The Stretch Relex is where stretching a muscle causes the excitation of muscle spindles which causes contraction of large skeletal muscles.
A simple example of this is when jumping from a height and landing on the feet, the impulse in the leg muscles will likely cause a corresponding reflex of contracting the gluteal muscles in the hip which helps protect the body from injury.
Stimulus of the skeletal muscle, in turn, causes the antagonist muscle to lengthen and relax.
As the muscle relaxes and lengthens, the joint near the strike will not be as well protected as the body attempts to protect the core.
Naturally, our job is to take advantage of this reflex. How do we do that? Well, it is quite easy.
Let's say we are striking to Golgi's Tendon above the elbow (TB-11 for those with knowledge of acupuncture nomenclature). Naturally, the opponent will tense up as he expects the impact to his elbow region. As the muscles are about to be struct, they are contracted to resist the blow. The impact elicits a Stretch Reflex and immediately as the skeletal muscles are triggered, the relex causes the opponent's muscles to relax and lengthen, leaving the elbow joint exposed to injury. Immediately following up with a second strike to the same target will result in damage to the joint!
It really is that easy. But, please be extremely careful when working with a partner as it is unbelievably easy to dislocate elbows with this strike and do serious harm to your training partner. So, please be gentle!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The Crossed Extensor Reflex
The crossed extensor reflex is also known as the Cross-body Motor Reflex and is one of the Somatic Reflexes we discussed previously.
Let's look at a practical example of stepping on a nail with your right foot. Naturally, the right leg will contract, via the flexor muscles, to withdraw the foot from the source of the pain. Ouch! At the same time, the right leg's extensor muscles will relax to facilitate the process with minimal resistance.
Meanwhile, the left leg will experience the exact opposite function and the leg will lock via the extensor muscle extension while the flexors relax. This is done to allow the left leg to maintain complete body weight. This is known as a contralateral reflex since opposite things happen on the opposite side of the body.
This is possible since branched of the afferent nerve fibers cross from the stimualted side of the body to the other side via the spinal cord. It is there where they synapse with interneurons and excite or inhibit alpha motor neurons on the opposite limb.
Of course, there are other stimuli occuring which cause the center of gravity to shift, but let's not think we are neurosurgeons here and get too complicated!
Now, let's apply this to CombatiX™. When we apply a joint lock to the fingrs of the right hand, have you ever noticed that the other arm will often swing away from you? As the flexor muscles of the right arm are stimulated, the cross extensor reflex causes the extensors of the left arm to engage and it typically swings in the opposite direction.
We use this natural reflex all the time to cause the opponent to rotate his body away from us and take the other arm (and fist) out of the fight to keep us from getting hammered with it!
Hopefully by now, you are starting to see just how much science there is involved with CombatiX™! For many years we have focused on teaching the Eastern side of the art and thus in these training reports I have decided to spend a fair amount of time revealing the Western side of the art as well.
Hmmm, I wonder if I can stimulate this response enough to make the opponent smack himself in the back of the head? Time to go find a training partner...
Let's look at a practical example of stepping on a nail with your right foot. Naturally, the right leg will contract, via the flexor muscles, to withdraw the foot from the source of the pain. Ouch! At the same time, the right leg's extensor muscles will relax to facilitate the process with minimal resistance.
Meanwhile, the left leg will experience the exact opposite function and the leg will lock via the extensor muscle extension while the flexors relax. This is done to allow the left leg to maintain complete body weight. This is known as a contralateral reflex since opposite things happen on the opposite side of the body.
This is possible since branched of the afferent nerve fibers cross from the stimualted side of the body to the other side via the spinal cord. It is there where they synapse with interneurons and excite or inhibit alpha motor neurons on the opposite limb.
Of course, there are other stimuli occuring which cause the center of gravity to shift, but let's not think we are neurosurgeons here and get too complicated!
Now, let's apply this to CombatiX™. When we apply a joint lock to the fingrs of the right hand, have you ever noticed that the other arm will often swing away from you? As the flexor muscles of the right arm are stimulated, the cross extensor reflex causes the extensors of the left arm to engage and it typically swings in the opposite direction.
We use this natural reflex all the time to cause the opponent to rotate his body away from us and take the other arm (and fist) out of the fight to keep us from getting hammered with it!
Hopefully by now, you are starting to see just how much science there is involved with CombatiX™! For many years we have focused on teaching the Eastern side of the art and thus in these training reports I have decided to spend a fair amount of time revealing the Western side of the art as well.
Hmmm, I wonder if I can stimulate this response enough to make the opponent smack himself in the back of the head? Time to go find a training partner...
Somatic Reflexes
Have you ever had a doctor, or a really twisted friend, tap a spot near your knee and it reflexively kicks? If so, you have experienced a somatic reflex.
There are essentially five somatic reflexes. Three are spinal reflexes:
There are two types of reflex arc: autonomic reflex arc, which aaffects the inner organs, and somatic reflex arc, which affects muscles.
In the knee jerk reflex, a strike to the patellar tendon initiates a somatic reflex which causes a contraction of the quadricep muscle of the leg and causes it to kick. Since this bypasses the brain, this type of reflex occurs without conscious thought.
As there are a number of these sorts of reflexes in the body, activating these will cause a reaction regardless of whether or not the individual feels it. These can be of great value to those intoxicated, in altered states of consciousness due to drug activity, or those with impaired thinking.
Too many people try to get these types of individuals to comply based on pain. As you learned in the previous report, this is usually Slow Pain techniques such as strikes to the body and such. Instead, activating Fast Pain receptors, especially those tied to somatic reflexes offers the greatest opportunity to bring involuntary compliance.
Time to hit the anatomy books...
There are essentially five somatic reflexes. Three are spinal reflexes:
- Stretch
- Crossed Extensor
- Superficial Cord
- Corneal
- Gag
There are two types of reflex arc: autonomic reflex arc, which aaffects the inner organs, and somatic reflex arc, which affects muscles.
In the knee jerk reflex, a strike to the patellar tendon initiates a somatic reflex which causes a contraction of the quadricep muscle of the leg and causes it to kick. Since this bypasses the brain, this type of reflex occurs without conscious thought.
As there are a number of these sorts of reflexes in the body, activating these will cause a reaction regardless of whether or not the individual feels it. These can be of great value to those intoxicated, in altered states of consciousness due to drug activity, or those with impaired thinking.
Too many people try to get these types of individuals to comply based on pain. As you learned in the previous report, this is usually Slow Pain techniques such as strikes to the body and such. Instead, activating Fast Pain receptors, especially those tied to somatic reflexes offers the greatest opportunity to bring involuntary compliance.
Time to hit the anatomy books...
Fast Pain vs. Slow Pain
How fast do you make your techniques hurt? Seems like an odd question, right?!?!? Well, it is actually quite a good one! Not all pain is created equal. It turns out some pain is faster than others! Time to talk some science...
By studying a scientific process known as nociception, we learn that pain comes in at least two basic forms: fast and slow. Nociception is a process of encoding and processing noxious stimuli. So, what is that?
Basically, these are pain stimulations where there is potential for bodily harm. These impulses are initiated by nociceptors, otherwise known as pain receptors. Once range of motion or impact reaches an internal threshold, these pain receptors fire signals along the spinal cord to the brain.
Where do these pain receptors live? They are located along joints and in the skin. Their distribution varies within the body, but are in greater densities along the extremeties. For thsoe who love joint locking, especially fingers, you now have a good idea why fingers make such good targets!
Fast pain travels along type Aä fibers and terminates on the dorsal horn of the spinal cord where these synapse with the dendrites of the neospinothalamic tract. Fast pain can be felt in as fast as one tenth of a second! This pain is usually felt as a sharp acute pain. These are often stimulated along with tactile receptors which keeps the pain being felt as localized but intense pain.
In contrast, slow pain is transmitted by type C fibers, which are slower, to laminae II and III of the dorsal horns, which are known as the substantia gelatinosa. One tenth of these signals eventually terminate in the thallus and the other nine tenths terminate in the medulla. Pain is typically felt as more of an aching, burning, or throbbing pain.
How does this apply to CombatiX™? Well, it is simple. We try to stimulate Fast Pain Receptors as often as possible. This fast signals travel at lightening speeds through the brain stem and cause immediate reaction. When dealing with someone who is pain resistant, this is one of the most effective ways to get them off their feet. Often, the legs have buckled before they feel any pain; in some cases they never do feel it! Either way, these type of techniques are not really pain compliance techniques, since feeling it is not necessary to get them to work. Instead, they cause neurological reflexes to take place that are operating at a subsconscious level.
Now go grab a partner and make it hurt fast and good...
By studying a scientific process known as nociception, we learn that pain comes in at least two basic forms: fast and slow. Nociception is a process of encoding and processing noxious stimuli. So, what is that?
Basically, these are pain stimulations where there is potential for bodily harm. These impulses are initiated by nociceptors, otherwise known as pain receptors. Once range of motion or impact reaches an internal threshold, these pain receptors fire signals along the spinal cord to the brain.
Where do these pain receptors live? They are located along joints and in the skin. Their distribution varies within the body, but are in greater densities along the extremeties. For thsoe who love joint locking, especially fingers, you now have a good idea why fingers make such good targets!
Fast pain travels along type Aä fibers and terminates on the dorsal horn of the spinal cord where these synapse with the dendrites of the neospinothalamic tract. Fast pain can be felt in as fast as one tenth of a second! This pain is usually felt as a sharp acute pain. These are often stimulated along with tactile receptors which keeps the pain being felt as localized but intense pain.
In contrast, slow pain is transmitted by type C fibers, which are slower, to laminae II and III of the dorsal horns, which are known as the substantia gelatinosa. One tenth of these signals eventually terminate in the thallus and the other nine tenths terminate in the medulla. Pain is typically felt as more of an aching, burning, or throbbing pain.
How does this apply to CombatiX™? Well, it is simple. We try to stimulate Fast Pain Receptors as often as possible. This fast signals travel at lightening speeds through the brain stem and cause immediate reaction. When dealing with someone who is pain resistant, this is one of the most effective ways to get them off their feet. Often, the legs have buckled before they feel any pain; in some cases they never do feel it! Either way, these type of techniques are not really pain compliance techniques, since feeling it is not necessary to get them to work. Instead, they cause neurological reflexes to take place that are operating at a subsconscious level.
Now go grab a partner and make it hurt fast and good...
The OODA Loop
OODA Loop is a concept created by USAF Colonel John Boyd. It is an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Action.
He created this primarily for helping fighter pilots get through the mental process for taking action more quickly. In the business world, "time is money" but in life-and-death situations, "time is death."
If one can minimize the time it takes to take a correct action greatly increases one's survival rate. Taking too much time or getting hung up in the Orientation Phase can kill you.
First, let's remember that we have dealt with the Observation Phase of OODA by discussing the Levels of Awareness. Being more aware of your surrounding, gets you through that phase much faster.
As I said, most people get caught up in the Orientation Phase. This is where one must filter the information collected in the Observation Phase and process it. One's ethics, morality, religious inclinations, and such have a tremendous impact on how long this phase takes. For example, if someone believes killing is always wrong, it will be extremely difficult to overcome this in a real-life situation.
Unfortunately, many people never consider how they feel about this until it is too late. Instructors should regularly help their students confront the question of whether they are prepared to injure or even kill another individual if the situation arises.
Mental imagery can be used to help one answer these questions and pre-program their minds to take action when necessary.
We have also looked at the Decision Phase with the study of Hick's Law. As you may remember, fewer decisions leads to a faster response time.
The final step is the Action Phase. If one reaches this point, strikes and/or defensive actions are taken and then the process begins again. After fighting back, more Observation is needed to determine how the opponent reacted. This information must then lead to Orientation, more Decision, and likely more Action.
The possibility exists, however, for an individual to get "stuck" at some point in the loop. If fear is not controlled, it will escalate into a "Fear Loop" which can get stuck in a repeating cycle if one does not break out of it, but more on that later...
It is also possible, for someone to get to one phase such as Orientation and decide they do not have enough information and thus go back tomore Observation. This can happen at any point. It may even happen jsut before taking Action, thus delaying Action until more Observation, Orientation, and Decision.
It should be real obvious by this point that we must learn to get through this process as quick and efficiently as possible to survive an attack. It is also interesting to note that an opponent goes through the same process. Wanna bet who typically gets through it faster?
Case Study of a Home Invasion Attempt
Let's take a look at an application of some of what we have discussed already. Consider the following actual case study:
The Interview was his initial request was to borrow a flashlight. What was meant as an act of kindness by the lady was interpretted by the thug as compliance. His later request after returning was to use her phone. He expected this would allow him entry to her home, but she was too smart for that. She wanted to keep him on the porch. Perhaps a better idea would have been to offer to call someone for him if he gave her the number through the door. This way she could be helpful without putting herself in danger. But, it is easy to play arm-chair analyst.
Fortunately, not only was she smart enough to sense something was wrong and listen to her intuition, she was also physically and mentally prepared to do what was necessary to live. We must all do the same.
The fact this guy only displayed a weapon after he was attempting to force his way in, means he may have been prepared to use it. We will never know. Had she not been armed and had the mental determination to use it, things could have been disasterous!
It reminds me of a famous movie line, "That's not a knife; this is a knife!" Imagine the thug's surprise when he determined that his Interview was wrong and he chose the wrong person to mess with! It was enough to make him run away like the coward that he is!
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. -- A 68-year-old Greenville County woman pulled a gun on a man who tried to force his way inside her home, deputies say.Did you catch the "Interview" process in this story? If not, read it again.
The woman and her friend, Diane Gordon, said they had seen the man walking on Cutler Street.
"This fellow had been pretty much canvassing the neighborhood all day," Gordon said.
The man said he was looking for his keys and he was going door to door.
Nick Robertson said the man also stopped at his house.
"It just didn't sound right, so he left after he saw there were too many people -- too many men -- in the house."
The man borrowed a flashlight from Gordon's friend, and later in the day, at about 7:30 p.m., he came back to her house and asked to use her phone.
Gordon said, "She is pretty sharp and she actually had a gun. She was scared because he wouldn't go away. He kept knocking on the door."
She said she did not let the man inside but allowed him to use her phone from the porch.
The incident report says the man pushed open the door, pulled a gun from under his shirt and told her to "Get back in the house."
"When he pulled his gun, she pulled her gun and he said for her to get in the house and she said she would kill him first," Gordon said.
The man froze, and then ran away.
Zach Hinton, with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, said the man is white, about 40 years old, average height and he was using the name Eric. He had receding, light-brown hair and was wearing a light-colored T-shirt and blue jeans.
Greenville County deputies are still investigating this case. Deputies said the woman had an active concealed weapons permit and had every right to use it to protect herself.
Read more:
http://www.wyff4.com/news/30168387/detail.html#ixzz1jZOeb8h8
The Interview was his initial request was to borrow a flashlight. What was meant as an act of kindness by the lady was interpretted by the thug as compliance. His later request after returning was to use her phone. He expected this would allow him entry to her home, but she was too smart for that. She wanted to keep him on the porch. Perhaps a better idea would have been to offer to call someone for him if he gave her the number through the door. This way she could be helpful without putting herself in danger. But, it is easy to play arm-chair analyst.
Fortunately, not only was she smart enough to sense something was wrong and listen to her intuition, she was also physically and mentally prepared to do what was necessary to live. We must all do the same.
The fact this guy only displayed a weapon after he was attempting to force his way in, means he may have been prepared to use it. We will never know. Had she not been armed and had the mental determination to use it, things could have been disasterous!
It reminds me of a famous movie line, "That's not a knife; this is a knife!" Imagine the thug's surprise when he determined that his Interview was wrong and he chose the wrong person to mess with! It was enough to make him run away like the coward that he is!
Timetable of Death
About W. E. Fairbairn
Let's begin our Discussion of the Fairbairn's Timetable of Death by first looking at who he was. The following was taken from WikiPedia:
William Ewart Fairbairn (28 February, 1885–20 June, 1960) was a British soldier, police officer and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the close combat, for the Shanghai Police between the world wars, and allied special forces in World War II. He developed his own fighting system known as Defendu, as well as other weapons tactics. Notably, this included innovative pistol shooting techniques and the development of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.
The television series Secrets of War suggested him as a possible inspiration for Q branch in James Bond.
Military Career
Fairbairn served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry starting in 1901, and joined the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) in 1907. During his service with the International Police in Shanghai, Fairbairn reportedly engaged in hundreds of street fights in the course of his duties over a twenty-year career, where he organised and headed a special anti-riot squad. Much of his body, arms, legs, torso, even the palms of his hands, was covered with scars from knife wounds from those fights. Fairbairn later created, organised and trained a special anti-riot squad for the Shanghai police force, as well as developing numerous firearms training courses and items of police equipment, including a special metal-lined bulletproof vest designed to stop high-velocity bullets from the 7.63x25mm Mauser pistol.
During World War II, he was recruited by the British Secret Service as an Army officer, where he was given the nickname "Dangerous Dan". Together with fellow close-combat instructor Eric Sykes, Fairbairn was commissioned on the General List in 1941. He trained British, American and Canadian Commando forces, along with Ranger candidates in close-combat, pistol-shooting and knife-fighting techniques. Fairbairn emphasised the necessity of forgetting any idea of gentlemanly conduct or fighting fair: "Get tough, get down in the gutter, win at all costs... I teach what is called ‘Gutter Fighting.’ There’s no fair play, no rules except one: kill or be killed,” he declared.
For his achievements in training OSS personnel, Fairbairn eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel by the end of the war, and received the U.S. Legion of Merit (Officer grade) at the specific request of "Wild Bill" Donovan, founder of the U.S. O.S.S.
In an effort to define how long it takes for a person wounded by a knife wound to either lose consciousness or die from hypovolemic shock, Fairbairn created his well-known Timetable of Death as seen below:
No one knows quite for sure where he got his numbers but they have come under some scrutiny in the past few years. While no one doubts his fighting prowess or his intent to train troops, but his numbers seem to be off the mark in areas. For instance, the depth of some arteries and organs appear to be different from known anatomical sciences.
It also appears that his estimates of bleedout times do not match with tactical experience. Due to these inaccuracies, a few researches have attempted to re-calculate the times. I too have taken up this challenge!
From looking at the attempts of others, it appeared to me that blood pressure, the effects of Body Alarm Response, heart rate and other factors such as gender, were not being factored into the calculations.
After great research, it became obvious to me that new methods had to be created that took all of this information into consideration. My calculations are based on Cardio Physics of the human body.
The basic conclusion of this research is that several knife fighting tactics are flawed. When one considers that some knife instructors advocate attacking vascular targets due to bleedout time, it becomes apparent that they may not have complete information. Or else, their numbers may be based on Fairbairn's original research. While attacking vascular targets do in fact kill, the times are often longer than what most people expect.
To make it far easier to calculate time for shock, time to loss of consciousness, and finally time to death, I created an application to make running scenarios much easier. With this tool, it is possible to estimate these times for various genders, body sizes (height and weight), different heart rates, and blood pressures. This allows you to simulate at rest as well as under stress. Moreover, you can see the effects of stress on the body.
Let's begin our Discussion of the Fairbairn's Timetable of Death by first looking at who he was. The following was taken from WikiPedia:
William Ewart Fairbairn (28 February, 1885–20 June, 1960) was a British soldier, police officer and exponent of hand-to-hand combat method, the close combat, for the Shanghai Police between the world wars, and allied special forces in World War II. He developed his own fighting system known as Defendu, as well as other weapons tactics. Notably, this included innovative pistol shooting techniques and the development of the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.
The television series Secrets of War suggested him as a possible inspiration for Q branch in James Bond.
Military Career
Fairbairn served with the Royal Marine Light Infantry starting in 1901, and joined the Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) in 1907. During his service with the International Police in Shanghai, Fairbairn reportedly engaged in hundreds of street fights in the course of his duties over a twenty-year career, where he organised and headed a special anti-riot squad. Much of his body, arms, legs, torso, even the palms of his hands, was covered with scars from knife wounds from those fights. Fairbairn later created, organised and trained a special anti-riot squad for the Shanghai police force, as well as developing numerous firearms training courses and items of police equipment, including a special metal-lined bulletproof vest designed to stop high-velocity bullets from the 7.63x25mm Mauser pistol.
During World War II, he was recruited by the British Secret Service as an Army officer, where he was given the nickname "Dangerous Dan". Together with fellow close-combat instructor Eric Sykes, Fairbairn was commissioned on the General List in 1941. He trained British, American and Canadian Commando forces, along with Ranger candidates in close-combat, pistol-shooting and knife-fighting techniques. Fairbairn emphasised the necessity of forgetting any idea of gentlemanly conduct or fighting fair: "Get tough, get down in the gutter, win at all costs... I teach what is called ‘Gutter Fighting.’ There’s no fair play, no rules except one: kill or be killed,” he declared.
For his achievements in training OSS personnel, Fairbairn eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel by the end of the war, and received the U.S. Legion of Merit (Officer grade) at the specific request of "Wild Bill" Donovan, founder of the U.S. O.S.S.
In an effort to define how long it takes for a person wounded by a knife wound to either lose consciousness or die from hypovolemic shock, Fairbairn created his well-known Timetable of Death as seen below:
No one knows quite for sure where he got his numbers but they have come under some scrutiny in the past few years. While no one doubts his fighting prowess or his intent to train troops, but his numbers seem to be off the mark in areas. For instance, the depth of some arteries and organs appear to be different from known anatomical sciences.
It also appears that his estimates of bleedout times do not match with tactical experience. Due to these inaccuracies, a few researches have attempted to re-calculate the times. I too have taken up this challenge!
From looking at the attempts of others, it appeared to me that blood pressure, the effects of Body Alarm Response, heart rate and other factors such as gender, were not being factored into the calculations.
After great research, it became obvious to me that new methods had to be created that took all of this information into consideration. My calculations are based on Cardio Physics of the human body.
The basic conclusion of this research is that several knife fighting tactics are flawed. When one considers that some knife instructors advocate attacking vascular targets due to bleedout time, it becomes apparent that they may not have complete information. Or else, their numbers may be based on Fairbairn's original research. While attacking vascular targets do in fact kill, the times are often longer than what most people expect.
To make it far easier to calculate time for shock, time to loss of consciousness, and finally time to death, I created an application to make running scenarios much easier. With this tool, it is possible to estimate these times for various genders, body sizes (height and weight), different heart rates, and blood pressures. This allows you to simulate at rest as well as under stress. Moreover, you can see the effects of stress on the body.
Now, you can calculate these with a web application on our website at:
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