The Number 3: Numerology Anyone

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In my articles, postings but I like the term article more, I write about all sorts of things from my personal theories, to the physical aspects through principles, sometimes techniques as they apply to methodologies and force levels as well as philosophy, etc. Directly related to karate, the Asian connection if you will, I have noticed a lot of groupings in, “Three’s.” 

• Shin-gi-tai (Shin; Gi: Tai).
• Shu-ha-ri (Shu; Ha; Ri).
• Shoshin, Zanshin, Mushin.
• Awareness, Intention and Intent.
• Kihon, Kata, Kumite.
• Heaven, Earth, Humanity.
• Body, Mind, Spirit.
• Serenity, Tranquility, Humility.
• Kata in sections of three. 
• Morality, Civility, Honor.
• Humanity, Justice, Courtesy.
• Intent, Restraint, Action. 

and so on where the stages of karate and martial disciplines seem to be governed by numerology, particularly the number three, along with other ancient cultural beliefs directly implemented from their society into the study, practice and application of martial disciplines. 

Consider this, in the sciences of modern times mathematics are involved in explaining everything in nature and the universe. The code of the Internet is made up of 1’s and 0’s. Since it is often associated with astrology and horoscopes along with ancient studies of the I Ching that utilizes numbers within the selection by throwing a certain number of yarrow sticks or … wait for it, “Three coins.” Look at how we naturally use numbers to list items, to create bulleted items of knowledge that would trigger in-depth thinking, understanding and define those into greater detail. The list is endless and it associates numbers with everything. 

Note: obvious traits of the 3 are in the creative field. A powerful need to express feelings, ideas and visions of the imagination; For the 3 to become a well-rounded, balanced and happy person, it must learn discipline; Another unique quality of the 3 is its tendency to be "lucky," or rather, to be in the right place at the right time. This may be connected to its innate sense of rhythm; timing can be measured in seconds or in years, by the beating of a heart or by the movement of the stars. It is all only a matter of scale, either way, the 3 seems to be in tune with the cyclical nature of our surroundings; etc.!

Chinese Culture: The number 3 (三, Pinyin: sān, jyutping: saam1) sounds similar to the character for "birth" (生, Pinyin: shēng, jyutping: saang1), and is considered a lucky number.[citation needed] The number 3 is significant since there are three important stages in a man’s life (birth, marriage and death).

Universally: The universal meaning of three probably relates to man, woman and child—the fulfillment of birth and productivity. As a symbol of fulfillment, three often occurs in fairy tales as the number of tests to be passed or riddles to be solved; Three is a sacred number in most religions. The Ancient Egyptians had a powerful trinity of gods as did the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Hindus worship a trinity known as the Trimurti ("three forms"). Christians believe in a Holy Trinity. In Islam three symbolizes the human soul. To Pythagoras three symbolized perfect harmony, being the sum of unity (one) and diversity (two).

Japanese Culture: there are also numbers that are considered unlucky in Japan. The number four is considered to be unlucky because the word for four is shi (四/し) closely resembles the word for death shi (死/し). Likewise, the word for nine ku (九/く) sounds similar to the word for pain and suffering ku (苦/く). This is why gifts should never be presented in fours, but rather in sets of three or five; To prevent three years of misfortune, those entering their unlucky years will get purified at a temple or shrine; Japan also has special numbers which stand for good luck and bad luck. Lucky Number…8 (Hachi) and 7(Nana) “8” is written as “八” in Kanji. 八 is considered “末広がり(Suehirogari)” from its shape which widens toward the end. Suehirogari is to become more and more prosperous as time goes. Lucky “7” comes from Western culture, and Japanese also likes to choose 7 in any occasion. Unlucky Number…4(yon/shi), 9 (kyu, ku) “4” is pronounced “yon” or “shi” which is used differently depending on things. Especially, the sound “Shi” has the same pronunciation with “死” which means die, so people are in the habit of not using “4” in hospitals and congratulations occasions. “9” is pronounced “kyu” or “ku” which is used differently depending on things. The sound “ku” has the same pronunciation with “苦” which means pain or suffering. So, “49 (yonjûkyu/shijûku)” is a super unlucky number because it means “die with pain”; 3 Treasures – truth/courage/compassion, also the three jewels; From the Buddhist tradition, comes “The Triple Gem” or “The Three Jewels [The Mirror – symbol of truth and wisdom; The Jewel symbol of compassion; The Sword – symbol of strength and courage],” which is the Buddha (the enlightened one), the Dhamma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the community of followers).

More: Body/mind/spirit, which encompasses the physical, mental, and spiritual makeup of a human being; there are 3 primary colors with which it is possible to obtain all the colors; three types of universe: matter, astral (mental or soul) and spirit; three phases of the moon; past/present/future; Taoist:  Great Triad:  Heaven/Human/Earth.

Science: Three dimensions; We see the number three in many important, fundamental places on the subatomic level and on the cosmic level; there are three main types of stable particles: the proton, the neutron, and the electron. These are the three building blocks of atoms. All solid matter consists of atoms built entirely from these three particles; How many quarks are there in a proton? Exactly three. How many quarks are there in a neutron? Exactly three; there are three dimensions of space: height, width, and depth. There are three main types of matter: gaseous, liquid, and solid. There are three main types of massive objects: planets, stars, and galaxies; there are also three types of natural laws: the laws of physics, the laws of chemistry, and the laws of biology; the number 1836 has in its digits exactly three multiples of the number three: 18, 3, and 6. In fact, when we look at this ratio to seven decimal places, we find that it has six consecutive multiples of the number three; etc.

Ken-po Goku-i: Human (Person), Heaven and Earth; Sun, Moon and blood; Hard, soft, spit; advance, engage and disengage; Body, time and change; Hand, empty, void; Eyes, see, perception; Ears, ability and perceptions. balance, unbalance and gravity.

Read also: “The Line of Three.”

Read also: “Phases of Self-Defense Conditioning: Phase One “Knowledge (mental)”; Phase Two “The Physical”; Phase Three “RBC (Reality Based Conditioning”

Read also: “Kata in Three’s”

Read also: “The Three Exercises”

Read also: “Awareness + Retention + Intent”

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

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F-I-T-N-E-S-S

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When I say this word, use this term, humans will have triggered an automatic extraction of internal information about exercising to achieve a physical fit body, a body fit, healthy and strong to apply karate and martial disciplines. But, is this the end explanation of fitness? Not exactly for we have two other fitness explanations that seem to fit, the first is a mental fitness of maturity, morality, attitude, knowledge, understanding and the innate ability to apply these in the words and actions often rendered in self-defense through karate, martial disciplines and the self-defense principle. The second comes from the very essence of human existence, survival of the species and our fitness is about those evolutionary enhancements of our abilities and senses that over eons resulted in our present state of evolutionary survival of the fittest state of being. 

It is about natural selection, the survival of the “fittest” and how that translates to those traits, etc., that say, “This person survived so they procreate and pass on those abilities and traits to the offspring” cycles of evolution and experiences, etc.

For example, one theorist provided this concept after extensive research, i.e., “Perceptions and internal-information-bearing (knowledge, experience, and understanding, etc.) structures are useful for F-I-T-N-E-S-S-preserving or enhancing behavior because there is some mutual information between the predicted utility of a behavior (like escaping) and it actual utility.” - Hoffman and Prakash

Without this and other processes of and for natural selection we then have to comparative external and internal data that will increase mutual information thus F-I-T-N-E-S-S is low and stays that way where those who are not fit find themselves not surviving and not procreating.  

I look at one fitness principle as example, i.e., “Perspective,” for perspective in our sensory detection driven my the past and present knowledge and understanding of our minds can determine and influence how we perceive therefor how we make distinctions in relation to how we see. Once many centuries ago all our species observed and believed the world flat but through the sciences and individuals there came a shift, call it a paradigm shift if you wish, that allowed a different perspective demonstrating that the world was not flat but round (actually egg shaped but that came later in more modern times and sciences). 

Our natural-selective processes are about perceptions and how they, along with the internal, tell us about reality where in one view reality may be a flat 2D model or where by a simple shift of perspective turns a 2D into a 3D sphere. 

In the karate and martial discipline communities it is all about how each practitioner perceives what they are exposed to in the dojo and how they distinguish that expertise when synthesizing it to fit themselves as individuals. It is best to remember that one who distinguishes the system one way one day because of open-minded studies will often find a shift from that perspective to another entirely different and new perspective.

All of this comes from the very essence of the human species, survival through natural selection by external/internal perceptions and distinctions that allow for the F-I-T-N-E-S-S of the species, not necessarily a perceive reality but a more realistic objective properties of our external world for species survival.   

Once again, we make assumptions in regard to our perceptions when in fact that reality differs from true objective realistic properties of the world, in critical survival respects, differs from our perceptions. There is a proven mismatch between our perceptions and certain aspects of reality. 

Bibliography (Click the link)

D. Hoffman, C. Prakash. Objects of consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology, 2014.

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Profiling - It’s a Tool 2 and Other Stuff: A preponderance of evidence

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In our efforts to make use of principles like profiling as a human survival tool we have to remember that the quality or fact of being greater in number, quantity, or importance drives the end results of using such a tool. The whole of the evidence used to determine if the profiling used is accurate, factual as humanly possible and of a moral certainty making the results irrefutable becomes critical. 

This process, much like the use of preponderance of evidence in the legal system, is how we give greater weight to perceive and distinguish its results as they would effect any actions we might take. The scales must be tilted far enough to favor one side or the other and if the scales remain in a balanced state then more information or facts or data must be found and weighed to cause the scales to tilt appropriately one way or the other. 

In order for preponderance of evidence to work in profiling we have to have the knowledge, understanding, training and experiences necessary to convince the user of its probable truth and/or accuracy, and not just on the “amount of evidence.”

In something like profiling, it is best that evidence collectively reaches a higher percentage, say 75%, over any one piece of evidence or those traits used to determine if the profiling meets reality as best as humanly possible, not the slightly over 50% used in civil suits, etc.

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Bullet Points

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Human survival depends on taking the complex and making simplistic points for speed in the OODA process.

Like technology, a complex code that handles all the underlying complexities that allow us to make use of it through icons and clicking of a mouse - like bullet points of a computer.

It reminds me of the tapes we develop from experiences that are triggered by specific single stimuli that result in the "click - whirr" of mechanical automated conditioned responses for our species survival. Those who get it right more often than wrong end up procreating thereby causing the evolutionary process and so on.

In order to survive there has to be speed through short cuts and those short cuts are our survival tapes triggered with the least amount of thinking.

Experiencing, learning, analysis, understanding and synthesis result in learning, training, practice and experience encoded into sub-routines, tapes, for conflict and survival of especially violence.

• Bullet points.
• Single simple triggers.
• Click appropriate complex auto-conditioned appropriate responses.
• Shortening the OODA process.
• Faster D&A's.
• Success in goals.
• Equals survival!

Where bullet points become most effective is when they are first created from a backup of vast knowledge and understanding because all the bullet points on that slide mean nothing unless this is so. Look at bullet points as similar to “Meme’s and Quotes” that are inspiring but empty unless one is able to see, hear and feel something that lies behind its facade for such things require one to have studied or is willing to study the bullet point, the meme and the quotation. Not for accuracy or some singular definitive answer but an answer that the individual sees and feels are relevant to the study - at that moment in time. 

Liken this bullet point mindless meandering consideration to actual short terse writings such as found in the I Ching, The Tao Te Ching, Meme’s/Quotations and blog postings. They all have something behind why they were written along with questions, comments and discoveries that the reader must seek out. It is about remembering that there are not right or wrong answers or beliefs in those things but questions that drive us to finding answers to and for ourselves. It is like the study of the Ken-po Goku-i/Goku-i, it is not the most obvious or obviously taught interpretations of one Sensei but rather something unique to the individual who studies such terse tomes of wisdom, call it the goku-i-of-individualism in the Way (Goku-i-Do, the way of gokui defining that term from an individual perceptive distinction, etc.)!

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Facts on Humans

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Learning is a critically important survival tool of our species and to express the limitations on the process the following quotes are provided. If nothing else, it should get us thinking about how we study, learn and, as Sensei, teach our disciplines - how we mentor those who follow our lead. In my past articles you may remember my inferences toward the natural evolutionary process where in takes lifetimes, even hundreds to thousands of years for influences to make changes in our DNA, our very genes, as to evolution. The following quotes also speak to this perception with some variances toward the years vs. decades vs. Millennia  necessary for our species to adapt. 

My thoughts are that along with a plethora of other factors these must be takin into consideration when teaching especially if you want to encode and make use of that teaching. 

“Natural selection sculpts human thought across generations and at geologic time scales. Fitness is its tool, and human nature, our shared endowment as members of a species, is among its key effects. Although the thought life of each person is unique, one can discern patterns of thought that transcend racial, cultural and occupational differences; similarly, although the face of each person is unique, one can discern patterns of physiognomy — two eyes above a nose above a mouth — that transcend individual differences.”

“Natural selection acts over generations; Over time, as the Internet rewards certain cognitive skills and ignores or discourages others, it could profoundly alter even the basic patterns of thought that we share as a species. The catch, however, is ‘over time’.”

“Learning sculpts human thought across the lifetime of an individual. Experience is its tool, and unique patterns of cognition, emotion and physiology are its key effects.” 

“There are, of course, endogenous limits to what can be learned, and these limits are largely a consequence of mutation and natural selection.”

“Within the endogenous limits of learning set by one's genetic inheritance, exposure to the Internet can alter how one thinks no less than can exposure to language, literature or mathematics. But the endogenous limits are critical. Multi-tasking, for instance, might be a useful skill for exploiting in parallel the varied resources of the Internet, but genuine multi-tasking, at present, probably exceeds the limitations of the attentional system of Homo sapiens.”

“Epigenetic’s sculpt’s human thought within a lifetime and across a few generations. Experience and environment are its guides and shifts in gene expression that trigger shifts in cognition, emotion and physiology are its relevant effects. … a mother's anxiety can change the expression of the NR3C1 gene in her child, leading to the child's increased reactivity to stress. Childhood abuse can similarly lead to persistent feelings of anxiety and acute stress in a child, fundamentally altering its thought life.”

Bibliography (Click the link)

Hoffman, Donald D. “The Sculpting of Human Thought.” In How has the internet changed the way you think?  (John Brockman, Ed) New York: Harper Perennial, 2011, 90–92.

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Sometimes, Perception is not what you think …

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“Sometimes, my unconscious mind runs ahead of my conscious mind (why, because our logical brain has to think while our lizard like brain just acts; it is similar to peripheral vision, it is just faster than direct vision; peripheral vision is run by the lizard and the direct vision is run by our thinking logic oriented brain). I try hard to heed  those unconscious processes that give me answers (I allow my instincts and primal conditioned response to lead, just in case). I think back over my life and see other times when I said things or did things that were not really justified by my conscious analysis (driving along a road with lots of side streets controlled by stop signs; my spidey sense said to stop; I stopped; I hear a roar and then witnessed a truck speeding that ran the stop sign, came off the ground and fly by in front of my about ten feet. If I had not stopped, it would have crashed into me and dead is what I would be). I call my unconscious mind when it takes the lead, my ‘Spidey Sense’!” - unknown/cejames (part unknown, part me)

This is all about education, understanding and an ability to apply both to life. You are exposed to social environmental stimuli that your brain takes in, interprets and then encodes labeling them as, “Life Coping Skills.” A lot of the how, why and when of those skills come with triggers that are, more often than not, set unconsciously including both instinctual triggers that set off things like “Freeze, Flight or Fight” responses or “Primal Conditioned Response” that are trained into responses that are triggered for those skill sets. 

The glitch here, especially in self-defense, is we fail to adopt and utilize the OODA processes, i.e., analysis and synthesis of said stimuli from others, experiences, academic efforts, and self to remain open-minded and allow the flow of change even when your mind resists because of culture and cultural belief systems influence that monkey dancing around the logical side of you. 

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Blades of Grass

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You will all remember about the hammer that pounds down the nail and its meaning but I have a new one I found that is kind of cool. It is, “Snick off the heads of any blades of grass that rise higher than the rest of the lawn.” - unknown

I am not sure that this saying, meme or quote, is actually a good one or beneficial in learning, accumulating knowledge, analyzing and synthesizing as well as doing things because it means one must remain a part of the group and not rock the boat. In reality,  there are times you don’t want your head higher than that of others especially in your own tribe but then again there are times when you want to learn, understand and be enlightened. 

Here is the way I see, perceive, it, you raise your head up higher through the support of those around you, make it their effort that puts your blade of grass higher that the lawn, the people who are supporting you. Part of it is how that type of action benefits you, them and the tribe and if it creates a tribal blade of grass that would stand taller than other tribes - well - you know what that means now, right?

Here once again we have survival, all kinds, including the mundane, the minimalistic and the great. There is a balance her and using such compliance principles are but one way to achieve this goal.

When the lawn mower is heard powering up and the blade spinning around whistling the air in preparation to cut the lawn is when you hold back, reconsider and then analyze and synthesize a more apropos way of mutual beneficial tribal connected ways of rising higher on their support to reside on their shoulders. This is how leadership is found, implemented and respected in the tribe. 

Maybe the hammer and nail along with the blade, the lawn and the mower there is more than the snippet of meme-like rendering that would put this increased meaning and understanding into proper perspective. Hmmmm … a metaphor?

Too avoid being cut off at the neck one must apply their skills in a way that the other blades of grass don’t consider the actions detrimental to them or the tribe, the lawn. 

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Fear of being Wrong

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Systemic to many things but from my personal perspective and perception it is really up there in the karate and martial arts disciplines. Once a person don’s a black belt and/or takes on the title of “Sensei” they seem to feel strongly, believe wholeheartedly and apply vigorously the concept and trait that they are not wrong, never wrong and will not change even when proven wrong - is there something wrong with this?

If you feel like you can’t allow yourself to be wrong, especially in front of the dojo and the practitioners who are following your lead then I suggest that you are suffering from the principle of human’s fear of being wrong. We seem to think and feel that to admit we are wrong or that we don’t know something as bad and I suggest that deep down in our lizard brain that it smacks of perception of death or grave harm therefore triggering our monkey brains into believing, avoiding and acting as if we could not possibly be wrong, i.e., “We are black belts, we are Sensei, We are the experts!”

We seem to have forgotten that humans, our entire species, are not infallible, we make mistakes and often what we know or think we know is not exactly accurate or it is just plain incorrect. Yet, we persist under the assumption that to admit to fallibility we lessen ourselves, lose status in the tribe and subject ourselves to possibly being wrong about other stuff resulting in our being forced to face our self-image and belief system and then - CHANGE, Change IT and CHANGE our SELF-IMAGE, OH My!

In the forty some odd years in karate/martial arts I have learned one thing, there is so much I don’t know, so much I don’t know I don’t know and so much crap that must be “taken out to the trash” regarding not just karate or martial disciplines but also about life itself. What the f%$#, rover, can we all just get over it all?

The great thing about humans is that we are human and fallible and able to do amazing things but change seems a bit harder than most things. There is so much that should, needs and warrants changing especially in the disciplines of karate and martial arts because of the potential dangers involved not just in practice but especially when it is used for self-defense (a misnomer term if there ever was one). 

If you can’t, don’t or won’t take anything else away from this article, take this with you, “Fear is a key nature-oriented lizard brain like instinct that protects us from the dangers of life, it is about survival and it means we will fear those things that trigger that tape, click-n-whirr, where fear takes us to the monkey dance!”

Note: the same as the fear of losing, grave harm and dying!

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

It's a Matter of Life or Death

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It truly is a matter in all aspects of human existence, at least as far as our instincts are concerned, our lizard brain. The reason I see for humans to react with such strong emotional aggression even for seemingly non-death or grave harm situations is because the lizard does not have or finds such distinctions of value to the survival of the human species.

What goes on here is this, from my perceptions and understandings, that evolution is a slow steady consistent process and no manner of effort can expedite that process, it is nature’s way and it won’t allow us to change it. Since our environment and societies have progressed much faster than the evolutionary process our lizard brains are still making decisions based on the dangers inherent to the “Hunter’s and Gatherer’s” who lived, hunted and gathered on the Serengeti Plains thousands of years in the past. 

The lizard drives our survival instincts and in the process makes use of our emotions where “Fear” is the mainstay, i.e., triggering the flight-fight response. The emotions running a very close second with lots of crossover is, “Anger.” I see anger and fear as emotions meant to provide survival in regard to external dangers, i.e., those dangers outside the tribe. I see the other emotions such as sadness, happiness, etc., as those emotions that ensure the survival in regard to the internal dangers of tribal hierarchal connectedness, etc. 

I don’t see us evolving beyond our current survival instinctual-state of being because the very “Nature of Nature” is based on survival in a world that is governed by both conflict and violence, i.e., the birthing process requires conflict along with the process that is violent in nature. We don’t just pop out but we do have to force our way out, we have to struggle to take the first breath and then we have to survive by the care and security provided by parents, family and tribe. Then as humans we exist in a tribe like social construct where each develops a distinct personality and character with both general fundamental cultural beliefs along with self-aware individual personal beliefs so when we encounter others there will be a natural difference causing a type of conflict where without the tribe, group dynamics, hierarchal status type of system for control, governing, security and safety would not survive. 

Since all of our survival depends on our minds and in particular the cohesive cooperative operation of our logical human brain, our emotional monkey brain and the all controlling instinctual survival driven lizard brain we have to understand the three brains, we have to allow them to do what they do best and in order to survive through an evolutionary change process of social dynamics along with progress and change of our environments we study, we analyze, we hypothesize, we understand, we communicate with others in the tribe and sometimes outside it and finally we synthesize those primal-oriented trained conditioned responses so they work with and not against our instincts toward survival - our lizard on steroids brains. 

So, I advocate that we humans accept the fact that our lives are about and governed by all levels and degrees of conflict and violence as it permeates every aspect of human life so we can allow and train and practice and gain experience, survival conditioning, that would support and create a more social cohesive bonding both in the tribe as well as between tribes. 

Failure to accept and go with it, just take a look around you today in our aggressive emotional immature society and ask, “How is it working for you?”

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)

Secret Bone Breaking - Oh My!

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Sigh! Sometimes I wonder just how gullible humans are and don’t for a second assume I don’t include myself in that inquiry because although rare, I do fall for such things from time to time because of our human nature to compliance triggers (see/read the psych of influence book for this one). Before I get into the concept of bone breaking techniques lets do some inquiries on bone-breaking in general.

“The amount of force required to break a human bone varies depending on which bone and its density. On average, the human femur requires 1,700 pounds per square inch to be cleanly broken, while a weaker bone, such as the clavicle, takes considerably less force to break. … Many factors influence how easily a bone is broken. The density of the bone and the force being put on it must both be calculated. If the force is concentrated to a single point, it is easier to break a bone. A bone with higher density requires a higher amount of PSI to break.”

“For a strong bone, such as a femur, it could take as much as 160 pounds of pressure to cause a fracture. This number can vary depending on different factors. Some of the factors include a person's age, how healthy he or she is, how strong a person's bones are, and how physically active he or she is.”

According to some medical sources fractures occur due to high force impacts or stress. The question of causing bone fractures in the dynamics of violence, combat and fighting are iffy at best and often tested by groups and organizations who benefit from such findings so agenda’s are involved skewing those research results accordingly.

Some information regarding most bone fractures, i.e., they are most often caused by falls and accidents. The less obvious type of fracture one can endure are stress fractures that result from repetitive movements such as running improperly. Where this article may lead us is that a ‘crack (not only a break)’ in bones are also known as fractures, the breaks I consider a part of this article are what the medical profession call ‘clean breaks’ that don’t damage surrounding tissue or tear through the skin often referred to as simple fractures. 

“Most human bones are surprisingly strong and can generally stand up to fairly strong impacts or forces. However, if that force is too powerful, or there is something wrong with the bone, it can fracture.”

“Stress fractures, which result from repeated stresses and strains, commonly found among professional sports people, are also common causes of fractures.”

This should be enough about breaking bones to go on with the articles topic, “Secret Bone Breaking” in karate or martial disciplines. I recently read an article about how a karate-ka was teaching the secret bone breaking ability found in kata bunkai. Here is my take on it:

• The use of the phrase ‘secret bone breaking’ is merely a sales tactic, a compliance strategy to trigger certain influence principles to get people to sign up for the program that teaches this secret for self-defense. 
• In truth, even if the kata bunkai technique is actually and originally meant to break bones it is not the actual fracture but more a stress fracture that may, stressing the term ‘may’, lead to validation of this phrase in karate.
• Bones alone are extremely tough and resilient then adding in health, fitness, musculature, structure, alignments the combination of tendons, cartilage, and bone combinations; then add in the movement involved in the dynamics of fighting or defense/offensive chaotic situations; then the dynamics of adrenal stress-induced conditions that add to the ability of the body to endure stresses that might lead to breaks or fractures you have a ever changing situation where the likelihood of all those factors being in alignment that would allow for a bone break are, in my humble opinion, virtually impossible. 
• If a bone is broken it will likely come from the result of a technique that causes the person to fall and cause a fracture, not because of some manipulation of the body. 
• Even tho many will profess that some MMA like compliance/manipulation techniques when applied will result in broken bones even those are questionable in a non-sport controlled situation such as an attack and even in the social monkey dance more often encountered in sport bars, etc.
• In most attacks, there is not time to find the optimal situation that will allow one to implement their secret bone breaking technique. The skills and experience levels necessary to achieve such goals especially under the influence of surprise, the flurry of the attack, the loss of balance often involved and then overcoming the effects of the chemical dump, the adrenal flood, leaves little room even for the most practiced and experienced dojo training possible to break bones expect in controlled situations and fighting along with defense is not controlled but chaos. 

Yes, there may actually be bone breaking techniques and if they are being taught then they are NOT secret, just not as yet taught and that does not make them secret. Having, knowing and using bone breaking abilities require a lot of luck and more experience of reality than one often can achieve even with ongoing, continuous and dedicated training and practice.

Even those professionals who work and live in conflict and violent professions will admit that even little or more experience still has to make the leap across the chasm created by the adrenal effects of violence, etc. 

In closing, just knowing that say 25 lbs of pressure will break a bone does NOT mean that you can break a bone with any technique and in those cases where it does happen, is that when some predatory attack occurs and you are able to swiftly turn on your MMA compliance and control skills to overextend some body part to break a bone? Or, are you actually tearing ligaments, etc.? 

It is easy to get caught up in things where reality vs. drama-driven things mislead into believing there is some secret bone breaking bunkai that is often un-provable unless experienced in a true attack. I believe even professionals who may have broken bones will say that it may be possible one time and even if the next time all factors are the same and equal it may not work.

Last and important, if you extend beyond a control technique to break a bone, even if lucky to make it work, will that breaking be perceived by authorities as appropriate levels of force in self-defense? I mean, if I am amble to apply a technique that controls my adversary would going to the next level of breaking bones be justified? 

Here is my defense against such secret bunkai, movement. Movement, continuous movement often prevents an adversary from ‘setting up’ the secret bone breaking technique. Using the sensory system of tactile sensitivity any contact with an adversary should trigger some movement for the bodies armor, natural nature given armor, involves movement. Not the move-stop-set-move type you see in kata and are taught in self-defense but more the continuos movement taught is systems like ju-jitsu, etc.

Some things to think about!

Bibliography (Click the link)

“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)