Zone

[timmyy]

Martial Arts, Hypnosis, and Rapid Learning A Perfect Match




By Dr. Will Horton​

The rest of the article may be read here.

Looks like an interesting and useful method. Has anybody been in this so called zone before and how was it? What method do you use for getting (and staying) into the zone?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

We practice a very similar breathing exercise in our dojo from time to time, breathing from the hara and concentrating on the tanden. We practice from a sitting position and use a similar visualization technique.

I cannot say I have yet entered the zone described. I can say that I have learned to relax in my stance and my sparring has improved because of it. The more I relax into my stance and just let it flow, the better I am able to move and respond. Lightning fast? Not by a long shot. But I'm better than I was, I think.

I suspect a lot of people don't get the kind of training I am fortunate to have given to me.

 

[rainesr]

I though this was fairly common among athletes.

I first experienced it in baseball and basketball in high school then college, it mostly happened when I pitched. Other than that it happens in about 25% of my sparring sessions. On the occasions it happened/happens, regardless of the activity, I perform(ed) much better than normal. Unfortunately it is not a state I can consciously induce.


~Rob

 

[Chris Parker]

For someone with the credentials of Dr Horton, that was a terribly flawed article. He showed a lack of understanding of a number of aspects, got a number of definitions wrong, made false assumptions, which lead to inaccurate conclusions and associations, gave very specific definitions where they don't exist, and more. Honestly, I wouldn't pay it too much attention, as it seems the good Dr missed a lot of what he was examining in an attempt to create an image that fits his idea.

I've been dealing with NLP and using it to examine martial training for about 15 years now, I use it (and primarily Eriksonian-based hypnotherapy) in each and every class I teach, I have learnt and discussed with practitioners from a range of backgrounds, and the approach that Dr Horton is using here is specific to his understanding and experience... which actually goes against the way that both hypnotherapy and NLP are structured, especially when he gets such things as the purpose of kata wrong, as well as making some very dangerous comments about the reality of handling a real assault. Yes, mindset is a huge part of martial art training (without it, you're just doing "martial calisthenics", as I've heard more than a few people state), but this take on "the ZONE" that he's discussing is his personal view/experience, and is far from universal, or even ideal. He really has missed the point of a fair bit of this.

 

[timmyy]

Chris, so how exactly is being in the zone then? Does your reflexes, speed etc. improve? And finally how to get into this zone if not with "mr.horton's technique"? Also if any of you have any books to suggest on this topic that would be nice too (you don't get much on google about this)

Like I said it seems pretty powerful technique so I'd like to learn more about it.

 

[Chris Parker]

Well, the first thing to realize is that "the zone" is a personal thing. The description that Horton gives in his opening paragraph is not a universal experience for those who get in "the zone". The comments about posture, time distortion, a "blur of action" etc are not really anything to do with it at all. Additionally the description shows a lack of understanding of the real effects of adrenaline and the realities of martial application outside of (what seems like) a low adrenaline demonstration.

What "the zone" is, really, is just a time/moment when everything just seems to work... and the aspects that Horton discusses might be there, but they just as easily might not be. They aren't required at all. It should also be noted that everything just seeming to work will mean a different thing to each person, depending on the person themselves, and the context and teachings of their art. And Horton pretty much immediately breaks the rules of NLP and hypnotherapy by not gaining rapport and insisting on certain elements that can (and, in my case, do) jar with an understood and internally verifiable reality. In other words, he described something in such a way that I knew it didn't match my experience, causing me to resist the imagery due to his not having laid enough work for me to follow him concept. From a Master-Trainer in NLP, that's pretty sloppy work. He further knocks me out of rapport by mis-spelling words like tanden (using the Chinese form tan dien, which he still mis-spells), misusing the term "zen" (it simply means "meditation", not "being in the moment" or any part of the imagery he suggests). There are other things, such as his insistence that NLP is "Neuro-Linguistic Psychology", as only Horton seems to use that definition... it's usually Neuro-Linguistic Programming, as it's an application of psychology, in a number of ways, but it's not psychology itself.

What it really seems that Horton is trying to describe (badly, to be frank), is a state referred to as Mushin. This mind state is one of calm centeredness, but not necessarily showing any of the other attributes that Horton describes. In fact, some of the attributes he describes would be considered dangerous in such an application, such as the lack of startle reflex (you really want that to remain so you can react defensively). Additionally, his insistence that this is the same as a hypnotic trance is rather flawed as well, as there's no such thing as a single type of response someone presents in trance. Everyone is different... but the key is that the individual in trance is different from them out of trance. So if someone is calm, breathing deeply to the diaphragm in a 'normal' state, then a trance state it might be shallow breathing. There really isn't anything as cut and dried as he puts it here. But back to Mushin.

Mushin literally means "no mind", and refers to an absence of emotional extremes and conscious mind chatter. Many of the breathing exercises mentioned, as well as a number of other exercises, are designed to bring this mindset to the fore. The aim of Mushin is that you don't act, or react, out of an emotional stress, either by moving too aggressively through anger, or freezing with fear, and so on. It also removes the conscious mind from the decision making process, as it is just too slow to handle a sudden assault.

When it comes to Horton's exercise, honestly, it's not that good. For one thing, it fails to actually address the true desired result, as it's focused on secondary (and unessential) aspects of what he is interpreting his "zone" to be, such as the time distortion. I personally think this is because he simply doesn't know, or understand Mushin, and is trying to come up with a way of classifying it... not uncommon for NLP practitioners, really. But he missed the mark on this one. To be frank, time distortion is common in trance states (but not in a defined, constant way... I took a group through a half-hour induction at one point, some thought it took an hour, some thought it was 15 or 20 minutes, one thought it was 5 minutes. The time distortion can really go either way), but it's actually a different phenomena in Mushin. It's not time distortion, it's simply that you're not wasting time using the conscious mind to react.

So how do you improve your ability to gain Mushin? Honestly, the answer is simple: practice. There are a range of methods that can be used, most Japanese arts will have something for it (although I've noticed the instructors might not really recognize what it is, thinking it's just a breathing exercise or similar, but it'll be there), but a good simple one is to just allow yourself to get emotional (use any visualization you want, remember any event that generates an emotional response in yourself, whether anger, sadness, fear, anything, really), then take a deep breath in, and as you breath out, suppress your emotion. Repeat ad infinitum.

In terms of books, don't worry about NLP. It can be useful, but is not essential. The more essential thing is to practice controlling your emotions, it really can come down to willpower in that way. I wouldn't recommend following Horton's suggestions here, as in a number of ways it takes you in the wrong direction. I'd recommend anything that gets you a clearer view of the psychology and effects of adrenaline, such as "Sharpening The Warriors Edge", "The Gift of Fear", "On Combat", and so on.

Just quickly, though, when you talk about Horton's technique being "pretty powerful", are you referring to his method of getting into his "zone", or are you referring to his "zone" itself? If the former, it's flawed to begin with due to his "zone" being flawed, and if the second, well, I'd suggest no as well.

 

[seasoned]

How about your in a state of mind where everything is right. things click, and everything comes together. Never was explained to me how to get there, but, when you are there you will know it. How do you explain a feeling??