Myelination: The Most Holy Grrrrail of Martial Arts

[Ben]

Thanks Chris, Very good stuff. I enjoyed it very much!

[Chris McKinley]

Great, Ben! I enjoyed sharing it. I'm really hoping that people will put it to actual use and start getting some of the kind of results I know come with this approach. I know there aren't a lot of people, percentage-wise, who are interested in training their IMA for full combative use, and for those who are, information and materials are already extremely scarce. For those on this board who are with me on that path, it's my pleasure to share what I have learned to help them with their progress.

[Ben]

I did actually think of a question...Its has 2 parts.

First Part: Do you agree with the idea that experience/training changes perception. For example, would a pro baseball player perceive a 100 MPH fastball the same way a normal person would perceive an 80 MPH pitch? Or would a pro boxer perceive their opponents punches to be slower than what the average Joe in the crowd sees? I suppose what would actually be happening is that the training/experience that they have enables them to react quicker which would make them perceive things as being slower.

Second part: If you agree with the first part do you the the myelination process that you have been discussing is responsible?

[Chris McKinley]

Ben,

Do you agree with the idea that experience/training changes perception. For example, would a pro baseball player perceive a 100 MPH fastball the same way a normal person would perceive an 80 MPH pitch? Or would a pro boxer perceive their opponents punches to be slower than what the average Joe in the crowd sees? I suppose what would actually be happening is that the training/experience that they have enables them to react quicker which would make them perceive things as being slower.

You're talking time perception specifically, and my answer is a resounding "Yes". I've written a few threads about some of my NLP research into hypnotic time dilation over the years. It is an important part of some of the work I've done for my top-shelf clientele.

If you agree with the first part do you the the myelination process that you have been discussing is responsible?

Very definitely "No". This really has almost nothing to do with the myelination process that this thread covers. It has to do with visual and cognitive perceptual speed. It is trainable, it happens on its own to a certain degree, but can be catalyzed further if you know what you're doing. The process falls outside of the scope of this discussion, however.

[BAI HE]

Very nicely done Chris. I'm five years removed from IMA practice, but as a current student of Anatomy and Physiology, I can honestly say, most "physiological" IMA theory holds up and I think what you've set forth is something that easily absorbed for Western style thinking. Painstakingly laid out and something to dwell upon.
Very chewy stuff. And thanks, BH.

[Chris McKinley]

Thanks, Pete. If'n ya want to play catch up and get back in the game, this information could prove very valuable to you. I hope you can try it out at some point. Anyway, glad you're back.

[BAI HE]

Thanks Chris. I think I'll be getting back into some MA or at least practicing. Lately I've been doing some 5 elements and some
Shotokan Kata.... WANKAN!

[Muad'dib]

The Talent Code.

[kreese]

Also eat enough fats, lecithin, phosphytidal st....forget, lecithin will do it. Supposed to be nootropic.

Whatup Pete!

[Chris McKinley]

Daniel,

See also this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16417&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=45

where I referenced Coyle's book, the discussion of which kickstarted this thread.

[I-mon]

I'm about 3 chapters into The Talent Code. It's good!

[DeusTrismegistus]

Just finished reading The Talent Code. Very interesting and it has me thinking.

At one part in the book he is discussing how the violin teachers have a pretty much opposite approach to the soccer coaches. The violin teachers talk a lot giving adjustments and making other points, while the soccer coaches he references sit back and watch and rarely speak. He says both approaches are matched for the activity to increase myelination. (For more details read the book )

Now with MA and IMA in particular we often need very precise movements similar to the violin player. But our context is in an activity which is inherently chaotic. The taiji approach is traditionally like the tennis coach who would not allow any student to compete in a tournament until after 3 years of practice. She has produced multiple top 10 players and as she said "technique is everything!" Yet the soccer parts talk about the game futsol which is played indoors on a much smaller field with a ball half the size and twice the weight of a soccer ball. Apparently the average player touches the ball 6 times as often during futsol as during a soccer game. Which equates to more myelination.

He also discusses how the soccer guy will have a huge network of possible movements that are well mylinated while the violinist will have fewer possibilities but they will be highly refined because being a world class violinist requires extreme precision.

Now in IMA we have a need for precision with certain maneuvers and a gargantuan network of possible movements to react to practically infinite variations and circumstances. So it would make sense to have both practice aimed at refining techniques to a high level of precision and practice that maximizes the time spent using those techniques.

The key with the futsol was that the game is very unforgiving, if you mess up, you lose the ball. If you pull off your technique, you make a great play. Sparring and fighting has a similar level of unforgivingness. If you mess up, you get punched, kicked, thrown or locked. If you do well you avoid the bad stuff and hopefully get to dish some out. We also have the same problem of training fighter pilots though. How do you train so as to avoid injury or death? Death would obviously be more important back in the day when hand to hand weapons were trained much more vigorously.

The answer is you make it safe. We do that by slowing it down and controlling the contact. We only hit as hard as the other person can take without being injured, and we only go that hard every so often. By slowing it down we get to spend lots of time in the moment. The problem becomes one of imparting urgency because with light contact it can be easy to ignore mistakes instead of focusing on eliminating them. This is where upping the intensity is helpful because it makes the mistakes much more painful

When sparring slow you can also focus on your technique and pay attention to detail. How you actually are doing something and find the reasons it doesn't work. The real detail training happens with solo work though. This is where the forms come in. The forms allow you to practice a flowing sequence of combat movements while being able to focus on the technique exclusively. All that technique training though won't help a bit if you don't try to use it while sparring, whether you go fast or slow. If you do your forms one way and your sparring a completely different way, then you are wasting your time. Your time would be better spend solo practicing the same way you spar.

Just kind of thinking on paper.

[kreese]

That book appears to mention nutrition as well. I think this is the essential Yin part of training. Also, methods for how to correctly open and close practice to maximize the mental training, and any visualizations or meditation work one can do to enhance the myelination.

I assume proper rest, including periods of LITTLE TO NO THINKING or VISUAL OVERSTIMULATION, and plenty of protein to support enzymes, hormones, other systems involve in this process.

Any research on nutrition and myelination?

Chris, how do myelination and neurogenesis (I think, growing new neurons) interact, if at all? Implications for training?

[yeniseri]

Great work but you guys are making CMA into rocket science!
One can fall asleep just by raising one's hands!

[Chris McKinley]

Sorry gents, I've been mostly away for a bit and hadn't noticed any action on the thread. I've got a doc appointment this afternoon, but I'll get back to you as soon as I get home.