Clever Hans and observer expectancy effect

No this isn't a pun on hands it's actually the name of a horse. Called Hans. Who was...wait for it....clever! Yes a clever horse who could count and do simple arithmetic by tapping out numbers with his hoof. The case amazed all of Germany (and probably the world) in the early 20th Century. He amazed so many people that an eminent psychologist called Oskar Pfungst was called in to investigate Hans in 1907.

Pfungst's studies established that Hans was, sadly, unable to count or make simple sums. His gift was an uncanny ability to read the expectation on the face and in the body language of his owner who would ask him questions. When the answer was five (for example), the owner would (inadvertently) give off signals for the horse to stop tapping his hooves when five had been reached. He couldn't repeat this when the owner wasn't in sight. Hans seems to have had an ability to read these visual clues in order to please his owner (and possibly get a food reward).

I thought of this the other night in training because when we train in partners we tend to do this too. No, not tap our hooves to count but we do give off 'expectation' in our expressions. What is meant to be 'spontaneous' attack is sometimes telegraphed by these expressions or even simply an eyebrow raise! In Tang Soo Do a kihap is often performed by both attacker and defender to ensure everyone is ready and from that point onward the attack can be initiated at any moment. In practice the kihap is perfunctory and initiates the technique. This shouldn't be the case. We need to stay focused and ready to receive the attack at any time and without telegraphing by the attacker. No raised eyebrows, head lifting or hoof tapping.

So Hans couldn't count but he could read his owner's subtle body and facial language. We should train with this in mind.

Beautiful dojang

I love this dojang in Switzerland. I came across it some time ago and was struck by the wonderful minimalist interior stripping out all extraneous distractions giving you no chance to do anything other than concentrate on your art. Ahhh!

http://www.soobahkdo.ch/html/tdotoct08_31.html

http://www.soobahkdo.ch/html/ko_dan_ja_shim_sa_39.html

http://www.soobahkdo.ch/html/ko_dan_ja_shim_sa_3.html

Soo Bahk Do in Switzerland, Wald, near Zurich.

http://www.soobahkdo.ch/html/e_welcome.html

The Black Knight

Taken from the 7th Chapter of the Hagakure:

"It is said that every time Oki Hyobu's group gathered and after all their affairs were finished he would say, "Young men should discipline themselves rigorously in intention and courage. This will be accomplished if only courage is fixed in one's heart. If one's sword is broken, he will strike with his hands. If his hands are cut off, he will press the enemy down with his shoulders. If his shoulders are cut away, he will bite through ten or fifteen enemy necks with his teeth. Courage is such a thing"

Sound similar...?

The art of war

A hectic night out with the lads in Bristol was followed by a sedate Sunday morning nursing hangovers. I managed to slip away from the group and mooch around and, as is often the case, I gravitated to the local museum and art gallery and found a couple of smashing pieces of art portraying fighting arts.

The following is a roof tile portraying Guan Yu, a popular 3rd Century Chinese general who is still revered today.

This solid looking chap was worked by Gaudier-Brzeska at the turn of the 20th Century. I was struck by his quiet power and t'ai chi hands. Although this sculpture looks still and unmoving (because of the nature of the subject), Gaudier-Brzeska famously worked on dynamic movement in his work.

Saturday seminar (mawashi geri)

Given that trains to London via Kings Cross were all cancelled and I had to take a train to Liverpool Street Station which seemed to stop at intervals of 3 minutes I should have been in a grump on the way to the seminar on Saturday. Somehow I felt good though. The sun was shining through and I had plenty of time to meander across London on the tube so I was in no rush. Equally I'd prepared all of my equipment the night before: gi, knee pads (a must when you don't have the luxury of using mats- a tip I picked up from practicing iai), mitts, tanto, flip flops, towel. Ah! Everything in order.

I further felt lifted when, upon approaching the gym, I saw a tall, muscular guy on a traffic island, nestled away from the cars by the trees around him, dressed in bright orange trousers and Chinese style gaiters warming up to do some kung fu. He was windmilling his arms gently round in what looked like preparation with the sun warming him. It was going to be a good day.

This seminar focused on mawashi geri: attacks and defences. The three main elements we looked at were: 'bouncing' out of the attack and back in to counter, receiving and blocking the mawashi geri attack early and countering with a straight kick and finally stepping striaght in with punches against a jun mawashi geri (no block). These were built up nicely so weren't hammering away at it straight away. I found bouncing out and in again to counter quite dynamic but you have to make sure both feet are pointing towards your opponent for maximum efficiency of movement. It has to be quick!

We eventually mixed up the attack defence so it was random: we could choose which counter from the three we'd practiced. This always makes me a bit anxious. Oh the choice! Will I get it wrong? Well as long as I remain focused and if I mess up put it behind me that's ok. It's a collaborative environment so I need to relax more. I need to relax more (full stop!).

Finally we worked on some juho take-down techniques with particular application of pinning the opponent to the floor when s/he is resisting. Good to feel the best places to apply in order to pin effectively.

On the way home the day was still bright and the wind quite refreshing. Three hours of training does wonders for you and as I made my way to the tube station the same guy was still practicing his kung fu (this time he seemed to be using a hand held mop). Train when you can.

MMA going mainstream?

Well, the fact that I came across this article on the Telegraph's website testifies to this idea that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is becoming more and more mainstream. The journalist who wrote this article about TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) coming to the UK has "recently added" MMA to his portfolio. Probably due to the anticipated increase in demand.

So for those who don't know (I didn't) TUF is a reality game show based on MMA. Sure we've seen Pop Idol, Strictly Come Dancing,  Dancing on Ice: all 'reality' based shows whereby contestants are on subsequent weeks knocked out. Well watch out UK, the contestants on TUF9 may well be getting completely knocked out!

Menuki

The menuki is a sword hilt decoration found on Japanese samurai swords. It is fitted to the handle (Tsuka) over the (usually) ray skin and under the handle bindings called 'Tsuka-Ito'.

This ornament hides one of the mekugi or holding pegs which are driven through the tsuka joining it to the tang of the blade. It also affords a little 'grip' as this protrudes slightly into the palm of the hand ad I find helps 'locate' the left hand. The left hand is important for cutting in iai.

Nice schema on wikipedia of Japanese sword:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Katana_(common_shema).png

An interesting article here about shortening the tsuka which also shows some construction of the handle.