what is black dot focus? what is it not?

[Touch Of Death]

Sean:

By NIN, do you mean the music group Nine Inch Nails?

Also, I was daydreaming about work while driving in my car and rear-ended someone. Would you say that this was insufficient Black Dot focus, or was my Black Dot simply too full of all the other stuff I had to do at work that day?

I would call it a misguided BDF. It's autopilot. Some peoples auto pilot is better than others. The idea is to be aware and to take advantage of that awareness. You focussed a little to heavily on that daydream and payed the price. Like I said you don't learn anything in BDF unless you get tagged. "Tagged" in this case is smacking the back of a cop car.(one last edit) I think awareness is what distinguishes the term auto pilot from BDF.
Sean

 

[kenpo_cory]

Sean:

By NIN, do you mean the music group Nine Inch Nails?

Also, I was daydreaming about work while driving in my car and rear-ended someone. Would you say that this was insufficient Black Dot focus, or was my Black Dot simply too full of all the other stuff I had to do at work that day?

Maybe you should’ve been day dreaming about the dot. :lol:

 

[dcence]

I actually thought it was simpler than all this--"white dot," focus, you only see the center and nothing around that center, "black dot," focus, you don't see the center, and you only see everything around it.

And I consider myself uniquely qualified to say this, because I screwed the whole thing up (got it backwards) while I was teaching a group class, with the Tatums watching, of course. Sweet.

Don't feel bad, I regularly have to take a second and remind myself what represents what.

To me the value in have these terms is that it encompasses a greater subject. It is like using an abbreviation or acronym for a larger concept. I can say "use white dot focus" and thousands of Kenpoists will instantly understand what I am talking about, instead of me having to say, "Now is the time to focus your attention down to a very limited scope like a rifle. Do not get distracted by anything in your periphery, etc. etc." Economy of communication so to speak.

The value in a term is to be able to communicate a larger idea quickly, assuming there are others that understand what the term encompasses, which there are.

Derek

 

[Goldendragon7]

"white dot focus", you concentrate mainly on the center and little around that center,

"black dot focus", you see the center, but you also see everything around it.



To me the value in have these terms is that it encompasses a greater subject. You can say "use white dot focus" and thousands of Kenpoists will instantly understand what you are talking about. Economy of communication so to speak.

Yes, this is just another of the "Kenpo Tools" that is available to use when necessary.
:asian:

 

[kenpoworks]

"JARGON" there seems to be alot of it flying around here.BD is a good training tool, a simple switch on fast mechanism, something to trigger you into a state of total awareness and readyness.banging away on a keyboard is a good example of WD.

Sean: I understand the basics of the concept. My skepticism is really about the value add of the vocabulary surrounding the concept. Most Kenpo vocabulary adds value by providing a better way to understand and apply Kenpo concepts. I believe that the vocabulary of Black Dot/White Dot adds no value.

For instance, using your example...you are able to use proper foot position because you practiced it and committed the proper position to muscle memory--not because you applied Black Dot / White Dot concept to your training or chose to apply it in a street situation.

When the vocabulary around the concept adds no value, it simply becomes jargon -- or "mumbo jumbo"