Proprioception

[HanshiClayton]

We use proprioception all the time. It is basic to coordination in any athletic activity.

I looked up the Wikipedia link to proprioception and was delighted to find that it is the basis for the infamous Field Sobriety Test.

So, yes, some of us use proprioception more than others do.

In my dojo, I make beginners do their katas blindfolded. They often do them better that way, by relying on their proprioception instead of their eyesight.

[HanshiClayton]

It isn't "proprioception," but children under the age of about eight years old cannot follow abstract instructions very well. Most of them.

Therefore it is better to show them than to tell them, and I have friends who have made quite a study of the subtle art of teaching young kids. Start a topic about that (not in this thread!) and you might get some input.

[PLopresti]

To me proprioception is a rehabilitation term used to help injured athletes recover from a number of injuries. Usually shoulder, knee, hip, or ankle. Balance is the key to proprioception exercise. I have recently, 13 months ago, added bikram yoga to my training and the amount of proprioception used in the standing series blows away what I thought I had developed after 20 years of traditional training. It is also good for the development or define enemy of the core muscles ie. tanden. As you will not have balance without the core. However, since my training now has been mostly on my back as in jujutsu my center of gravity has become much closer to the ground but equally important, if not more so. If you can't control your center while controlling someone else, good luck, you will be thrown to your back. I'd love to expand on this topic more but seeing it in use is the best way. Of course the Atlantic city camp this year may just focus on this exact topic now that my brain has been ignited . Thanks for the spark.

[PLopresti]

I meant refinement of the abdominal muscles. Not refine enemy. Lol. Auto correct.

[JoelDeschenes]

I have good understanding about it because some of my students (including my son) have a deficiency. Kids with Asperger syndrome (a condition in the family of authism) have a genral proprioception that is weeker than average. Unless they look at there feet and hand its hard for them to position them with precision. And even when they look its hard because you can see everything all at once. So I work with them, trying to increase awarness of the limbs. Karate is very hard for those kids but understanding there diffculties make me appreciate all the effort they put in it.

[PLopresti]

I don't think the whole camp will be that much. Training is relatively cheap and is try to bunk up if I could.

Back to the harmony and synchronization. In a fight, all I teach my student is how to break up this timing so that there can be chaos. It's nice to see two high level black belts compete but this is more of a game than a combat situation. Sometimes karate trains out the reflexive action we would normally have such as holding the hands in a favorable position in favor of the hikite. I've developed a set of two person drills for the heian kata that seek to simulate a "real life" encounter by incorporating wrist grabs, arm bars, head locks, etc. so that the distances are all way too close to have a play fight. Again I'm not knocking that type of training or its value but when the stuff hits the fan things are just not that pretty.

There is a feel and calmness one needs to have when confronted and I think that is what te old masters wanted to simulate but just couldn't communicate. If I see you in AC you'll be able to see what I mean.

[HanshiClayton]

I suspect that "muscle chaining" is what we usually call Internal Timing.