Fine Motor Control in Combat

Dan Grossman, a police and military trainer writes in “On Combat” that meditation and breathing can help keep warriors in a sweet spot of reaction time and mental cognition, however as their heart rate starts to climb beyond a certain point reactions tend to come bilaterally. It is similar to the way a startled baby will bend and raise both arms. It also has unfortunate consequences in combat. A police officer with his finger on the trigger of his right hand may grab a suspect with his left. With his heart rate high the action of grabbing and squeezing with his left hand will cause his trigger finger to squeeze as well. Breath work training, cardio, and meditation training may take the edge off of this, but even the best stress inoculation will not prevent this bilateral response from taking place. Mantis fits well into these scenarios as most of the core movements are bilateral in nature and take place with the entire arms so they can be done while holding weapons.

Keep it simple

Grossman also describes how adding even a single step in a high stakes movement such as handcuffing a resisting criminal can dramatically reduce the effectiveness. Stress inoculation is mostly conditional and that which has been trained. The more there is to train the less effective they will be at any one skill. As Laozi described, “The more you know, the less you understand.” This sentiment was echoed in the 20th century with the Hick’s Law which states that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision. More is not better. Collecting more slows down your decision making which can be fatal in combat.