Avoiding "cognitive tunneling"

[Gerry Seymour]

I don't think there's any one drill. Not sure if any group of drills just added to a curriculum would work, either. But we did some that I think helped with what we did on a regular basis.

The first tempo setter for all my students, a veritable carved in stone first rule, was "Protect yourself at all times." I always believed it helped students develop awareness over a long period of time, and stayed with them years afterwards. At least that's what former students have always told me, even decades later.

When we sparred, I would always spar with everybody at some point. Sometimes, in the middle of sparring, I'd fake twisting a leg/ankle, and my opponent pause....and get blitzed slapped for doing it. Now, before you make any judgements, we had hard and fast rules about disengaging during sparring or any contact fighting drills. Pausing/stopping was NOT one of them. And everyone knew it. The chorus of people waiting to sparr would always chime "protect yourself at all times!"

I never cared for Floyd Mayweather, as a person. Loved watching him work though. But one time, I wanted to shake his hand.

Cheap shot? Sure. Almost as cheap as the lunging head-butt Ortiz threw beforehand. But Ortiz did not do what EVERY boxing ref tells every fighter. "Protect yourself at all times." To me, it's part of a mindset. (one little tiny thing, of many, to avoid a mindset that allows cognitive tunnelling to creep in and manifest.)

We used to do a drill, best with at least twenty people. (the more the merrier). Every one's name went into a hat and you picked. That was your "target". Then....we put the names back and you picked again. That was your second target.

We designated a space, usually a couple of taped off sparring areas (around twenty by twenty) that were next to each other, sometimes we used the area outside the dressing rooms. And you would mill about as if in a crowd in the subway, only circling, going against the grain, reversing direction, zigging - all at a slow, relaxed pace, sometimes talking, singing, talking smack, whatever. The whole time you would keep your eyes on your target, without letting them know you were doing so. The area was always small enough so your were always rubbing elbows, brushing against everyone and having to reverse direction or turn so you would stay within the designated area.

Your goal was twofold. First - you wanted to slap your target in the head. (had to get your primary target before you could go for your second) Not hard enough to hurt, just to annoy. You didn't do it the first chance you got, or even the second or third, sometimes you waited and waited. (The target's job was to avoid the slap) Your second goal was to notice who was stalking YOU and take positional steps to thwart them. (another little tiny thing in a process of awareness)

Another drill we sometimes did was with a golf ball in a sock. You would stand almost against a wall.(cup, mouthpiece, painters goggles
A couple guys were twenty feet away, swinging the sock/ball and let them fly. Again, not trying to kill anyone, just smack them hard.
Then you would add a third sock thrower. Guy against the wall had to move (or block), without moving too far away. Once you got used to it, we rubbed vaseline onto the goggles, blurring everything. It was a good instinctual drill. Got a few lumps on occasion, but nothing to write home about. It made you work off gross motion instead of detailed motion. You couldn't tunnel if you wanted to

Another drill, which might also fit into what you're asking, was a vision drill we used for multiples. (Originated from prison yards a long time ago) It wasn't so much the "vision" itself, but rather, how to take advantage of it. By itself, maybe nothing, but added to the actual multiple fight training that followed, it helped, I believe, the whole tunnel thing.

If you stand and look straight ahead, without moving your eyes, your field of vision is cone shaped. Your peripheral vision/ field of vision, can see a certain length/width to the sides and up and down, and everywhere in between, in more or less a conical shape, without moving your eyes.

You stand in the middle of the floor. Your partner stands facing you, about five feet away. You stare into each other's eyes. Your partners job is to make sure you don't move your eyes (only using your peripheral vision)

Two more people stand to your right and left, about twenty feet back. They are about three or four feet off to each side. They slowly, and very quietly, take baby steps moving forward. Their goal is not to approach your back, they do not veer in, their goal is to see how close they can come to be standing beside you. (again, a few feet to the side). You will eventually pick up on them when they are anywhere from a foot back, to an inch back, or right beside you. When you do see them, you point with the corresponding arm and say "there"

Now you repeat the drill, except rather than staring at the eyes of your partner in front of you, you look a foot ahead of his feet. This lowers the cone of vision, taking out a lot of upwards vision, and replacing it with added vision on the low line, some of it behind you.

Repeat the drill of the two people taking quiet, baby steps coming up behind you. You'll spot them a couple of yards earlier. I mentioned this came from prison yards. People in prison yards don't play nice. If you were a target, you either had to stay out of the yard altogether, or keep your vision low in order to be less likely to be bushwhacked from behind because you could see approaching enemies quicker and easier. (it was originally taught to Law Enforcement years ago, by ex cons, prison film confirmed it)

You've all probably played Bull in the Ring at some point. We did too, but sometimes put some twists in it. An instructor would walk around and whisper into the ears of everyone in the ring. Say nothing to some, but naming a target for others. So you would rush the man in the middle and sometimes keep going and attack someone in the outside ring. Brief attack. Or sometimes if you were given a target you would wait until he attacked the man in the middle and either come up behind him or intercept him. All part of protecting yourself at all times.

When surprise, and the preparation of always being vigilant, is worked enough, it sometimes takes hold. I believe it decreases the likely hood of a narrow vision in combat.

Speaking of combat, one of the first things I was taught about shooting, was to check the background of my target. Drilled into me over and over, like a broken record, it's all we heard. There were times that I thought it might slow me down. And maybe it did, but it gave me a better awareness of total picture. And I believe it kept my focus from narrowing under stress. I might still crap my pants in fear, but it keeps me reading information better from all sides. I hope it's still drilled as much as it was with us.

I think we are getting somewhere with this. Firstly, perhaps the totality of such drills helps students switch faster, earlier out of auto-pilot mode. If they do this before decision-making becomes critical (if I remember the concept properly), there's a far lesser chance of CT occurring.

I'm also thinking that introducing abrupt switching of drills might help. So, imagine students had one or two drills that required high awareness, which they could step into at a single command. In the middle of some mundane drill (working on forms, for instance) where they are able to operate more on auto-pilot, the instructor gives the command to go to one of the awareness drills, and students abruptly switch drills wherever they are, with whatever partners they have. Of course, for safety, anyone partnered with a relatively new student would need to immediately get them to the edge of the mat (another quick awareness test).

 

[Touch Of Death]

So let's break this down. We can use this against our opponent. It is, of course, all a timing issue, where you create cognitive tunneling, as it were, by upsetting the persons ability to do what they are doing. Punching someone in the nose will, instantly get them thinking about what just happened, then fear of what you might do next begins to creep in, which is the future and all its possibilities. This gives me plenty of time to formulate my next move.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

So let's break this down. We can use this against our opponent. It is, of course, all a timing issue, where you create cognitive tunneling, as it were, by upsetting the persons ability to do what they are doing. Punching someone in the nose will, instantly get them thinking about what just happened, then fear of what you might do next begins to creep in, which is the future and all its possibilities. This gives me plenty of time to formulate my next move.

Since CT apparenly only occurs during a state change from auto-pilot to critical decision-making, the process can't be initiated inside a fight. If it's a competition, they'll be in "ready state" well before the first round starts. If it's an attack, they're in "ready state" before they attack.

We might run into an attacker with CT in force if they are not paying attention and we bump into them, and they simply lose it. That abrupt change could get them tunneled, and if we notice what their single focus is, we can easily work that to our advantage.

That said, when I get to research some more, I want to see if there's evidence of the CT process occurring outside that state change. Every art I've run into uses some form of getting the opponent to focus on one area so we can attack another. Perhaps we're using a similar process there, which would also give some insight into building an exit from CT into our mental "coming on-line" sequence when we have to change states.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Since CT apparenly only occurs during a state change from auto-pilot to critical decision-making, the process can't be initiated inside a fight. If it's a competition, they'll be in "ready state" well before the first round starts. If it's an attack, they're in "ready state" before they attack.

We might run into an attacker with CT in force if they are not paying attention and we bump into them, and they simply lose it. That abrupt change could get them tunneled, and if we notice what their single focus is, we can easily work that to our advantage.

That said, when I get to research some more, I want to see if there's evidence of the CT process occurring outside that state change. Every art I've run into uses some form of getting the opponent to focus on one area so we can attack another. Perhaps we're using a similar process there, which would also give some insight into building an exit from CT into our mental "coming on-line" sequence when we have to change states.

Couldn't a person's basic rhythm be an auto-pilot of sorts, even in competition?

 

[Buka]

I think about other situations in which people experience this, and the one that I think about is driving. I understand that this is a little different, but when I taught my kids to drive a few years ago, that was exciting. Kids are so overwhelmed by all of the stimuli from within the car, that they literally only process what is a few feet in front of their car. Through exposure and experience, they are better able to organize the information and so are able to expand their field of view.

Steve made some great points on the first page, the Kato thing, competition, but I think the one above is most important.
When you drive, there's usually never another time in your life you'll be processing as much stimuli. (thank God)

I think stimuli is important in what we're talking about.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Couldn't a person's basic rhythm be an auto-pilot of sorts, even in competition?

Hmm...I think the key point is the need to make decisions and how they focus. Someone could, in fact, have a very well developed routine before competition that would keep them in auto-pilot up to the moment of the bell to start the first round. In that case, I'd think CT would be a real possibility if their opponent attacked immediately. If the opponent doesn't, then they have more time to transition their focus. This might argue for at least delivering a feint very quickly in competition, in the hopes that it causes some over-focus on their part.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Steve made some great points on the first page, the Kato thing, competition, but I think the one above is most important.
When you drive, there's usually never another time in your life you'll be processing as much stimuli. (thank God)

I think stimuli is important in what we're talking about.

Yes, a combination of stimuli and having to focus to make decisions. CT can occur while we're driving, since we can be in auto-pilot mode even then (ever get home and not been able to recall the drive?), and is exacerbated by things like cruise control for obvious reasons. If something goes wrong while we're driving like that, we are reportedly much more likely to stomp as hard as we can on the brake pedal and keep pushing harder even if the car is skidding (fixation on that one control) than if we are keenly analyzing the stimuli around us as we drive.

 

[Buka]

Not to derail..

We're in a metal and plastic box, sometimes moving at 88 feet per second. (60MPH) We're controlling this box with our hands, feet, common sense and information gathered from our eyes. Sometimes we're talking while we do it, sometimes music is playing and we're singing, sometimes we make phone calls, sometimes we only using one hand, usually just one foot. All the while we are processing information, reading signs, lights and conditions, watching that guy up ahead, that guy behind, that guy flying past, that guy entering right, that one left.

There's hundreds, sometimes thousands of other people, some as sharp as us, some not, doing exactly the same thing in other boxes right near us. We see just about all of them.
But we are all protected. Protected by lines painted on the ground, by lights that change colors and by rules written down somewhere, usually, not in our metal and plastic boxes. And protected by our fellow man's common sense.

In the United States, 27,000 of our boxes bang into each other every single day. Globally, 3,287 people, flesh and blood people, just like you and me, are killed each day, when their boxes bang into each other. Tens of thousands others are only injured or maimed.

Makes fighting seem kind of easy.

 

[Steve]

Defensive driving skills can't guarantee safety on a micro level but they are proven effective on a macro level. Simple behaviors that keep you safer.

Driving at safe speeds. Increase your following distance. Check your mirrors. Don't drive in someone's blind spot. Whenever possible, keep a lane open on at least one side. Stay calm.

These are behaviors that first help avoid crisis and second will give more tome to react in crisis.

So perhaps the answer isn't to avoid an involuntary phenomenon, but instead to mitigate it. self defense training focused on actual behaviors that will mitigate risk

 

[Buka]

Defensive driving skills can't guarantee safety on a micro level but they are proven effective on a macro level. Simple behaviors that keep you safer.

Driving at safe speeds. Increase your following distance. Check your mirrors. Don't drive in someone's blind spot. Whenever possible, keep a lane open on at least one side. Stay calm.

These are behaviors that first help avoid crisis and second will give more tome to react in crisis.

So perhaps the answer isn't to avoid an involuntary phenomenon, but instead to mitigate it. self defense training focused on actual behaviors that will mitigate risk

I fully agree. And I think a similar attitude and planning works in everyday social situations to avoid trouble.

 

[Steve]

I fully agree. And I think a similar attitude and planning works in everyday social situations to avoid trouble.

Unless you're aiming to misbehave.

 

[drop bear]

Steve made some great points on the first page, the Kato thing, competition, but I think the one above is most important.
When you drive, there's usually never another time in your life you'll be processing as much stimuli. (thank God)

I think stimuli is important in what we're talking about.

Gee. I just wish someone could make some sort of device that would restrict your vision and create a greater sense of anxiety so you could spar under those sort of conditions.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Defensive driving skills can't guarantee safety on a micro level but they are proven effective on a macro level. Simple behaviors that keep you safer.

Driving at safe speeds. Increase your following distance. Check your mirrors. Don't drive in someone's blind spot. Whenever possible, keep a lane open on at least one side. Stay calm.

These are behaviors that first help avoid crisis and second will give more tome to react in crisis.

So perhaps the answer isn't to avoid an involuntary phenomenon, but instead to mitigate it. self defense training focused on actual behaviors that will mitigate risk

In MA, our focus is on the physical skill for defending against an imminent attack.

In that context, mitigation of CT is not, from what I've found so far, effective unless done in advance. Meaning, you must have the proper cognitive model in mind before the moment where CT would otherwise occur.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Competitions are one way to get people outside of their comfort zone and force them to function in a stressful situation. Teaching people things that they can actually apply in context is helpful, which is another reason I'm a fan of competition.

I've suspected for a while that learning to listen to your coach and follow instructions while in a match can have some useful carryover to a street situation. It's pretty common for fighters to develop such tunnel vision in the heat of a match that they either don't hear anything their coach is yelling at them or else don't really register what is being said as something they should react to.

My theory is that if you develop the habit of keeping your ears open so you can hear your coach say "watch out, he's setting up for a double leg", you're more likely in a street fight to hear someone yell "watch out, he's got a knife!" I don't have any empirical evidence for this, but it seems likely.

I'm imagining adding some sort of Kato-like suprise attacks in the dojo. I'd have to contemplate how to make that safe for students (and me, as Kato). I don't think it necessarily has to be in the specific situation (though that would be best), so long as you're training the mind to a specific reaction to that state change.

I'm thinking of adding some little occasional game changers when my students are sparring - tossing a training knife out on the mat (or having one student start out with the knife concealed in their gi), having "reinforcements" arrive to help out one sparring partner, etc so that the students have to maintain the mental flexibility to switch gears on a moments notice.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I've suspected for a while that learning to listen to your coach and follow instructions while in a match can have some useful carryover to a street situation. It's pretty common for fighters to develop such tunnel vision in the heat of a match that they either don't hear anything their coach is yelling at them or else don't really register what is being said as something they should react to.

My theory is that if you develop the habit of keeping your ears open so you can hear your coach say "watch out, he's setting up for a double leg", you're more likely in a street fight to hear someone yell "watch out, he's got a knife!" I don't have any empirical evidence for this, but it seems likely.

This seems like it would have a postive effect on maintaining a broader attention area - the opposite of CT. Perhaps things like this can build a habit (part of the "cognitive model") of not over-focusing.

I'm thinking of adding some little occasional game changers when my students are sparring - tossing a training knife out on the mat (or having one student start out with the knife concealed in their gi), having "reinforcements" arrive to help out one sparring partner, etc so that the students have to maintain the mental flexibility to switch gears on a moments notice.

This seems like a sensible way to build the habit of keeping a wider focus. I'm about to introduce some new drills and exercises to mine - this should fit into some of them.

 

[pgsmith]

I'm thinking of adding some little occasional game changers when my students are sparring - tossing a training knife out on the mat (or having one student start out with the knife concealed in their gi), having "reinforcements" arrive to help out one sparring partner, etc so that the students have to maintain the mental flexibility to switch gears on a moments notice.

Back when I used to practice jujutsu, our instructor used to sometimes carry a small practice knife inside his gi during randori. He would produce it at unexpected moments and we were expected to attempt to counter the attack. We never knew when he had it or when it might come out, so it greatly increased our focus because we were never sure what to expect. I like the "reinforcements" idea also.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Back when I used to practice jujutsu, our instructor used to sometimes carry a small practice knife inside his gi during randori. He would produce it at unexpected moments and we were expected to attempt to counter the attack. We never knew when he had it or when it might come out, so it greatly increased our focus because we were never sure what to expect. I like the "reinforcements" idea also.

We have an exercise called an "attack line" - a simple exercise where each student gets a turn defending one attack from each other student, in turn. I think I'll be adding hidden knives (perhaps only after a certain rank, so they get a chance to get complacent and maybe step in, myself (I'd normally be off to their side), if they aren't paying attention to anything but the obvious attacker.

 

[Juany118]

That certainly speaks to ongoing training being an important component, so we develop automated reactions. I'm not convinced that's a solution for CT, though, since attention to a single stimulus still leaves us using an automated reaction to only that stimulus. I think I have time for research tomorrow to dig deeper into the processes involved. Perhaps there's been enough research to provide some suggestions.

While the article didn't necessarily directly address it I was thinking to my military training when I read your post. We trained in what was called an immediate action drill. The point of the IAD was when you are traveling along a road or walking down a trail and are ambushed you immediately react. Whether to attack the ambush or to lay down suppressive fire so you can withdraw etc. You trained it so much that you oriented to the ambush as you dropped to the ground or sought cover without thinking. That is a simple reaction though, from a mechanical stand point. That's why I was wondering if the issue is that cognitive tunneling is on a curve of sorts. Simple choices/reactions not a big deal with enough training but the more possible actions and the more complex the action the tunneling effect becomes more pronounced?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

While the article didn't necessarily directly address it I was thinking to my military training when I read your post. We trained in what was called an immediate action drill. The point of the IAD was when you are traveling along a road or walking down a trail and are ambushed you immediately react. Whether to attack the ambush or to lay down suppressive fire so you can withdraw etc. You trained it so much that you oriented to the ambush as you dropped to the ground or sought cover without thinking. That is a simple reaction though, from a mechanical stand point. That's why I was wondering if the issue is that cognitive tunneling is on a curve of sorts. Simple choices/reactions not a big deal with enough training but the more possible actions and the more complex the action the tunneling effect becomes more pronounced?

That seems plausible. You'd think that the simpler the environment and/or choices, the less important a wide focus would be. I think (as someone implied in an early post) that the sheer amount of information (stimuli) available likely has an impact on the likelihood of CT occurring. I'll have to look at the psychological research and see if anything shows up.

 

[drop bear]

I've suspected for a while that learning to listen to your coach and follow instructions while in a match can have some useful carryover to a street situation. It's pretty common for fighters to develop such tunnel vision in the heat of a match that they either don't hear anything their coach is yelling at them or else don't really register what is being said as something they should react to.

My theory is that if you develop the habit of keeping your ears open so you can hear your coach say "watch out, he's setting up for a double leg", you're more likely in a street fight to hear someone yell "watch out, he's got a knife!" I don't have any empirical evidence for this, but it seems likely.


I'm thinking of adding some little occasional game changers when my students are sparring - tossing a training knife out on the mat (or having one student start out with the knife concealed in their gi), having "reinforcements" arrive to help out one sparring partner, etc so that the students have to maintain the mental flexibility to switch gears on a moments notice.

You have to know where you are when you fight and how much time you have left. Which is also pretty abstract.

Especially if you are sparring in a room full of people

I know guys who will listen to the enemy coach. And counter their opponent that way.

Otherwise we call out a number and see if they can remember it.