Good morning fellow beltcheckers, When designing and implementing training scenarios, technique drills etc., do you discuss the brain and its processes under stress? I often hear students say 'well, in real life I would do this....' I take this as a cue to introduce the process our brains take under duress, and introduce the fact that our sensory cortex may not be available to reason and process the attack. This lends itself to reinforce training that is simple in nature so you reinforce the neural pathways (muscle memory). I think it is irresponsible to allow students to think they would react differently than they would train. I am not attempting to discount other views, or any other type of training. Anyone may train anything they like. I am simply wondering if identifying the process of how we operate under stress is identified an discussed. Fight or flight, etc. Thanks everyone

Good morning fellow beltcheckers, When designing and implementing training scenarios, technique drills etc., do you discuss the brain and its processes under stress? I often hear students say 'well, in real life I would do this....' I take this as a cue to introduce the process our brains take under duress, and introduce the fact that our sensory cortex may not be available to reason and process the attack. This lends itself to reinforce training that is simple in nature so you reinforce the neural pathways (muscle memory). I think it is irresponsible to allow students to think they would react differently than they would train. I am not attempting to discount other views, or any other type of training. Anyone may train anything they like. I am simply wondering if identifying the process of how we operate under stress is identified an discussed. Fight or flight, etc. Thanks everyone

This topic got me interested in thinking more about breakfalling, how deep you can bake that training in to your reflexes and what it’s limits are. How does that training hold up to surprise, panic, etc...?

I love the conversations centered around break falls. Especially from a Judoka. Because the reality of Judo competitively is that if you break fall when being thrown, it will guarantee Ippon. As a result, a good Judoka does NOT break fall in competition. How you train and how you compete are not the same thing in Judo. There's also this notion that a break fall is magic and will prevent all injuries. Which isn't true. Moving fast then stopping abruptly is hard on the brain. Period. With the break fall or without it. Yes, learning to not post and trying to keep your chin tucked helps with specifics (not breaking your arm, not hitting your head) but being thrown all the time is hard on your brain either way.

I often hear students say "well, in real life I would do this...."

Love this topic. Small thing to add, regarding breakfalls. There is a huge difference in doing a breakfall that STOPS the momentum on impact, say a side breakfall where you land on your side and slap the mat. And a breakfall where you ROLL TROUGH and slowly decrease momentum, say a front or back roll. The first is still likely to cause injury on hard surfaces. The second has literally saved my life on a few occasions (getting nipped on my bike in traffic and doing a full forward flip, horrible crashes while snowboading). I just rolled through and walked away unscathed. So, I'd say breakfalls should focus on the rolling through aspect more than actually 'breaking' / abruptly stopping a fall. Oddly enough, as much as i like to laugh at Russian systema, that system seems to 'get it' when it comes to ground engagement on hard surfaces. (but that might also be a residue of sambo research)

Funny you mention parkour. They have some super interesting ways of landing after spectacular, frightening jumps. Again, they seem to allow the force of the impact to travel through the body, and allowing the body to move with it, slowing down the momentum, instead of bracing oneself and absorbing the impact head on.

This systema guy explains is rather well.

Incidentally, in Icelandic Glíma they don't put much of an emphasis on traditional breakfalling at all. You're allowed to touch the ground with anything up to the elbow, so you frequently see people extending their arms to base and keep their balance. I figured something like that would leave a legion of broken shoulders/elbows/wrists in its wake (especially since those mad fuckers wrestle on wooden floors), but by all accounts there's no higher than usual rates of injury there at all.

This systema guy explains is rather well. Seems like a more intuitive way to roll through the motion, instead of bracing yourself for impact. https://www.youtube.com/w[...]zmuneuhnXE

Yeah, in order for a throw to count, you have to remain standing afterwards. If you land on your opponent it's called a 'brother fall' and the ref stands you both back up and tells you to start again. So there will be less momentum involved than, say, someone trying to harai makikomi you down to the Earth's core. I talked to a 3rd-dan judo black belt who tried out some Glima, and he says there are also some subtle technical things they do to make it safer to brace on an outstretched arm. Like rotate your hand so that the fingers are pointed more in towards your body - that way if the elbow has to bend it should at least be encouraged to bend in the right direction. I would not fancy doing it on a regular basis though.