Muscle Memory in the Fighting Arts!

Good morning!
Every kata is a prayer.
It is a moment in time
in which I summon up energies
built by the repetition of moves
over over 55 years.

Let’s talk about muscle memory.
One trains to make the muscles move in a certain way.
This is a path, a circuit of nerve impulses.
A to B to C to…to Z.
As one gets better and better
he stops using this ‘muscle memory’ path
and goes from A to Z.

You see,
if you subscribe to the muscle memory theory
then you are saying that your body is doing the fighting.
But it is you that is doing the fighting.
The muscle moves
because the impulses travel through the nervous system
and who gives the nervous system the command to move?

I ask people this sometimes
and they give me some amazing answers.
‘My brain.’
That’s a common answer,
and it shows that people don’t understand the brain.
The brain is, at best, a switchboard.
And if the brain moves the nerves moves the muscles,
who commands the brain.
‘My mind!’
That’s a great one.
Except the mind is just a bunch of memories.
It doesn’t do anything except react.
And if one is going to get to the heart of the martial arts
one must do more than react.
They must act.
And,
to get to the heart of the matter,
who gives the mind the command
to make the switchboard brain
tell the nerves to work,
to make the muscles move?

Okay.
The answer.
‘You.’

And here is the secret of the martial arts.
If you do your ‘prayers’
(your martial arts moves)
long enough…you will go back through
these body and mind systems
and find…you.

You are the creator of your life.
You make the choices.
You are not meat muscle,
you are not nervous twitches,
you are not the switchboard brain,
or the memory mind.
You are you.

And,
obligatory advertisement…
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Try
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End of advertisement,
so get back to your ‘prayers.’

And have a great work out!
Al

Don’t forget to check out the interview
https://anchor.fm/dale-gillilan/episodes/S1E10—Al-Case-e12e3np

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 ratings for 5 stars.
(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)
My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them for 5 stars.
‘The Book of Five Arts’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars.
My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

That’s a lot of good ratings
so hopefully you’ll find that useful
find the book/course that is right for you,
and matrix your own martial arts.