I wrote about how a dog knows to change targets in an attack sequence if an avenue is blocked. Yet human beings seem to get caught in what is called a decision loop under stress, where they keep doing the same thing over, with the same results.
This morning I was walking the dog and when he was dawdling for what I thought was a little too long, I started to pull him away.
He didn't want to go.
What he did was drop his center of gravity and spread his legs. He did what we teach on the first lesson when we show the horse stance to a new student. It is the principle of widening and lowering our base, the phrase for which Ed Parker used was "Establish your base".
I've often joked that I would like a tape recorded loop playing in the studio that repeats "bend your knees" every thirty seconds. What is it that makes us think we don't have to use such principles? I came across a phrase recently that said if you don't use the principles, the principles are still working on you.
If the opponent knows you don't have a root, they'll take advantage of it. And they can do it unintentionally. Every system uses the rooting or setting a base idea to some degree. Kenpo is nice because the main stances are not too high and not too low.
If the dog knows he can't be easily moved by lowering his base, you should too.
After all, you're smarter than he is, right?
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