“The most basic way to get someone’s attention is this: Break a pattern.”
Chip and Dan Heath
Theories – also called models – are beautiful scientific concepts. Based on scientific evidence and its interpretation they provide frameworks to understand a snippet of the world1. And they are not about right or wrong, they are about usefulness. A good model is a useful model.
There is much that we do not know yet about our brains. Thus, there is no unifying theory of our mind. Depending on the scale that we apply many different theories can be useful, ranging from high-level psychological models down to a model of cell function. For example, a very simple model of how neurons – our brain cells – work was developed already in the 30s of the last century by McCulloch and Pitts. And this model is at the basis of the current artificial intelligence (AI) breakthroughs leading to a new industrial revolution2. Simple and useful.
Another simple and useful way is to see the brain as a master of patterns. The underlying model is called “Pattern activation/recognition theory of mind”. It was introduced by one of the pioneers of AI, Ray Kurzweil, in his book “How to create a mind”3 and was extended in 2015 by Bertrand Du Castel4. In my opinion, this theory is a highly underrated work of Kurzweil whose reputation has suffered due to his pompous nature and his focus on the singularity and transhumanism5. In “How to create a mind”, Kurzweil provides the theory of how perception as a higher brain function is organized in hierarchical pattern recognition units. Taking reading as an example, lower level units would recognize single letters and higher level units would recognize words. Even higher level units would provide predictions about which words are likely to follow given the previous sequence of words. And the highest level would allow understanding of context and topics. While Kurzweil talks only about perception in his book, Du Castel extends Kurzweil´´ s model by adding a mathematical framework that can also model motoric function. Hence the name “Pattern activation/recognition theory of mind” (PARTM). Du Castel´s framework can model sensory stimuli, i.e. perception, as well as motor function, i.e. movement.
What is the neuroscientific evidence supporting PARTM? I will not go into full detail since this the answer alone could fill a book, I will only touch upon the evidence briefly. To execute higher brain function, we need certain parts of the brain to work together. One is the neocortex, which is the typical gyrated surface of the brain that is well known from most depictions of the brain. Other necessary areas are the less well-known deep nuclei of the brain, accumulations of brain cells deep in the brain. Elegant studies in monkeys have taught us that specialized areas of the neocortex are connected with specialized (parts of) deep nuclei of the brain in loops6. Importantly, the neuroanatomical structure of these loops is not different for different brain areas! Thus, the sensory functions of the brain are neuroanatomically organized the same way as motoric functions and the same way as memory or social functions. Additionally, the neocortex is organized in a similar laminar and columnar way throughout the neocortex7. Also, when the primary motor cortex is artificially activated we see single movements of muscles. When the supplementary motor cortex or pre-motor cortex are activated, we see sequences of movements. For visual perception, the hierarchical nature of how visual information is deconstructed and analyzed in increasing complexity in a sequence of neocortical areas is well established. Lastly, we know the phenomenon of ‘plasticity’. If brain damage occurs early in life, areas of the brain usually specialized on a certain task can easily take over the function of other areas. In the extreme, we know cases where children have had one brain hemisphere surgically removed and could not be distinguished in a later age from their peers.
Given these neuroanatomical similarities, it is likely that we are dealing with a general principle, where hierarchical units perceive and execute patterns of increasing complexity for every function and task. And thus we are highly sensitive to patterns: We are startled by bad grammar, perplexed by unusual movement, intrigued by unexpected social behavior, and we are entertained by the unexpected pun. Break the pattern, get attention!
Let´ s not forget, however, that no model of the brain is unifying. PARTM is a limited model as well, with gaps and uncertainties, that cannot explain brain function fully. But let´ s also not forget that every model should be judged according to its usefulness. And while PARTM has certainly been an inspiration for the development of AI8, I will in the following explore the usefulness of PARTM in an area where it has to my knowledge not been done so far, namely for Martial Arts.
“The highest art is no art, the highest form is no form.”
Bruce Lee
Movement patterns are unarguably a key concept in Martial Arts (MA). This goes so far that MA styles are easily recognizable by their specific movement patterns. Be it Western boxing, Japanese Karate, Chinese Gung Fu or Indonesian Silat, each style has unique movements immediately betraying their rich heritage. Learning the appropriate movement patterns, also called forms, is central to teaching a beginner in any Martial Art. Be it in a more liberal way as in Western Martial Arts or in the stricter way of Eastern Martial Arts, where long patterns of movements are trained for many, many hours, the concept is the same: Learn on a low level the basic movements. Stitch them together on the next level into (pre-defined) patterns. And finally, apply these patterns in a free fight against the patterns of your opponent. As we can see, we are dealing here with a hierarchical activation pattern as described in the PARTM model.
However, if we take into account the final goal of a free fight, we can deduce more interesting information applying PARTM. In a real free fight, the goal of both fighters is to inflict damage to the opponent. It is important to note that to achieve this goal both fighters need to a) execute patterns to inflict damage and b) perceive the pattern of the opponent to avoid damage. Not surprisingly, free fight or sparring is another important training tool, where martial artists learn to apply their learned patterns while trying to avoid the opponent´ s patterns. Here, PARTM suggests that a very important tool for winning a fight could be breaking the pattern. Being aware what the expectations of the opponent might be given a started sequence of movements, the fighter actively chooses to break the pattern. This can be performed either by breaking it in the temporal dimension, i.e. performing the next movement in the pattern faster or slower than expected. It can also be done in the movement dimension, where an unexpected movement is chosen or omitted – as in a feint -, startling the opponent for a fraction of time. Both strategies will most likely be familiar to many martial artists.
This also implies that the fighter familiar with a larger variety of patterns will prevail over the fighter with less knowledge of patterns. Here, I don´ t necessarily mean the number of techniques, but rather the principle ways and angles of attacking and combining movements. The more experienced fighter has seen more patterns and tried more patterns themselves. This argues heavily in favor of sparring-training and cross-training, i.e. the training of several different Martial Arts, especially those with different primary foci such as ground fighting, throws or striking.
Lastly, when exploring MA from the pattern perspective, we can shed light on something that I like to call the “Novice-Master-Paradoxon”. Many martial artists have experienced that the two types of people hardest to fight against are complete beginners and the accomplished masters. The complete beginner does not know anything about the best ways to move to inflict damage, thus they will use completely unexpected movements, at inadequate speed. It is sometimes impossible to predict these patterns, making fighting a novice at times harder than an advanced beginner9. The masters, on the other hand, have practiced fighting so much that they can actively detach themselves from the formality of the learned patterns. Bruce Lee famously said: “The highest art is no art, the highest form is no form”. I believe that he was referring to a state, where a fighter can fully read their opponent’s pattern, while their own pattern is impossible for the opponent to decode. An example of this is the fight of Forrest Griffin against Anderson Silva10. Forrest Griffin was a highly trained and accomplished Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter. However, his opponent on that day, Anderson Silva, is arguably one of the best fighters known in history and he was at his prime. During the fight seemingly Silva predicted every move of Griffin and almost all of his own attacks hit the mark utterly humiliating Griffin in the fight.
The neuroscientific PARTM model corroborates empirical principles from Martial Arts: The need for a formal syllabus of forms, the necessity for sparring training, the focus on breaking the pattern and the goal to detach from the pattern in the final step. Since movement and perception are heavily researched in neuroscience, potentially more theories from neuroscience can be applied to the benefit of Martial Arts in the future.
- No, that´´´ s a hypothesis what you are thinking about
- The story of Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts is highly interesting and profoundly sad
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Create_a_Mind
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncom.2015.00090/full
- Or maybe it was because of the wig that he started wearing recently. A very badly made one even. Kurzweil´´ s ability to predict future technological breakthroughs accurately is not be taken lightly, though
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891061803001078
- https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncir.2017.00081/full
- https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3296457
- Or showing them techniques in a demo-lesson
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3niYwKbrjqk
