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Fistic Medicine: Becoming Superhuman
Fistic Medicine: Becoming Superhuman |
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MODesty
Career record: 723-367
Season: 38-12 (#5)
Location: Oklahoma
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Diego's "Yes! Yes! Yes!" battle chant. Guida's pre-fight leaping and face slapping. The fighters staring into the distance, bobbing their heads to music only they can hear. Regardless of the preferred technique, they are all seeking the same thing. They are in search of the Superhuman.
LINKY
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Telnights
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Post #1 3/11/10 1:11:50PM
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bjj1605
MMA Sensei
Career record: 626-379
Season: 39-11 (#165)
Location: Chicago
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This is actually a really interesting argument. On the one hand, you can definitely see why a sport that is seemingly more violent than any other can have so few injuries. The physical response that the article is talking about prevents the worst of injuries, that's one of its functions.
On the other hand I think it is important to strike a balance between a state of calm and a state of 'super human.' A lot of veterans are very calm in the cage. A lot of up and comers are very amped up.
I think each has advantages and disadvantages. The 'superhuman' state that the author talks about also comes at the expense of higher level brain functions. That means that thinking through a strategy mid-fight or performing complex techniques becomes more difficult. You'll notice the fighters he mentions, Clay Guida and Diego Sanchez, aren't exactly the most technical fighters around. What they are known for is aggression. That along with a killer instinct and some enhanced physical abilities are what this kind of state offers.
Fighters like BJ Penn, Randy Couture, or Anderson Silva usually appear very calm. This allows for more thinking and a more methodical approach. You might sacrifice some of the enhanced physical abilities and aggression, but you gain a more complete understanding of what's happening and the ability to pull of complex motor movements.
And just a quick statement about my credibility, I'm not a doctor or anything, but I have studied a lot of psychology and I've studied martial arts for a really long time. This argument is commonplace especially among newer martial arts vs traditional martial arts. Military proponents (guys who practice Krav Maga or Army Combatives) will usually argue for the 'superhuman' while traditionalists (Kung Fu) will argue for a state of calm.
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Post #2 3/11/10 2:36:57PM
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Jackelope
Go ahead, MOD my day
Career record: 586-330
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location: Getting choked out or arm barred
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Pretty good article that sums up years of education into a few paragraphs. I liked it.
To bjj's point- I think the perfect balance is what makes the fighter unstoppable. For some reason Miguel Torres comes to mind. It is clear that he didn't have it in his last fight, but for several fights in a row he definitely had that perfect balance. You could see the physical aggression and superhuman feats in his fight against Mizugaki, but at the same time you could see the calculating nature of his approach.
Ultimately, having studied traditional martial arts, military combatives, and modern MMA I think they actually universally strive for the goal of focused aggression in a perfect balance. The only arts I've studied that I could say from experience probably don't are Tai Chi and Aikido. Then again, I haven't studied them all so there could be a few I'm not picking up on.
Repetition is key no matter what martial art you do, and the muscle memory that comes from that repetition is what controls the animal inside when the fight is on. In this sense I believe in the art of kata and techniques. For the focused and dedicated fighter (A la Lyoto Machida) kata and technique can work, but for the average person aggression and a willingness to give into the SNS seems the better answer.
Last edited 3/11/10 5:33PM by Jackelope
Edit note/reason: n/a
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Post #3 3/11/10 5:10:26PM
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MODesty
Career record: 723-367
Season: 38-12 (#5)
Location: Oklahoma
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Yeah it was a very enjoyable read and thought I would share. Very thought provoking and does a good job of summing a lot of things up.
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Post #4 3/11/10 5:31:36PM
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BustedKnuckle
MMA Sensei
Career record: 424-232
Season: 32-18 (#496)
Location: The Flip Side
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"When I turn the hat its like turning a switch, ya know"
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Post #5 3/11/10 7:31:35PM
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ko-kbo130
MMA Regular
Career record: 173-121
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location: long island
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Posted by bjj1605
This is actually a really interesting argument. On the one hand, you can definitely see why a sport that is seemingly more violent than any other can have so few injuries. The physical response that the article is talking about prevents the worst of injuries, that's one of its functions.
On the other hand I think it is important to strike a balance between a state of calm and a state of 'super human.' A lot of veterans are very calm in the cage. A lot of up and comers are very amped up.
I think each has advantages and disadvantages. The 'superhuman' state that the author talks about also comes at the expense of higher level brain functions. That means that thinking through a strategy mid-fight or performing complex techniques becomes more difficult. You'll notice the fighters he mentions, Clay Guida and Diego Sanchez, aren't exactly the most technical fighters around. What they are known for is aggression. That along with a killer instinct and some enhanced physical abilities are what this kind of state offers.
Fighters like BJ Penn, Randy Couture, or Anderson Silva usually appear very calm. This allows for more thinking and a more methodical approach. You might sacrifice some of the enhanced physical abilities and aggression, but you gain a more complete understanding of what's happening and the ability to pull of complex motor movements.
And just a quick statement about my credibility, I'm not a doctor or anything, but I have studied a lot of psychology and I've studied martial arts for a really long time. This argument is commonplace especially among newer martial arts vs traditional martial arts. Military proponents (guys who practice Krav Maga or Army Combatives) will usually argue for the 'superhuman' while traditionalists (Kung Fu) will argue for a state of calm.
Let me start of saying that this article was great, i am an exercise physiology major in college and will hopefully be attending med school in two years, so this article just combined to of my favorite topics. Now to address Bjj, This article when referring to a "superhuman state" is not something that is controllable, this article is actually describing the physiological processes that the body goes through in order to prepare itself for combat. You can still appear calm as Fedor, however all these processes are still going on in your body, the only way to balance out your Sympathetic Nervous System, is through chemical messengers released through the Parasympathetic Nervous system. When you're in a fight or flight response your motor movements are not compromised, your body is preforming at an optimal level, your reflexes, sight, hearing, even your smell is all heightened to enable you to find your way out of a situation.
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Post #6 3/11/10 7:44:51PM
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bjj1605
MMA Sensei
Career record: 626-379
Season: 39-11 (#165)
Location: Chicago
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Posted by ko-kbo130
Posted by bjj1605
This is actually a really interesting argument. On the one hand, you can definitely see why a sport that is seemingly more violent than any other can have so few injuries. The physical response that the article is talking about prevents the worst of injuries, that's one of its functions.
On the other hand I think it is important to strike a balance between a state of calm and a state of 'super human.' A lot of veterans are very calm in the cage. A lot of up and comers are very amped up.
I think each has advantages and disadvantages. The 'superhuman' state that the author talks about also comes at the expense of higher level brain functions. That means that thinking through a strategy mid-fight or performing complex techniques becomes more difficult. You'll notice the fighters he mentions, Clay Guida and Diego Sanchez, aren't exactly the most technical fighters around. What they are known for is aggression. That along with a killer instinct and some enhanced physical abilities are what this kind of state offers.
Fighters like BJ Penn, Randy Couture, or Anderson Silva usually appear very calm. This allows for more thinking and a more methodical approach. You might sacrifice some of the enhanced physical abilities and aggression, but you gain a more complete understanding of what's happening and the ability to pull of complex motor movements.
And just a quick statement about my credibility, I'm not a doctor or anything, but I have studied a lot of psychology and I've studied martial arts for a really long time. This argument is commonplace especially among newer martial arts vs traditional martial arts. Military proponents (guys who practice Krav Maga or Army Combatives) will usually argue for the 'superhuman' while traditionalists (Kung Fu) will argue for a state of calm.
Let me start of saying that this article was great, i am an exercise physiology major in college and will hopefully be attending med school in two years, so this article just combined to of my favorite topics. Now to address Bjj, This article when referring to a "superhuman state" is not something that is controllable, this article is actually describing the physiological processes that the body goes through in order to prepare itself for combat. You can still appear calm as Fedor, however all these processes are still going on in your body, the only way to balance out your Sympathetic Nervous System, is through chemical messengers released through the Parasympathetic Nervous system. When you're in a fight or flight response your motor movements are not compromised, your body is preforming at an optimal level, your reflexes, sight, hearing, even your smell is all heightened to enable you to find your way out of a situation.
I've read several articles by qualified professionals that would disagree with you. Black Belt Magazine does a lot on this topic if you're interested in it.
Adrenaline rushes, flight or fight, and the 'superhuman' state the article refers to are all just different terms for the same physiological response. And the fact of the matter is it does hinder both fine motor movements and higher level brain functioning. It also slows digestion and lowers your bodies immune response (off topic). This is all because your body is going into survival mode. By focusing all of your energy on the task at hand.
A lot of self defense based or 'street' martial arts revolve around this idea. Rather than focusing on complex blocking and striking techniques they use simple body mechanics that you already do reflexively. For instance, when confronted on the street, you're not very likely to pull of a a spinning hook kick.
Keysi Fighting Method (made famous by the newest batman movies) uses motions like ducking and covering your head and turns them into offensive moves. The idea is that when attacked you don't have the presence of mind to decide on the proper technique to use. Instead your body already begins to move in certain reflexive ways (thanks to your sympathetic nervous system  ) you cannot and should not try to change these reflexes. Instead, they argue, you should build them through muscle memory and learn to use them in combat.
Last edited 3/12/10 4:07AM by bjj1605
Edit note/reason: n/a
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Post #7 3/12/10 4:05:44AM
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