Sensible training

[Van Canna]

Grossman

The degree of SNS activation centers around the level of perceived threat.

For example, low-level SNS activation may result from the anticipation of combat. This is especially common with police officers or soldiers minutes before they make a tactical assault into a potential deadly force environment.

Under these conditions combatants will generally experience increases in heart rates and respiration, muscle tremors, and a sense of anxiety.

In contrast, high-level SNS activation occurs when combatants are confronted with an unanticipated deadly force threat and the time to respond is minimal.

Under these conditions the extreme effects of the SNS will cause catastrophic failure of the visual, cognitive, and motor control systems.

Although there are endless variables that may trigger the SNS, there are six key variables that have an immediate impact of the level of SNS activation.

These are the degree of malevolent, human intent behind the threat; the perceived level of threat, ranging from risk of injury to the potential for death; the time available to response; the level of confidence in personal skills and training; the level of experience in dealing with the specific threat; and the degree of physical fatigue that is combined with the anxiety.

[maxwell ainley]

Its a natural by product of training to need rest ,but there are other human factors to consider ; such as two much thinking ,or getting tied up in out of control emotional matter's ,too much food etc, all tire the human .

A bit on my own way of life , I also have a demanding job from the age of 15 I have mostly worked in a two and one gang of mason /bricklayers Two brickies one hod carrier mostly price work which is rigged against us ,you have to graft ,its survival at times to keep going day in day out .

To train also amongst this demand requires the ability to glean rest periods and to take it were one can .

If one trains hard for two hrs ,he now as twenty two hrs before he picks up the thread again ,if he returns two days even later ,he's had a damm good rest .

How much rest you need will be individual to,our own specific routine's

[Bill Glasheen]

This concept is best expressed in what is referred to as the "Inverted Y Law." It states that as heart rate (stress) increases, the officer’s ability to use fine and/or complex motor skills deteriorates.

Conversely, as heart rate increases, the officer’s ability to use gross motor skills actually increases. A gross motor skill uses major muscle groups in actions of pushing, pulling, or strength events.

A fine motor skill uses small muscle groups and requires accuracy and/or coordination skills. A complex motor skill combines movements from both gross and fine motor skills.

I just want to interject here that I don't see complex motor skills as the combination of gross and fine. In fact I know for a fact that this is wrong. (Sorry my dear friend Mr. Siddle.)

IF this was the case, then as the level of SSR goes up, complex would deteriorate first in conjunction with fine, and gross would remain or improve. But that's not the case. FMC goes first. CMC goes second, and GMC remains and/or improves.

Complex motor coordination is the ability to use simple movements in more complex patterns. It for instance is the ability to use some of the complex moves in Sanseiryu kata which - element by element - are largely made up of gross motor components. The key here is that precision of movement isn't so important to achieve an end. Rather it's the complexity of construction of the individual elements of movement.

That being said...

You asked, Van, for a good definition of FMC, and the degree to which it exists in Uechi. Well let me start by saying that I think there's a great deal of misunderstanding in this regard.

The Uechi style uses small muscle groups to do techniques such as shokens, hirakens, or sokusens. However I don't view these as examples of FMC techniques. Their use is largely for grabbing like the tiger, or poking/slashing like the tiger and the crane. One only has to look at the common practice in forensic pathology of taking tissue samples from underneath the nails of female rape and/or murder victims to understand that the human animal has no problem with strong but simple techniques using the periphery. Grabbing, clawing, and poking are indeed the kinds of things we typically think of a human doing when fighting for the last breath of survival.

Instead FMC is about the precision of movement. An aikidoka has no problem applying techniques like tenshi nage (heaven and earth throw) under life-threatening conditions. This is where the practitioner breaks an opponent's balance while either being grabbed by both wrists or possibly even grabbing himself. However the level of precision needed to grab onto a knife coming at you and removing it from a killer's hand can get a little more tricky. Thus I'm not going to get hung up on getting exact hand placement and grip needed for kote gaeshi - EVEN THOUGH THE TECHNIQUE IS POWERED BY THE CORE MUSCLES. The rate-limiting step here is how you position your hands on their hand/wrist. It's tough getting it right, and there's little margin for error.

To some extent one could argue that firing a pistol involves FMC. Well.... no. A grip and a pull of a finger is pretty gross motor. Getting the bullet on target? Well... THAT requires more precision - hence the involvement of some degree of FMC. But if the "horseshoes and hand grenades" rule applies up close and personal, then FMC isn't such an issue.

There are ways to get around the need for FMC. I'm a person who has lived a lifetime with a familial tremor, and yet I've developed myself into someone who can do open heart surgery in the lab and use a laser pointer in a speaker's forum. How do I do this? The same way I see rifle and pistol experts shooting targets way far away. I rest my hands/arms on things.

In general lots of scenario training shows you what works and what doesn't work under stress, as well as who is better at handling the degrading of function with the Survival Stress Reflex.

- Bill