Have you ever heard of Hicks Law?
The theory is that as you fill your brain with multiple responses to the same stimulus, you'll slow down your reaction response time.
In other words, when the brain has more choices to respond to a given attack, it gets confused or stalled for a millisecond or three.
Imagine this impact in a martial-arts situation.
Guess what! I don't think Hick's Law (or limitation) applies to my training. I definitely concede that Hick's Law is real, but I don't believe that it applies to the way I was taught to respond in martial situations.
And it doesn't have to inhibit your reactions either....
Rather than talk strictly about possible responses, I'd like to use this time to illustrate one of the methods you can use to train for automaticity:
Mastering Two Responses to a Punch
Imagine training to respond to a punch to your face. Your opponent is far enough away that he or she has to step in to hit your face. In this example, your opponent uses the right hand to punch.
The punch is straight -- comes right up the center.
You practice responding by punching with your left hand and stepping slightly to the left. (You avoid a solid block-then-punch response, opting for more efficiency.)
You work this move over and over. You really master it.
Then you realize that your partner could instead punch with a wide, more circular punch. He (or she) still punches with the right hand, and the punch still heads toward your face. The difference is that this second punch emanates from the side of the opponent's head, not up the center ... there is a curve to the path of the strike.
It's no longer practical for you to step to the outside, to counter the punch. It's so wide, that you'd accidentally step right into the path of the hit ... with your face. (Not good.)
So, you practice taking the punch from the inside.
Now, the key is to make your inside response very similar to the way you'd respond if you were on the outside of your opponent's arm. You still punch with your left hand. You still raise your right hand as a check. You still step with the left foot.
You practice having your partner punch wide over and over again. You step to the inside as you counter-punch. Eventually, you master the technique.
Combining the Two Responses
Next, you have your opponent combine the two punches. Sometimes, the punch speeds straight up the centerline. Other times, it enters from the side. You are surprised each time -- there isn't a set pattern.
You practice taking them both.
You don't know which your partner will use for the attack. It doesn't matter. Your responses are very similar.
In fact, you don't even think about it. You just react.
Be lazy.
If you have practiced long enough, through thousands of repetitions, then your body will know what to do.
Can your brain get confused?
Sure -- from time to time. So, what? You keep fighting. You still punched as your first response -- life could be worse.
Note: If you are advanced, and if this type of combination training intrigues you, there is a section on a similar training method in "Secrets of Teaching Martial Arts More Effectively." Read about spoking and other ways to build exercises into a full class of practical practice: http://kerwinbenson.com/secrets_of_teaching_mart.html
Adding Precision to Your Reaction
We should probably talk about defining the lines between two techniques.
Just how wide does a straight punch have to be, before you step to the inside, and how small of an arc must a wide punch travel before your brain reacts to it as if it were a straight punch?
Now, that you have spent time combining the two reactions, so they are practically the same, you should work towards discovering the exact point that one reaction ends and the other should be used instead.
Maybe if the punch starts to the side of the head, where it looks as though it would whiz by the ear, that would force one response, but if from the beginning of the attack the punch looks like it would tag the head at all, you step the other way.
You want the instant decision early ... not when the hit is about to make contact.
If you reduce your reactions to just two responses, and know exactly where one response supercedes the other, then you will never have to worry about Hick's Law slowing you down.
Does this make sense?
