maybe starting off with interactive 2-person focus pad drills. also, sensitivity drills which build reflexes based on tactile sensing instead of visual.
- side note -
an interesting thing about the two reflexes (visual and tactile), are the differences in reaction times. because visual information goes through alot more processing, there is a slower reaction time to visual stimuli. while auditory reaction is somewhere in the middle. also, tactile response time is based upon what part of the body transmits a message. In one of these papers it describes the concept of a 'reflex arc', which is interesting.
some reaction time papers...
visual vs. auditory:http://biae.clemson.edu/bpc/bp/Lab/110/reaction.htm
etc...there are lots of interesting papers written on this since it's connected to ergonomics in general, handicap devices, sport performance, gaming, simulation, human-machine control interfacing...you name it. big interesting field. (btw, if someone is looking for a hot and well-funded field for a graduate/research major, this is definitely one hot area to look at).
- end side note -
coordination as well. reflex without coordination is just a panic reaction. anyone can throw their hands up when attacked. training to coordinate a deliberate reflexive response is what it's all about.
another point which seems to come up is the reaction time differences between visual stimulus and 'recognition'. in brief, the research seems to show what we hear people say all the time, yet few heed it: recognizing something takes a LOT longer than just seeing something. how I think this translates to MA study is if we train indefinitely with fixed pattern attack and defend type drills, after a while, our brain learns to look for patterns while being attacked, then the brain selects the best response. way too slow of a process. The goal should be just seeing something coming at you and let your trained reflexive response do the job without fullfilling any pattern. "no mind".