Kung Fu and the Brain

[Xiao3 Meng4]

There have recently been some very interesting studies and discoveries about the brain which have started me thinking about how these could apply to Kung Fu fighting and training. Below are a few of the more intriguing ones, as well as some speculation on how this could relate/apply to Kung Fu tactics and strategy.

Fact 1: the asymmetric function of the left and right brains

The left hemisphere originally seems to have focused in general on controlling well-established patterns of behavior; the right specialized in detecting and responding to unexpected stimuli.

As such, the left side of the body is more responsive to unexpected stimuli; the right side of the body is better suited to express well established patterns, including food-to-mouth, grabbing, manipulating, etc.

The left eye is more responsive to unexpected stimuli; the right eye is better able to recognize familiar things such as food, feces and faces.

In the study above, they did a test with a frog where they moved a fly through its field of vision from left to right. The frog remained stationary until the fly entered the frog's right field of vision, at which point it snapped at the insect and ate it.

In the same study, they placed a predator's image in the frog's field of vision. The frog reacted to the predator only when it was in its left field of vision!

This may prove significant in Kung Fu. If the left field of vision responds more to sudden stimuli, then a feint should be more successful if it's against the opponent's left side. Likewise, tactile feints should be more successful on the left side. In theory this could be followed up more successfully with an actual attack to the opponent's right side, since it is not as geared towards responding to unexpected events. What's more, by consciously feinting to their left with our right and making them respond, our left arm is potentially free to react to any of their unexpected counterattacks.

Fact 2: We have a lower field of vision and an upper field of vision

As noted, whereas the temporal lobes perform complex form recognition and central and upper visual field analysis, the parietal lobes observe the periphery and lower visual field (where the hands and feet are most likely to be viewed) and together these cortical regions compute and make possible, eye-hand, or hand-object coordination. Hence, a complex interactional visual loop is maintained.

In Kung Fu, it may be the case that an attack coming straight in to the upper field of vision is more successful than one coming in from below or from the periphery. Likewise, keeping the fight in your lower field of vision may be of benefit.

On another note, I stumbled across a useful application of this lower field of vision stuff: motion sickness. They say that if you're seasick you should look at the horizon. I was motion sick on the bus the other day, so I looked at the horizon but on a whim decided to look above it, so that the horizon would be in my lower field of vision. Relief was almost immediate!

Fact 3: Our brains simulate the actions of others or "Monkey See, Monkey Do"

A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.[1] Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primates, and are believed to occur in humans and other species including birds. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found

If I watch you slap your face, my mirror neurons simulate the whole process, both in terms of action and sense. The key difference is that I get no proprioceptive feedback when I watch you slap yourself as opposed to when I slap myself, so I know that the sensations triggered by watching you are empathic and not actually happening to me. It's why we cringe when we watch someone get rocked in a fight - our mirror neurons simulate the experience for us. Mirror neurons also play a role in our ability to "follow the leader."

It's quite reasonable, therefore, to explore the idea that the mirror neurons of someone with heightened proprioceptive/postural sensitivity can "read" another person's actions significantly earlier than the average person.

There's way more stuff out there, but this is what has intrigued me so far. I'm going to try to test this stuff as much as I can. If anyone has anything to suggest, add, or discuss, please do.

EDIT: I'm guessing that for southpaws, it would all be reversed....

[uki]

and what better way to improve both sides of the brain than to learn the ancient art of juggling...

http://www.neuromuscularjunction.net...ngtherapy.html

http://www.laughways.com/pdf/Whole_Brain_Learning.pdf

http://www.empowher.com/news/2009/10...ts-brain-study

http://www.juggling.org/jw/86/1/health.html

http://www.brainready.com/blog/do_di..._mental_h.html (scroll down to juggling)

http://www.toy-tma.com/vintage-toys/...s-of-juggling/

it even made CNN a few years ago... http://edition.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/24/pl.juggling/

http://www.jugglefit.com/jf_benefits.html

learn to juggle and you'll improve your brain...

improve your brain and you improve your kung fu.

[uki]

a briefing...

Juggling - Theory and Practice.

Introduction
In 1985 there arose, simultaneously in three places around the world, by groups entirely unconnected and completely ignorant of each others' existence, a notation for juggling tricks. The notation was incomplete, since not every trick could be described, and like many notations, it was not immediately apparent to the uninitiated how to read it, how to use it, or whether it would be of any real use. For those who understood it, however, it was instantly obvious that it was right. Somehow the notation managed to capture the essence of those tricks it described, and the fact that the same notation arose in more than one place at once showed that its time had come, and it was, quite simply, the notation.

Since then the notation, now known as "Site Swap" notation, has become fairly well-known in juggling circles. Reactions were initially somewhat mixed. In juggling, as with music, there are those who study the works produced by others, there are those who produce their own, and there are those, the juggling equivalent of the jazz musician, who feel that while it may be of use to some, juggling has a soul, and should not be trapped, caged, and prevented from varying from one, single form. Over time, however, the notation has gained acceptance by the majority, and it is now considered a useful tool for the communication of tricks, incomplete though it is.


First steps - make juggling simpler
It is impossible to show in written form the infinite variety of juggling tricks that can be performed. Some have the arms moving sinuously past each other, somehow managing to toss, catch and carry three balls, never more than one per hand at a time, always moving over and past each other. Others have the hands largely stationary with the balls, rings, clubs, fire-torches or chainsaws spinning to various heights, seemingly none the same. Such variety can never fully be captured, and there is always room for the performer's own interpretation of the basic moves, the underlying patterns. The Site Swap notation describes the trick that is the basis on which variations can then be built.

To make precise the limitations we place on ourselves, we state a specific set of rules that must be obeyed. These rules seem terribly restrictive, but within the resultant framework we will find that there is structure that can be exploited. The rules we use are as follows:


We only juggle balls.
Only one ball is thrown or caught at a time.
The hands stay on their own side of the body.
Throws happen inside shoulder width.
Catches happen outside shoulder width.
Throws and catches happen at a fixed speed.
The hands alternate.
The hands are full for half the time.

We will not attempt here to explain or justify these rules. Instead we will describe the practical results, and show why they are of interest both to jugglers and to mathematicians.

Investigating the consequences
To investigate the consequences of the rules, let's look at juggling three balls, and let's start with a further simplification. For now, let's assume for now that we not only obey the rules, but also insist that every throw must be identical.

Some quick experimentation soon shows that this then forces each ball to be thrown in sequence, for otherwise there would be variations in the timings. We start by throwing ball A with the right hand, then ball B with the left, then ball C with the right. Now we have to make a throw with the left hand and it must be ball A. Each ball is thrown every third throw, and from this we can conclude three things. The first is that it will work, the second is that the balls don't go in the expected "Big Circle" seen on every popular picture of a clown juggling, and the third inescapable conclusion is that the balls are forced to change hands.

Do the same thing with four balls and we discover now that the balls cannot change hands. If we juggle four balls with every throw the same, and subject to our rules, we end up juggling two balls in each hand, independently, but asynchronously. There is no alternative, and in the live version of this presentation, whether it is to adults or to children (generally 14 or older), to scientists, mathematicians or lay people, the audience can see this for themselves.

With five balls they once again cross, with six balls again it becomes half in each hand. These are unavoidable consequences of our rules. With each ball being thrown in exactly the same way, each ball is forced to take it's turn. With an odd number, that means that each ball will alternate hands, but with an even, each ball will have to come back to the same hand.

http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/Juggli...ml?Mathematics

[uki]

pure wow.

Conclusion:
In closing, it's worth reviewing the processes that take place during the presentation. Most of the audience cannot juggle, and will never have taken a close look at juggling, and yet along the way they deduce that the balls must cross when there's an odd number of them in the standard pattern, and cannot cross when there's an even number in the standard pattern. They deduce the consequences of the rules, use them to invent juggling tricks, they see what happens when the model is pushed too far. They observe, form hypotheses and test them. In short, they are following the idealised scientific process. By three-quarters of the way through they have seen the distinction between models and the reality they represent, recognising that models are intended to help us understand the reality. They have also have seen what happens when things go wrong!

Towards the end of the presentation I generally find that several of the audience are asking "Why?" and "Does it always work?" which gives me the ideal opportunity to investigate justification and its close friend - proof. The power of a proof is that it can show that something must happen, can never go wrong, no matter how many examples you try. It lets me draw the distinction between proofs that are enough for everyday use and proofs that allow for the most bizarre situations. Thus we can see how mathematical proofs relate to everyday proofs; their similarities and their differences.

In short, this presentation gives literally dozens of starting points for investigations, proofs, projects and understanding. More than that, it shows that mathematics isn't just arithmetic, and isn't only in the classroom. It emerges in the most unlikely places.

Juggling, for example.

http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/Juggli...ml?Mathematics

[No_Know]

My understanding of your 1. was not that one side had quicker reraction in the frog, but that after being present in one field of vision action or reaction took place upon entering the secod~ field of vision.

Timing took place on one field of vision and application occured upon entry to the other field of vision whether it be from left to right or right to left.


As far as mirror reactions either feel yourself moving and know that person is doing that then be appropriate. Or force a move that opens your opponent to an attack of yours.

No_Know

[Xiao3 Meng4]

Originally Posted by No_Know

My understanding of your 1. was not that one side had quicker reraction in the frog, but that after being present in one field of vision action or reaction took place upon entering the secod~ field of vision.

Timing took place on one field of vision and application occured upon entry to the other field of vision whether it be from left to right or right to left.

From what I recall, the frog experiment with the predator was not to move it across the fields of vision, but to introduce it in either the left or right fields individually.

[Xiao3 Meng4]

Originally Posted by uki

and what better way to improve both sides of the brain than to learn the ancient art of juggling...

learn to juggle and you'll improve your brain...

improve your brain and you improve your kung fu.

Juggling and contact juggling definitely help w/ development of coordination and proprioception. So do hacky sac, dancing, standing in post and sparring.

[uki]

Originally Posted by Xiao3 Meng4

So do hacky sac, dancing, standing in post and sparring.

on an elementary level, juggling is the simplest of forms to develop mental clairity and brain function... i realize that all activities help develop certain attributes, but i have yet to find something as profound as the art of juggling. i have yet to find something that is comparable in sense or measure.

i tell most people to go learn the box and then speak to me about the many wonderful benefits of juggling - then again, if you come back and are able to do the box with iron balls, then i'd be willing to say you are an expert in the matters pertaining to juggling.

[Xiao3 Meng4]

Another highly proprioceptive exercise is drumming. I find good drummers make good martial artists.

Something else which is kind of interesting is the tendency for CMAs to start drilling or playing form on the left first. Regardless of why they do this, a potential consequence could be that by introducing a pattern to the right brain first, we are absorbing the new experience better.

[uki]

Originally Posted by Xiao3 Meng4

Another highly proprioceptive exercise is drumming. I find good drummers make good martial artists.

that is because the art of drumming is as old as juggling and the martial arts aswell.

Something else which is kind of interesting is the tendency for CMAs to start drilling or playing form on the left first. Regardless of why they do this, a potential consequence could be that by introducing a pattern to the right brain first, we are absorbing the new experience better.

i think it revolves around genetic traits and the passing down thru traditions and generations... some people are left handed, some right handed, some are ambidexterous, others can roll their tongues, while some can't.