  as well as intuit with your body and see with your mind(i.e., see the Future, play where the puck is going to be).
• Dynamic Coordination – is a culmination of all “Combative Movement Concepts” working together that allows you to get ahead of an antagonist’s movement throwing of their timing (Quantum Sphere Concept) to crush them and prevail. It is an ability you develop as a result of and in combination of equilibrium control, subtle muscle control, and perceptual awareness. However, what makes it work is understanding how to move in with your body in "context" of what you are experiencing. This allows you to access and increase your "Creativity" Creativity – the ability to make logical, intuitive decisions through the Combative Movement Concepts to create what you need where you need it when you need it within time and space (i.e., the ability to draw logical inferences, anticipate and develop a level of adumbration based on what is known, unknown in context with the experience). The part of talent we in Warrior Flow call “Intellect” that allows you to transcend technique and physical limitations to neutralize an opponent’s movements and crush them. This is also the basis for “modeling” combative movement and how our “intuitions” are structured. (i.e., 7 Dimensions of Combat all must be taught and developed from a position of “Mastery” of the “concepts”).

Learning - often defined as a relatively lasting change in behavior that is the result of experience. Learning is a complex process that involves multiple factors. When you think of learning, it might be easy to fall into the trap of only considering formal education that takes place during childhood and early adulthood, but learning is actually an ongoing process that takes place throughout all of life. This is important because understanding how people learn is vital to your success as an instructor. One important thing to remember is that learning can involve both beneficial and negative behaviors. Learning is a natural and ongoing part of our lives and that takes place continually, both for better and for worse. Sometimes people learn things that help them become more knowledgeable and lead better lives. In other instances, people can learn things that are detrimental to their overall health and well-being.

The Four Stages of Learning – there are generally four immutable stages in which we learn they are:

• Subconscious Incompetence - you don’t know what you don’t know.
• Conscious Incompetence - you know what you don’t know and you want to learn it.
• Conscious Competence - you know what you know and you now have but to merely practice it and refine it through trial and error until you can do it. But at this stage you still have to think about it
• Subconscious Competence - where you know, what and how to do what you do, without having to think about it. You just as Nike would say, “Just Do It”.

Training – to cause a change in behavior. The act of teaching a person or yourself a particular skill or type of behavior they need to do a particular job, activity or to prepare for something. The secret is if you want to be able to do it and it’s within the way the universe works then it can be to varying degrees be trained to the subconscious competence level. However, training is a process and not magic nor do we learn through osmosis or The Force. We learn by doing through an understanding whether through a conscious or subconscious understanding. You learned to speak by speaking, you learned to read by reading, you learned to listen by listening to walk by walking and on it goes. You learned to train your mind and body how to learn, by focusing on doing it. In all training there is thought for you cannot not think. It is not possible. Even the state of Mushin is a thought process that allows you to enter into Mushin. But in order to get there you must train it do so therefore by way of focusing on doing just that.

Mastery - an intuitive understanding of all things and how they work (i.e., within the known laws of physics and human physiology) and how to "create" as well as continually "improve" and "self-correct". It is the proper application of the concepts in the proper context or framework that, cultivates an intuitive understanding and allows people to perform creatively and effectively under chaotic, stressful conditions that has differentiated humanity’s great warriors from the enemies who lay at their feet. "Mastery and control of body yields mastery and control of mind and vis a vis." To achieve effortlessness in thought and action. (Note: "We learn by being in the now and flow when there are high consequences.")

Moral Certainty- The ability to sum up a situation and take action with near-perfect confidence, without thought or hesitation, or irrational fear, with little regard for the consequences to yourself. It is also that deep-seated feeling in body and mind that once you make the decision to fight there is no hesitation in your ability to "take action" with the "moral certainty" that you’re in the right. The key is it is less about avoiding a fight or confrontation at all cost but instead focusing on fighting if and when you have to. 

Perfect Clarity – to clearly and unambiguously see a thing as it is for what it is in truth without moral judgment and understand or as well as possible with absolute clearness. To be able to take action based on what needs to be done in the movement without hesitation and without prejudice and doing what must be done. This is the ability once you have all the required information or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics.

Perspective - a particular attitude or mental view toward or way of regarding something; as well as the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance. How this plays with regard to combat is significant because both our perspective and our perceptions are filtered through our knowledge, experiences, sense of being, capabilities and wisdom or intuitions. 

Perception - can be said to be a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present. On a physical level, it is influenced by the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. It is also the state of being or the process of becoming aware of something through them. Perception in Warrior Flow is also the act or faculty of perceiving, or apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding. It is also an immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment and the ability to judge well. (i.e., this is mental as well as physical and the two cannot be separated thus the concept of Perceptual Awareness instead of Sensitivity). When Hannibal stated that, “Perception is a tool pointed on both ends.” He was discussing how our perspective greatly influences how we process the information that is presented to us and thus how we respond to it. In other words, we filter information as it comes in which shapes the character of the information which then influences the output or outcome of how we respond to it. Just by the fact that you know something if you understand how it works then you know what to do about it if you have the proper perspective and perception of what is actually taking place. This is why perfect clarity is a must because it allows you to cut through bullshit and see past the hypnosis and cut to the heart of the matter or manipulate the situation within the laws of physics and human physiology. When the glass is always half-full for you. You can begin to clearly see this. As I tell people all of the time in training the ultimate level of where you want your mind in training is not to understand “how?” I did a thing, that’s the easy part I can teach anyone how, but learning to recognize and ask “why?” When you begin to ask “why?” you will begin to see The Future and go to where you need to be before I arrive there.

Context - the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. The parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word a passage an action and clarify its meaning. Context with regard to combat is everything for it shapes the character of the information and how you and I perceive it. Since we filter information that goes in and out of our bodies through our senses, experiences, knowledge, personal idiosyncrasies, wisdom, etc. this also has an effect on how it shapes or warps the information as well as its meaning to us. This is what we call perception and is something to always be aware of when training yourself and others.  Remember that, “…perception is a tool pointed at both ends”. How you think of a thing influences how you move and how you move influences and reinforces how you think about it and so on. Back and forth they operate. A correct understanding of how a thing works allows for you to model and arrive at correct conclusions and continue to grow as you make logical inferences and as long as you maintain the beginners mind (i.e., being willing to empty your cup but with wisdom, a scientific mind, and a healthy dose of skepticism or trying the spirit’s so to speak) you will continue to grow in skill. This is the foundation in my view of creativity and how our intuition and ability to connect the dots is structured. However, an incorrect understanding of how a thing works has the opposite effect reinforcing the wrong things and starts one down the path of the dark side so to speak. This is how either good or poor habits develop.

Confidence- The ability to stand in that space between courage and fear. Understand that confidence is a quality beyond not being afraid or taking counsel of your fears, nor is it being foolish or reckless with bravery where you are overconfident. But a prudent measured understanding of what not to fear and what to fear. This requires a clear understanding that proficiency fosters competence, competence which creates capability which allows you to stand in that space where you have a clear understanding of what to do and that you are able to function in fears presence. This allows you to stand in that space between courage and fear known as Confidence. This is that sense of gravitas where you own it!

Courage – the ability to functions in fears presence. An ability to push past fear and not be controlled by it. Courage doesn’t mean you are without fear, it is more of an acknowledgment of it and having the will to face it embrace it, control it and use it (see Ruthless Intent). Of all of the human qualities and traits “Courage” is probably the “rarest” of all. The reason is Courage is NOT easy! Courage, you see always comes at a price and it always costs you something or has an element of risk that cannot be avoided. You go to war you could be killed, you run into a burning building to rescue someone you could be killed or horribly burned, you intervene in a robbery or come to someone’s aid during an assault you could be injured or killed if the “perp” has a gun or a knife. The risks cannot be avoided. The key is developing a model in your mind for you of what is the acceptable level of risk.

Fear - Fear can be defined as just an intense experience which also triggers a physiological response. We all have it to varying degrees whether we like it or not. Now, fear is a big part of the Flow State, and I believe it is the inability to face it, to overcome it, and, even dare I say, revel in fear that prevents many people from reaching Flow. In other words, without fear there is no Flow. Without a sense of danger, there is no Flow.  Now there are for our purposes two types of fear you need to be familiar with for there are at the heart of helping people develop their Warrior Skills within Warrior Flow.

• Rational Fear - or as I like to refer to it, the good kind of fear, is what keeps us alive. It is what keeps us from stepping out in the middle of traffic without looking and what enables us to avoid falling objects. This is self-preservation, the innate fear response that we are all born with and that needs no discussion or explanation. Rational fear also leads us to refrain from walking down the wrong street or hanging out on the wrong part of town, but these are things that have to on some level be learned, since it takes experience to know what are the wrong street and the wrong part of town. As Caesar once said, "No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected." Rational fear is what drives us to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our nation, and, yes, strangers in distress. It is this rational fear that keeps your head in the game when conducting military operations, walking the beat as a police officer, and entering a burning building as a fireman. Such rational fear is what most people have always recognized as “common sense.”
• Irrational Fear - "As a rule, what is out of sight disturbs men's minds more seriously than what they see." --Julius Caesar. Irrational Fear is fear for fear’s sake. Caesar was correct when he made the remark above, and he was no less correct when, close to two millennia before Franklin Delano Roosevelt would make the declaration for which he would become famous, Caesar himself informed us, in so many words, that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. As a warrior and General of his 13th Legion, Caesar carried considerably more authority on this subject than did Roosevelt. The key here is in understanding that most irrational fear is just that “irrational’ and mostly self-created. In other words, it’s not real, it’s not something we should be worried about yet we for varying reasons are. So the key is when training people to help them overcome the irrational fear and learn to use the good fear.

Final Point on Fear: one of the main things that cause us to become fearful or irrationally fearful is that fear is felt in the body and resides mainly in the body and while it may start in our heads through our perceptions it manifests itself in the body and has a self-reinforcing effect on us mentally which causes us to become more fearful, which intensifies the physical experience and so on. Much fear that we have is all due to a lack of understanding of what something is and a lack of knowledge of how to cope with or deal with it. Most people fear getting hit in the face because they associate pain with serious injury and thus with death. Once they get hit though and learn that they are not made of glass and that they are not going to die much of the fear subsides. Over time with proper training, they can learn to anticipate getting hit and even believe it or not welcome it. For they know-how in the body to shed the strikes like a boxer who knows how to slip and roll with the punches. This idea of bringing people to the edge of death and not beyond it. To allow them to experience it hold them there and force them to deal with it as you train them in ways to cope with it, understand it, control it, master it, to stand in that space and desensitize them to some degree to the danger is at the heart of the Ruthless Intention Training and at the heart of the Warrior Mind training.

Physiological Responses to Fear - the key here is that Fear is always present on some level and this is not a bad thing by the way because once you recognize the underlying cause for these emotions. You can then begin moving toward a more rational understanding and practical approach by channeling that Fear. You want to begin the process by understanding that when faced with a difficult situation one of the first things that happen is a physiological response in our bodies that triggers the familiar fight-or-flight response also called “hyper-arousal” or “acute stress response”. This reaction occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. While triggered by our mental perceptions, the changes that occur during the fight-or-flight response are activated in order to give the body increased strength and speed in anticipation of fighting or running. Some of the specific physiological changes and their functions include:

• Increased blood flow to the muscles activated by diverting blood flow from other parts of the body.
• Increased blood pressure, heart rate, constriction of blood vessels in many parts of the body
• Paling or flushing, inhibition of stomach (e., that queasy feeling we get in our gut), dilation of the pupil, auditory exclusion (loss of hearing), tunnel vision (loss of peripheral vision) and shaking. (As a side note: I believe the auditory exclusion and tunnel vision are more of a process our brains engage to “filter out” non-essential information and processes such as the effect of “temporary hypo-frontality” as we enter the Warrior Flow State allowing us better focus, creating a “perceived” loss and not an actual loss of hearing or vision. I also believe this filtering explains the sometimes near-photographic recall or time distortion some people have when experiencing Tachypsychia).
• The blood clotting function of the body speeds up in order to prevent excessive blood loss in the event of an injury sustained during the response etc. (this is a good one to know due to the fear we often have of losing our precious bodily fluids).

Understand that acknowledging fear doesn’t make you a coward it just makes you human and that feeling this way is the norm rather than the exception. In fact, if you don’t exhibit some of these signs in my book either there is something wrong with you or you’re not paying attention. Not good! You want to recognize these responses in your body and learn to harness them through Ruthless Intention. 

Wisdom – the culmination of knowledge and experience applied. Wisdom is basically the application of intelligence, and knowledge guided by experience.

Savvy – A shrewdness and practical knowledge (common sense); the ability to make good judgments. To know or understand.

Common Sense – the application of practical knowledge. An innate ability to apply practical knowledge and wisdom.

The Quantum Sphere of Body Movement -. The “Quantum Sphere” is the ability to move within your Sphere of Influence in ways on the most minute level because, “There are no small movements with regard to the end result”. Now, if you imaging your body in the position like Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” within your Sphere of Influence your hands and feet are able to affect all aspects of your Sphere within their natural reach and range of motion. Now, no matter where you move your Center of Gravity is “always” at the center of your Sphere of Influence. Allowing you to “control the space” within your Sphere in every direction. Inside of your body, each one of your joints can move “with” yet “work” at times seemingly independent of each other and the rest of your body. The truth is they don’t actually work independent of each other as much as they play off of each other or reinforce each other depending on what you choose to do within your “Sphere of Influence”. Additionally, these points of rotation are not just limited to your arms and legs but extend to virtually every joint within your body. Within reason of course. For example, while each bone in your arm is linear in structure too include those in your hands. Each joint when combined with the other joints in your arm creates a “spherical range of motion”. The more joints that are involved the greater the freedom of movement. This is what allows you to move your arm in a graceful, fluid fashion as if your arm were like they were made of rubber. One thing I need to point out before I go any further. With regard to your hands whether forming weapons or just moving them in general. No matter what you do with them you always have a sphere that your hands move within, and because each of your fingers has tremendous dexterity they too have a sphere of their own. The Quantum Sphere of Movement in our bodies allows us an almost unlimited range of movement and everything we are capable of doing with our bodies within out physical limitations already exists. The key is in developing your body to take advantage of and access these things. Again each one of our joints has a 360°-degree spherical rotation. Each one while seemingly independent actually works off of all of the other joints and muscles in harmony. This is what allows you to feel connected yet disconnected from another person all at the same time. This is what allows us to create an unlimited number of Impressions or patterns within our body while simultaneously altering or canceling out the movement of another person. This is what allows us to throw the monkey wrench in another person’s movement because we are able to change the impressions so rapidly that they can’t keep up. In other words, we are able to impose new patterns which alter the perception of the other person(s) in such a way that it warps their perception relative of their position to ours in time and space. This also allows us to create that dimensional feel when we move where they are always moving to where we were and not where we are in the future relative to their position in time and space. Thus the illusion and actual feel that you are moving physically faster than they are when in fact you physically may be moving slower but your movements put you so far ahead that you are moving faster because of the exponential effect your movements have when all of your joints are working in harmony with one another. The key here is to move as little as you need as natural and efficient as possible. Now the reason it’s called “The Quantum Sphere” is because this concept is “Fractal” in nature meaning there is an exponential or compounding effect once you begin to move in this manner. For there are circles within circles within circles, etc. in which the pattern repeats itself theoretically to infinity. Sort of like looking in the reflection of two mirrors facing each other where the reflections seems to repeat itself and go to infinity. So there are an almost infinite number of possibilities within our movement as long as we move within our natural range of motion. Another reason why I call this concept “The Quantum Sphere of Warrior Flow” is because changes even at the “Nano” or "quantum" level of movement as I like to refer to it, causes dramatic changes in your body position in relation to theirs because, “There are no small movements with regard to the end result”. While referred to this range of motion, as “spherical”, in no way does it imply you must move in a circular fashion. This is merely pointing out that all of the “space within your sphere” or spheres is for you to use as you see fit. Sometimes the movement seems straight, sometimes arching, sometimes circular, sometimes straight then parallel then “straight again”, and sometimes it’s just erratic or all of them at the same time.

Fighting in The Future – in The Future (the 5^th Dimensional Aspect of Combat) you are able to “anticipate possibilities and probabilities” of the other person’s actions which, I refer to this as the "6th Dimensional Aspect of Combat". This is a way of moving where you get ahead of another person’s movement within time and space

Seeing Beyond Your Eyes - What I mean here is you need to learn to look beyond what is obvious and right in front of you all of the time because that which is unseen can be just as effective as that which is seen (after all in combat what you don’t know can kill you).  In order to develop your “mind’s eye” on this or ability to "see it in your mind: you have to take the leap of faith and trust your ability to do this and yes, make an educated guess based on what you feel. In sports we call this “savvy” but for our purposes here because I think it’s a little deeper than that. I’m going to call this type of thought intuitive judgement, or better known as “Wisdom” which is basically the application of intelligence, and knowledge guided by experience. You have got to develop some "wisdom" on this stuff and stop thinking that how it works is through total happenstance. Nonsense! Otherwise there would be no delineation between people at various skill levels which, as we know is not true. That those especially at the higher levels of any art are actually "doing things" to influence the outcomes and no matter how imperfect. Even if we are unaware of it ourselves to "influence" people’s movement. If what I'm saying is not true then how does a running back in football, soccer player, boxer, or basketball player fake out their opponents? It's because they're doing things in real time to "influence" the movement or behavior of their opponent. they may not be thinking about it but they're doing it and it is not just some random act they are engaging in. Anyone who tells you different is full of shit. 

Adumbration - this movement, this adumbration is where we get this “foreshadowing” of a person’s movement, this “listening” to their bodies, feeling their impressions, their intent, their direction and speed, their adjustments to your movements. The ability to feel how they react to our movement in real time where you change your movement to alter their perception of what they think it is you are doing long enough for you take advantage of their confusion. It’s all about using the Shadow Impression to get ahead of movement and deliver strikes at supernatural speed. I would also like to point out that in all things when dealing with human movement there is a pattern or as we prefer to call it an impression of people’s bodies as they move. This is the reason we are able to get ahead of their movement when we do the Warrior Flow Exercise. However, it is not so much that we feel and recognize the patterns it is that we begin recognize the “shape” of what it is to become. This is a different thing altogether and explains much as to why some folks can get ahead of others even if they have been training for less time. It is their ability to make this mental shift focusing on recognizing the shapes thus “adumbration”. Like Modeling it is a calculus and the very means in which we get ahead of another person’s movement to the future. Adumbration also has an internal feel to it within your joints, muscles, center of gravity, sense of equilibrium, etc. where it governs how you just know to move within your body just enough with the right amount of movement at the right time. This is the ability that all practitioners of Warrior Flow need to strive for in all they do when performing the Warrior Flow Exercise. We do not strive to follow people although at times it cannot be avoided but we strive to lead them.

Anticipate - To foresee and regard as probable or possible; expect or predict. This is what I refer to as the 6^th Dimensional Aspect of Combat. This is where you are able to anticipate possibilities and probabilities to a high degree. Remember our brains are always, always, always anticipating. You cannot not do this just as you cannot not think.

Anticipatory Movement – This is the thing you do before you do the thing you are going to do in the body and has both a physical and mental aspect to it.

Modeling - is a calculus where if you understand the relationships of things you can predict what people will do even in situations they've never been in. This is the same as studying tendencies in sports. (This is not mimicking as some people have incorrectly described it. Mimicking is just that “mimicking” a behavior but there generally is no understanding or wisdom when you mimic so the knowledge is lost on people). From there you can predict the "arc" or outcome of a certain pattern of movement, thought or whatever. This is also how "intuitions" are structured. This is the part of talent that I call the "intellect". The part that allows you to "transcend" your physical limitations. (Adumbrations? I believe yes but that the adumbrations are a part of the intuitions or the part of the intuitions for movement of how the body finds the space between space, movement between movement, adjustments between adjustments). This "arc" (I call this the "Arc of Predictability"), "the future", the "Anticipation", the 5th and 6th dimensional aspects of combat. This is how we gain glimpses of the future and can see the lines, the space in between, the "dimensions" which allows for creativity. The "secret" I believe to "creativity" (7th dimensional aspect of combat) which as I've said is a process because there has to be a basis or foundation in order to be able to tap into our knowledge and experience. But also based on how we know things work in "the known universe" in order to piece together things like a good musician who knows how to improvise. We are then able to extract information and experience and "run the calculus" and fit things together that we know "have-to-be-true" (I.e., the "theorem") and connect the dots as we go along.

Arc of Predictability - this "arc" we develop through modeling or as I call it the "Arc of Predictability", "The Future", the "Anticipation", the 5th and 6th dimensional aspects of combat. This is how we gain glimpses of the future and can see the lines, the space in between, the dimensions.

Reaction Time – the time span it takes from when you receive stimuli (sight, sound, touch, other…) to when you actually begin to move. Note that when you cause them to flinch it elongates time for you and shortens time for them. since it now at a minimum takes them twice as long to recover.

Reaction – what you do when you actually move. The speed can vary. If you can better your reaction by learning how to react and go to the future, you can actually get ahead of them even though they moved first. This is what happens when you have an understanding of how to play off of inverse relationships to movement.

Stopping Time – is a way of moving where for a brief moment all movement in your body “stops” for like a microsecond, to change the tempo either to get them to overcommit or in anticipation of them over committing so you can affect their body as they try to adjust.

Slowing Time – is a way of moving where for brief moments, like a microsecond, you actually “slow down” your movement to change the tempo either to get them to overcommit or to direct them to where you want them to go.

Disappearing – is a way of moving where you can literally “lift” your hands, arms or even move your body away from them where for a microsecond, they actually get stuck where they are because they are still holding the shape of your last “impression”.

Listening to Other People's Bodies - when you touch another person your proprioception knows not only where they are but also where their head is and all of the other parts of their body within relation to your body. The key here is to learn to recognize these things first so that you can take action first whether it’s to strike, evade or both almost simultaneously. The key is to evade first no matter what then strike in that order. When you know you are out of the way there is little fear of being struck and less of a chance that they can affect your body before you strike. When you learn to “listen to other people's bodies” you begin to focus on what they are doing in real time (and what you are doing) within their motion, their movement, whatever it is instead of trying to see everything with your eyes which can be easily fooled.

Mushin – a state of pure focus where you know without knowing. Where when you bring everything you have learned in the body together at the same time. You arrive at a place of "pure flow” of the warrior state of “Mushin” mind. Mushin is the Japanese martial arts term used to describe the concept of “no mind” or “mind without mind”. This is the ability to act and react intuitively without hesitation or conscious thought (i.e. when sparring or in a self-defense situation). Part of this concept relies on muscle memory achieved through extensive training. In a mental state of Mushin, you are often inside the “decision loop” of your opponents. You are not slowed down because you are not consciously planning out their next five moves because you already know them for you have foreseen them thorough adumbration at the subconscious competence).

Talent – the intersection between intellect and physical capability and the ability to continually improve.

Dangerous Freedom - this very concept is in my view at the heart or at least one of the core philosophies of the Warrior Flow Way and what Warrior Flow is all about. Dangerous Freedom isn’t just a philosophy, this whole idea of being willing to stand in that space, to give it all up to preserve your way of life to me is the “ultimate freedom” it needs to become a way of life. This unwillingness to bend and back down in the face of a threat and deal with it with common sense and confidence is the mindset you must try to impart through your teachings. In other words, if I have to fight then I have to fight if I don’t it isn’t any harder to understand than that. To me, this idea of Dangerous Freedom and how we use it to develop Perfect Clarity, Ruthless Intent, etc. are the at the heart of why people would want to train in a fighting art in the first place. For the ability to overcome the fear of death or at least manage it, is to not live in dread of it. That to me is the ultimate freedom. For it is the fear of death that ultimately controls men’s lives.

Interoception - the sense of the internal state of the body. This can be both conscious and subconscious. It encompasses the brain's process of integrating signals relayed from the body into specific sub-regions (i.e., like the brainstem, thalamus, insula, somatosensory, and anterior cingulate cortex) allowing for a nuanced representation of the physiological state of the body. Interoceptive signals are projected to the brain via a diversity of neural pathways that allow for the sensory processing and prediction of internal bodily states. This is important as it relates to how you develop different attributes in your body related to things like subtle muscle control and developing “touch” or creating space.

Creating Space – a method of moving your body in such as way where you are already out of the way of their strikes or have created space for yourself to evade/enter or space for them to enter into. For the purpose of crushing them by leading them to their death.

Taking Space – a method of moving where you deny them the space they need to freely operate causing them to move where you want them to for the purpose of crushing them.

Manipulating Space (Isolation) – pretty much a combination of creating space and taking space. It is a way of moving whether in contact or not where you manipulate the space you occupy where you alter their perceptions of timing or where you are in relation to their body. This also has the effect of placing people in a state of trance for microseconds at a time.

Inverse Relationships to Motion – You must seek to discover and understand that in all things there is virtually an inverse relationship. This inverse relationship is characterized by the ability to “switch” perspectives in a flash in the mind and see the future through the inverse. This is a rare talent that few can understand because it allows one to cut off and get ahead of another person’s movement even if the other person has already moved before them. In other words, if a person steps to the left, if your mind is attuned to it then it is no different as if you stepped to the right. If they seek to strike you in your mind it is no different than if they stuck their arm out for you to know now where to not be. In order to create this, shift one must be willing to understand the relationships of their own movement and how it affects the other persons as well as be able to see the lines and arcs of their movement as you interact with them before they are able to affect your body. By understanding movement, you are able to neutralize their movement by reciprocating in the inverse. Their push is your pull, their strike is your opportunity to redirect their arm or body, their withdrawal your opportunity to enter take space and pounce, etc. The secret is always looking at the situation as if the glass is always half full and always seeking for an opportunity to crush them.

Skimming – a method of skimming along the surfaces of their body to find openings or to create them as well as opportunities to shape their movement and redirect them to your will. This also allows you to move at supernatural speed as you move with them without losing your place.

Sliding –  a method of allowing them to slide through or past your body to achieve the same thing you would if you were to skim. This as with skimming also allows you to move at supernatural speed as you move with them without losing your place. The difference is it is much more efficient since they do all of the work. It should be noted that whether sliding or skimming, to your body it all feels the same if you have developed the proper dynamic coordination. Eventually you learn to do a combination of both.

Tool Replacing – a method of replacing one tool for another in like kind where the person who it is happening to is totally unaware that they have been deceived. This is a very efficient way of getting rid of peoples weapons or redirecting them and cutting off their movement. Even at high speed where they are almost unawares of what happened until it is too late. This is exactly how sleight of hand magic works.

Getting the Shadow Impression of Their Body - When you move with people you want to get the "Shadow Impression" of their body in relation to your body and move with people as if, even if touching lightly as if they are applying force and take over their movement. You want to get the impression of their body for it is these “impressions”, “patterns” the “shapes” and “attitude” of their body that you eventually begin to recognize within your movement and counter before they can get their stuff off. This is more of a mental thing than a physical one since you have to be prepared to move based on even the lightest contact with their body wherever they are.

Shadowing or Shadow Movement – a way to move in or a person with little to no contact where you manipulate their movement as you enter. There is a timing to how this is done and most people screw it up because they lack the patience to let the other person fail. Understand when using shadow movement, it is not as if they cannot feel what you are doing. To the contrary it is because they can feel you but are unaware that they feel you that it works. Understand that once you enter the sphere of influence of another person they cannot not feel your presence even if they are unaware of it. This allows you to manipulate their movement as if directly touching them. This is the Ability to just be there and move from The Void, the place of unlimited freedom and possibilities. Shadowing is how I teach people to lightly follow the movement of other people to either take the slack out of their bodies or to lead and pace people to the right direction (when teaching) or wrong direction (in combat). You can create the space you want them to enter into or create false surfaces to lead them to the wrong place or isolate on them etc. the sky is the limit. In order to do this, you need to have "100% control" over your body. You must learn to control your body to do this at the subconscious competence level. This allows you to "neutralize" their movement. Like the matador in the bullfight. You just aren't there.

Getting out of Phase – a method of stepping off line where you throw off the perception of timing of the other person as well as their ability to catch up to your movements.

Push Stepping – the ability to push from your root or rooted foot with speed and power from one root to the next under control at supernatural speed and stop on a dime and if necessary change directions. The key is to control your equilibrium in such a way where you actually “decelerate” you motion a micro second before your foot lands, landing as quietly as possible.

Changing the Attitude of your Body – similar to Getting out of Phase and a part of it. This is a method of moving your body in a way where you literally change the shape of your body as you move towards a person where you alter their perceptions of timing where they cannot react fast enough to all the changes you’ve made. Remember when you move towards them they cannot, not feel your body change even if they are unaware of it. This causes them to hesitate and get stuck.

Touch –  a qualitative feel both in and out of the body whereas when you do something it just feels right. Not too much, not too little, everything is just “right”.

Natural Movement – a way of moving in the body in which you only move your body just enough within the natural range of motion to perform the task at hand. This type of movement in your body should at all times feel effortless. For example, if your lift your arm you should learn to use only enough effort to raise the arm the position you desire under control and you should be able to change direction at will.

Smoothness (Smooth Movement) – a way of moving in which all of your joints feel and move as smoothly as possible. Your muscles should feel smooth, your step should feel smooth. Everything should feel smooth and effortless and graceful at all times. Understand it is not possible to move smoothly unless your whole body is working with it (see Quantum Sphere of Movement). 

Neural Pathway - a series of connected nerves along which electrical impulses travel in the body. A neural pathway is the connection formed by axons that project from neurons to make synapses onto neurons in another location, to enable a signal to be sent from one region of the nervous system to another.

The Umwelt- German word for limits of what our senses allow us to know. This Umwelt varies from species to species and in order to expand your Umwelt you have to learn to better understand your senses through your perceptual awareness. This is that since we all have when in flow where we feel as if we are almost omniscient where we just know without knowing.

The Seven Dimensions of Combat - There are Seven Dimensions when it comes to combative movement they are as follows:

• You and I occupy Three Dimensional space they are length, width (or depth), and height. These make up the first Three Dimensions where you occupy literal physical space. So, it can be said that the first Three Dimensions is Physical Space or Occupied Space. Also there is space that is external to us we influence within our Sphere of Influence and our outside surroundings beyond our physical reach that we influence and control.
• The Fourth Dimension is Time and its relative nature.
• The Fifth Dimension is The Future.
• The Sixth Dimension is Anticipation of Probabilities and Possibilities.
• The Seventh and final Dimension is Creativity.

How it works is like this: As you move with another person once you begin to move Time becomes a factor, now once you get ahead of another person’s movement you are now in The Future relative to their position in Time and Space. Because you are ahead of their movement you are now able to Anticipate possibilities and probabilities which places you in the Sixth Dimension. This is that place where you feel a sense of omniscience because you are now able to Anticipate their movement to a high degree of probability or what is most probable based on their relative position to you in time and space. At this point because you are able to anticipate their movement you are now able to Create what you want when you want it since it is your future and not theirs because they can’t see all of the possibilities you see since it is relative to your position in time and space. Thus you reached the Seventh Dimension of Combat known as Creativity. Once you reach the stage of Creativity there is for the most part nothing they can do about what you are doing. Because they don’t know why you did what you did when you did it. it is also not possible for them to follow it because you don’t even consciously know why or how or what you did because you’re creating it as you go along. So even if they recognize what you are doing because you are ahead of their movement in The Future they do not have enough Time to deal with what you are doing. The key here is that all of these things are happening simultaneously or damn near if thus the use of the term dimensions instead of steps or levels. They are all one and the same. The most important thing to understand about the future is that once you reach the future position on someone “it” whatever it was you were going to do already happened.

The Void – the place of unlimited possibilities. The place of nowhere and everywhere. It is the wind and its shadow. The ability to be nothing and everything and all things in between. This is the place or state in Japanese martial arts called “Zero”, where the way has no power.  This is the place where you can neutralize an attacker’s movements by altering their perceptions by meeting their expectations in order to manipulate them or changing their expectations or by not meeting their expectations after causing them to stumble over themselves. This is a skill that is totally learnable and can be trained too in the body where you make these decisions at the speed of thought where at least neurologically “it” already happened and it is just a matter of time for your body to catch up to what your mind already told it what to do.

Ruthless Intent – is a state of mind and is all about mindset but it is also influenced by how capable you feel you are in the body. This concept of Ruthless Intent, this single mindedness of purpose, this “focus” of the Mushin Mind, the Zen State, Flow State, The Zone if you will whatever you want to call it. Where in a micro second if properly trained you can learn to focus in a way where all reality seems to collapse around you and there is nothing else except your sword and his sword in the moment. Where your mind enters the state of “Tachypsychia” and everything seems to slow down as if everything else around you has almost come to a screeching halt or where it seems that time and space collapsed and you’ve somehow teleported to a different position with literally no exertion.

“There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.”

                    ― Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

Ruthless Intent is all about the desire to crush all that stand in your way if necessary if for nothing less than to see your loved ones again or to save their lives. When you stand for something greater than yourself you do not need to find courage, courage finds you, and so does the ability to become ruthless when you need to. Through the proper training and understanding you are able to develop a different edge, a different focus. This process of developing Ruthless Intent in people is what I refer to as, “Bringing People to the Edge but Not Beyond It”, the edge referring to literal “death”! It is accomplished through a process technically known as “progressive desensitization”. Where through a combination of conditioning drills and progressive combat, while forcing people to incrementally summon and control the psychophysiological pain, hate and discontent they carry around in their body. To focus their pain rather than try to hide from it or get rid of it but use it as a weapon. They learn to shape the pain to summon the Ruthlessness in them at will. Ruthless Intent is rooted in the understanding of coming to grips with these fundamental truths because they apply to all of us. Those willing to risk putting life on the line “gain life”, live life, enjoy life, even if their days be shortened. Those who struggle out of fear to cling to life, who are ruled by the fear of pain, fear of injury, fear of loss of life. Though their days be long, they never really live. To live with such irrational fear, the constant dread of death, is to die over and over each day. Many people are alive but they are dead inside, fear of death has robbed them of life. They eat, sleep, go to work and poop but their souls are dead. They travel through life like “Zombies” hoping to just merely exist another day and like the dog that returns to lick his own vomit, they start all over again the next day. Like the Vikings, it wasn’t that the Vikings were without fear it was that they knew through the proper mental focus and mindset, the Ruthless Intent, they could overcome the fear of death by embracing it. They lived hard, fought hard, made love hard and drank hard and if it was their time, c`est la vie so be it. No fear, no hesitation, no regrets… Embracing the reality and only wanting one thing and that was if they were to die that it be in “noble battle”. That when people talked about them for all eternity they tell tales of bravery.

Flow - In the early 1970’s, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, wrote a book called “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”. “Flow” as he defined it is the elusive and very sought-after psychological state that athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists have tried to understand, harness, and employ to their benefit.

Warrior Flow Mind – the state of mind produced where we utilize the martial arts and through a series of progressive exercises and drills (i.e., Ruthless Intent development) to create what I call the “Warrior Flow Mind”. This creates an optimum state of performance that everyone in every endeavor whether in sport or under duress seek to obtain, to harness, to own. To enter into “seemingly” without thought and to be able to perform in a way where all under Heaven falls to your will. Warrior Flow is identical to the concept of Mushin, or sometimes referred to in the western cultures as “Mindfulness”, something which martial artist and Zen practitioners seek to achieve. Warrior Flow Mind is that state of being where there seems to be nothing else except you and whatever you are engrossed in. It is that feeling we’ve all had whether playing sports or experiencing an extreme or exciting moment. Where we almost feel as if everything is moving not only in slow motion like the phenomena of “tachypsychia”, but almost as if we are watching ourselves at times perform in the third person.

“WARNING” FLOW IS ADDICTIVE!  Flow is addictive because it hits all of the big five chemical neural transmitters and so in order to achieve that same level of high over time, a person has to seek greater and greater challenges in order to achieve the same state of flow. Flow is like a drug that once you’ve had that high you keep chasing it. This is the reason why most of the time when you hear about a fatal accident with an extreme sport like base jumping, sky diving, skiing or surfing. It Is usually someone who is considered a leader in the field or one of the top performers in the world. It is because they begin over time to take greater risks to achieve the same levels of flow as before. They become jaded so they seek more dangerous challenges to have that experience again. Flow shows up in the NOW under extreme situations or danger. This is why people actually become addicted to combat! Once you survive the experience of combat as the expression goes, where do you go from up? Where do you go for the adrenalin rush? This is where we get the term “adrenalin junky” from. I also believe that the phenomena of tachypsychia and flow are one and the same. Which is also caused when the neural chemical transmitters get dumped in the brain it creates a state of “temporary hypo-frontality” where the frontal lobe virtually shuts down so that resources can be re-tasked in the brain to the areas where the brain needs it the most.