Even the dog knows

Since I sold my school I don't teach many kids classes, but one I taught last year comes to mind. I was telling the kids about how we don't usually hit the same target twice. Ed Parker told that story in his seminar about "Lightning never strikes twice in the same place." (I'll write that one if there is a demand.)
I have seen over the years that people try to force a technique to work even when the lines are closed. Like in Delayed Sword when a guy puts his left hand up to cover and accidentally blocks the chop. Then the defender tries to get the chop in anyway, sometimes repeatedly, and to little or no effect. We teach that you should change the pattern to meet these situations but lots of people don't seem to get it.
I was telling the kids that when I "fight" with the dog, he may be trying to chew on my arm and when I frustrate him by moving or blocking with the other hand, he will ALWAYS pick an alternate target and then go back to the primary. He'll go for the arm and if that doesn't work he'll nip the leg or whatever else is close to distract me and then go back to the arm. Luckily he's never been in position for a groin shot - years of kenpo pay off!
Most of the kids got it, but one raises his hands and says "Is that true?" You have to laugh but maybe he never slugged it out with the family dog. Maybe he's only got a goldfish. To him I say "Be a man. Buy a pirahna."


Humans have the ability to pause in the reaction process. It's stimulus-pause-response. The dog is not distracted by pre-arranged patterns that he thinks must be completed. He just knows that isn't working so he tries something else. So while we have more sophisticated brains, sometimes we just have to be an animal.