how movement makes you smart

8/3/2019 How Movement Makes You Smart

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Ingo Weigel

HOW MOVEMENT MAKES YOU SMART

Published by Revat, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Revat, Inc.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form

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References: www.revatonline.com, www.fi.edu

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Table of Content

Chapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: Physical Exercise for a Better BrainChapter 3: What Activities are Good for your Brain?Chapter 4: Does NRP Make You Faster?Chapter 5: What exactly are the Reflexes in Revat?



Chapter 6: Are We Teaching Our Children to be Stupid?Chapter 7: Journey of a Developing BrainChapter 8: How Physical Exercise Impacts Your Brain’s ActivityChapter 9: Ancient Principles for the Modern Day WarriorChapter 10: Use Your Brain, DummyChapter 11: The Justice of Self-Defense

Chapter 12: The Practical Side of Using the BrainChapter 13: Attack or Flee?Chapter 14: The Illusion of Ground FightingChapter 15: How the Psoas May Change

Chapter 1: Introduction

We used to think that mental performance can be enhanced or maintained by thinking.Crossword puzzles, a good book, or memory games were prescribed. Today, brain research ismuch further and we know how closely mental performance and motor skills are related.Although the attributes “smart” and “dumb“ still play a small role, the flexibility of ourthinking is much more important. How well can you think abstractly or “outside the box”?

How is thinking connected to our physical movement skills? How can you increase both?

First some indisputable facts:

1. “We become what we think about!” Napoleon Hill. Your way of moving corresponds to yourway of thinking.2. Your movement capabilities depend on your posture.3. If you change your posture, point 2 will change, and therefore point 1 as well.

What happens if you prevent babies from moving and suppress any movement stimulus onthem? They remain mentally deficient. For years, people thought as the brain develops andestablishes its network during childhood, we also will recognize more possibilities in

movements. By now we know better:

Movement not only develops from the brain;The brain also develops through movement.

Chapter 2: Physical Exercise for a Better Brain

The following information is part of a research project conducted by the Franklin Institute(http://www.fi.edu). Most of us know that physical exercise is good for our general health,but did you know that physical exercise is also good for your brain? If you think you’re goingto get smarter sitting in front of your computer or watching television, think again. Herescientists present the evidence that a healthy human being is a human doing.

Not too long ago, futurists envisioned humans evolving giant thumbs in response to a push-button world. They did not foresee humanity's real response to all its labor-savingconveniences – a sedentary, inactive society with a deteriorated vascular system andconsequent decline in physical and mental health.

Nearly half of young adults ages 12 to 21 do not participate in vigorous physical activity on aregular basis. Fewer than one-in-four children report getting at least half an hour of any type



of daily physical activity and do not attend any physical education classes in their schools. Infact, many schools don’t even offer physical education due to budget cuts. The 2006 Shape ofthe Nation -- jointly conducted by the American Heart Association and the NationalAssociation for Sport and Physical Education, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promotinghigh quality physical education -- concluded that most states are failing to provide studentswith adequate physical education requirements. The percentage of students who attend a

daily physical education class has dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 28 percent in 2003, thereport says. The report's findings are compelling in the context of the rise in obesity rates.

The number of kids considered overweight has more than tripled since 1980, according to theCenters for Disease Control. Among those between ages 6 to 19, over 9 million kids -- 16percent -- are considered overweight. In June 2001, ABC News reported that school childrenspend 4.8 hours per day on the computer, watching TV or playing video games.

The impact of computers, video games, school funding cuts and public apathy has combinedto leave few states that still require daily physical education in 1st through 12th grades.Although the number of states that mandate at least some physical-education instructions inpublic schools has increased from 42 in 1987 to 46 this year, P.E. teachers are still under

pressure to defend their programs amid shrinking education budgets, a new report says.

Three years after the federal government declared its support for requiring all K-12 studentsto participate in daily physical education (as one of a set of national goals released by theU.S. Public Health Service) only four states require students in all grades to enroll in P.E.classes, according to the report released by the National Association for Sport and PhysicalEducation.This is a far cry from the 1960s, when President John F. Kennedy made physicalfitness a priority for Americans of all ages.

These sedentary tendencies represent a real health crisis. And, not just for couch-potatoes.Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) occurs when blood circulation slows down, allowing clots to formand then, eventually, break free, and causing death. DVT has been nicknamed “economy class

syndrome,” because airplane passengers who sit throughout a long flight in the “spacious”seats of economy class have become victims of DVT.

The strongest stimulus for linking synapses and releasing nerve cell preserving factors arecomplex full-body movements. These include all movements that increase dexterity. Thisleads to several brain areas being used more than average. At the same time, nerve cellpreserving factors are released that ensure the linking and preservation of new neuronalstructures. This means that these nerve cell preserving factors support the further creation ofsynapses as well as the branching out of nerves and the nerves’ metabolism. The linksbetween the nerve cells that are created in this manner form the foundation for man’s abilityto think. While most people still believe that our brain is a computer that can neither changenor enlarge, science has known better for a long time. One thing is for sure: Every single day

several thousands of nerve cells are added to the hippocampus, a region that is veryimportant for learning and for stereoscopic orientation. Compared to the approximately 100billion neurons that make up our brain, the number of novices might seem insignificant.However, these new cells still have sensitivity that the old neurons have lost already. As theBerlin brain scientist Kempermann found out, a few new cells are already enough tofundamentally change the architecture of our brain’s network.



If you begin juggling as an adult, for example, you will let your brain grow systematically.Scientists from Germany (Jena and Regensburg) were the first to discover this and describe itin the journal “Nature” in 2004. The scientists let people with an average age of 22 yearslearn how to juggle for three months. The twelve most adept candidates were able to keepthree balls in the air for at least one minute at the end of this period. Their brains werescanned with MRT before practice, directly afterwards and after a three-month break from

juggling. For comparison, the brains of two untrained subjects were taken. After threemonths the brains of the jugglers had changed at both side lobes. The so-called intraparietalsulcus (IPS) displayed a noticeable growth. After a longer break, the growth only regressedpartially.

The intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is located on the lateral surface of the parietal lobe, andconsists of an oblique and a horizontal portion. The IPS contains a series of functionallydistinct subregions that have been intensively investigated using both single cellneurophysiology in primates and human functional neuroimaging. Its principal functions arerelated to perceptual-motor coordination (for directing eye movements and reaching) andvisual attention. The IPS is also thought to play a role in other functions, including processingsymbolic numerical information, visuospatial working memory and interpreting the intent of

others.

Kempermann and Hans-Georg Kuhn were also the ones to discover the beneficial effect ofmovement and learning several years ago at the laboratory of Fred Gage at the Salk Institutefor Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. They kept adult mice in a diversified environmentwith tunnels, running wheels and many different toys. A later examination of their brainsproved that these specimens had developed far more nerve cells than the ones that weresqueezed into regular small laboratory cages and lived in a vegetative state. The variedenvironment and the complex movements apparently led to the formation of complex brains.

Brain research shows that muscle activity and specially coordinated movements lead to aproduction of neurotrophins, which stimulate nerve cell growth and increase the number of

neuronal links. Movement in this sense is much more than just sports, but rather motoricversatility in the broadest sense. The brain does not work as an isolated system, independentfrom other movement processes and current conditions within the entire body. It actuallyplays a role in muscle activation.

In order to make new neurons grow and keep creating new networks so you can leave long-established movement and thinking patterns behind, two things are essential:

1. You need to learn completely new movements and,2. These new movements should contribute to your dexterity.

This stimulates your nervous system more than average, encourages the growth of new brain

cells and creates new links in the brain. Here we see parallels to the development during ourinfancy. The linking of neurons, together with a resulting increase in mental performance, isconnected to a constantly increasing, skillful use (crawling – walking – running) of our ownbody.

Chapter 3: What Activities Are Good For Your Brain?



Jogging can be very satisfying and is definitely more advantageous than sitting in front of thetelevision for hours. However, jogging will not teach you anything new either. You are justputting one leg in front of the other at an increased pace – that is basically what you arealready doing all day long.

I am sure that many readers will be able to run, swim or ride their bikes longer than me. My

question is: For how long? Will you still be able to do this free of pain at fifty or sixty years?You are thinking of your future, right? Do you really want to be sent to a retirement home at65 and be administrated by others, living in a 300sf room for the next ten or twenty years? Ifyou are thinking that you are doing everything better or different than other people, you arehorribly mistaken.

Today’s inmates of these storage institutions would never have thought that they would spendtheir lives there. Retirement or Nursing homes are built everywhere to handle the growingdemand. There is one with your name on the door waiting for you when you are ready…

Please do not understand me wrong. In no way do I intend to diminish your enjoyment ofsports or retirement. Movement is of vital importance and you can never have enough. The

readers amongst you that are doing some kind of activity are doing much more than the rest,who spend their time in front of the television. What I want to tell you, however, is:

There are exercises that will help you do much more for yourself because you’ll learn newmovement patterns. The specific exercises in Revat challenge your brain and create a newarchitecture of your brain’s network. Therefore, these benefits are sustainable for your bodyand your mind.

Increasing your dexterity, expanding the limits of your movement and the resulting moreskillful use of your body stimulate your brain more than any crossword puzzle or a game ofgolf could. Replacing long-lasting movement habits through completely new movementpatterns is a big challenge for our brain. For this, the network architecture of our thinking

organ must be changed fundamentally. This deep-rooted rewiring (NeuroReflexiveProgramming in Revat) of our neurons opens up some fundamental possibilities for change inour thinking and our emotional perception.

Changing your body’s posture negatively, like a hunchback and the resulting movementlimitations for example, will always be reflected in your mental performance. Repetitivemovement patterns create repetitive thinking patterns that also create the same experiencesand results in your life.

A tolerant person could still accept that many adults let themselves go and create their ownproblems through lack of movement and obesity and then want to have society pay formedicine to repair the resulting ailments and then even complain when they are asked to pay

for it. It is much more severe however that these people also create a social image andconfront our children with this distortion every day. This almost ludicrous social acceptancemakes obese and inactive individuals part of our perception of normality. However, anyonewill realize that a horse that is fat and lazy will not be as powerful and bright as a slender,muscular horse.

Chapter 4: Does NRP Make You Faster?



The NeuroReflexive Programming (NRP) in Revat teaches you new movements or better, newways to move your arms, legs and your body. In the beginning stages, these movements areexecuted on a conscious level. You think about what you do and how to do it. It is a matter ofaction and reaction; a specific action (like a punch) creates a specific reaction (like a block).

With Revat, the training and learning is taken to another level. We know that “specific

reactions” only exist in the theory of a fight. The reality shows clearly that a specific actioncan create different reactions. That means that you have a choice to make; which movementor technique do you use to respond to a specific attack? The decision is made in the consciousbrain and requires a certain amount of time. No matter how little time you need to make thisdecision, your actual movement will always be late because the punch is already on its way toyour face. The step-by-step process looks like this:

As you can clearly see you have to go through these five steps to make a decision while yourattacker only goes through one step – the attack. And that one step is also the first step inthis process. You have to admit your odds to block a punch are really bad. That is why evenwell trained martial arts practitioners “freeze” when attacked. There is no time in a realfight to “get ready” and prepare yourself mentally for an attack. If your reflexes do not comefrom your subconscious mind you will always lose.

Actually, you can pick any area of your daily life and the same principles apply. How manytimes, when confronted with a question or problem do you step back and think (or even say):“I need a minute to think about it.” You are trying to make an “informed” decision to thebest of your ability but the actual decision that is made either immediately or at a later timeis usually the same because it is based on your existing thinking patterns. If you really want to

make better decision you will need to change your thinking patterns. Martial arts training canbe a highly effective way (in my opinion the most effective way) to bring this to light.

Since your visual receptors can also be tricked, there needs to be a better and more reliableway to deal with an attack; and that is your nervous system or better, the reflexes in yournervous system. The nervous system is the body’s internal communication network. Thereflexes trained in NRP™ can be found in the subconscious part of the brain (inner brain). Forour purpose important parts of the brain are:



The brain stem is the “stalk” of the brain below the cerebrum that connects to the spinalcord. It controls processes basic for survival, such as heart rate, breathing, digestion, andsleep. It is the main route of communication between the rest of the brain, the spinal cord,and the nerves that run throughout the body. It also has its own set of nerves that send andreceive signals to the face, mouth, tongue, eye muscles, ears, and balance-sensing vestibularorgans.

The cerebellum is the second largest part of the brain and controls posture and balance. Italso helps with timing and coordination of our movements, making them smooth and precise.



The amygdale plays a key role in emotions and forming emotional memories. This almond-shaped structure integrates your senses and links them with your emotions. It also affectsbasic behaviors such as feeding, sexual arousal, and the “fight-or-flight” reaction to stress.

The hippocampus is a seahorse-shaped brain structure involved in memory, learning, andemotion. It forms new memories and organizes them with related memories and emotions.

Chapter 5: What Exactly Are The Reflexes In Revat?

All parts of the brain function and communicate through a network of brain cells calledneurons. Scientists estimate that the brain contains some 100 billion neurons, more than thenumber of stars in the night sky. Because one neuron can connect with over 10,000 others,the human brain contains trillions of connections! Messages race through and between thesetiny cells, driving all thoughts and behaviors, conscious and subconscious. Neurons are madeup of a cell body, branching dendrites that receive signals from other neurons, and a longfiber, an axon that sends these signals to the next neuron.



A neuron is a nerve cell, the basic unit of the central nervous system. Unlike other cells in thebody, neurons are specialized to transmit electrical messages, or nerve impulses, from onepart of the brain to another or from the brain to different parts of your body. Informationtravels through a neuron from the dendrite to the cell body, or soma, through the axon, andusing neurotransmitters across a gap, or synapse, to the next neuron.

An axon is a neuron’s long, tube-like “arm;” it sends information on to the next neuron.Messages travel from the cell body along the axon as electrical signals, but are passed to thetarget cell, across a gap, as chemicals called neurotransmitters. Like wires, axons are longand thin. These fibers can reach up to three or more feet in length.



A dendrite is an extension from the neuron that receives messages from other neurons.Named after the Greek word meaning “tree,” these branch-like projections relay messages tothe cell body before they’re passed down the axons and on to the other neurons.

The myelin sheath is an insulating fatty layer that surrounds many axons. It helps speed thetransmission of electrical signals down the axon, allowing much faster communication. Myelinsheaths are especially important in the axons of the peripheral nerves. These nerves can beup to several feet in length as they extend down to our fingers and toes!



Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s natural ability to change or adapt. These changes occurin the complex network of neurons that make up your brain. Many experiences, thoughts, ormemories create new or stronger connections among neurons. Even in the adult brain, somenew neurons are born and migrate out into the cortex, looking for new roles. At the sametime, neural connections and neurons that aren’t used or are ineffective wither away and die.

Elastic comes from the Greek word for “drive”. It is the tendency of a material to return toits original shape after being stretched. Elasticity is the basic animal drive that powers yourmuscles, giving you strength and balance, flexibility, mobility and grace.

Plastic derives from the Greek word meaning “molded” or “formed”. It is the tendency of thebrain to shape itself according to experience. Plasticity is the basic mental drive thatnetworks your brain, giving you cognition and memory, fluidity, versatility and adaptability.

When scientists study brain activity, they’re monitoring the communication - or nerveimpulses - among neurons. Neurons in the brain communicate with each other through aseries of chain reactions. Messages pass along neurons as electrical impulses, but are passedalong to other neurons in the form of chemicals called neurotransmitters. These chemicalsflow across a tiny gap called a synapse, after which they bind with the receptors of a targetneuron. The neurotransmitters thus set off an electrical impulse that travels down thedendrites of the next neuron.



Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers that travel between two neurons. When nerveimpulses reach the end of an axon, these chemicals are released into the synapse. If theneurotransmitters bind to the target neuron’s receptors, they can send, or else inhibit, themessages from traveling on to the next neuron.

A reflex in Revat is a reaction based on an impulse or a touch. In my opinion, a movementbased on eyesight is not a reflex, not even a reaction. It is more like an action based onanother action. If timing, speed and other factors are perfectly in order this action (i.e. ablock) may match another action (i.e. a punch) and defend it. However, reality agrees thatmost of the time one or more of these factors is not in perfect order (or completely missing)and therefore the block does not defend the attack.

In a close quarter combat situation there is so much information travelling around that makesit impossible for a fighter to process everything in the conscious brain. There is no time formaking logical and rational decisions. In a stress situation, this part of the brain isautomatically overwritten by the amygdala. The amygdala is responsible for the “fight-or-flight” reaction. Victims usually don’t remember details about an attacker or even thesituation because of the stress and all the unprocessed information.

If you want to survive a close quarter combat situation, an attack or just control an unfamiliarand stress-producing situation you need to choose activities that train your subconsciousbrain. You need to move as much useful and effective information from your conscious brainto your subconscious brain. Makes sense, doesn’t it? This is not news. We have been doing itin different areas of our daily lives. We refer to it as “multi-tasking”. We can do severalthings at the same time. Football players can catch a ball while running and watching theopponent at the same time. We can drive a car and watch the road while we adjust the radioor have a sip of coffee without looking at it. We can do all of that and more so why not whenit comes to our personal safety and other stress-producing situations?

The specific reflex training in Revat enables a person to process all the information such aswhat kind of attack, the surroundings, the power of the attack, the actual target, how manyattackers, any weapons involved etc. and choose automatically an effective, yet appropriatedefense for each of the attacks. It is multi-tasking under pressure. Does the specificNeuroReflexive Programming in Revat make you faster and safer under pressure (like a fight)?Yes, it does!



Chapter 6: Are We Teaching Our Children To Be Stupid?

Did you know that a test in a Swiss Kindergarten (Basel) showed that 50 percent of thechildren were not able to do a simple somersault anymore? Did you know that by learningtargeted and controlled movements as an infant, important structures are established in the

brain? Did you also know that these structures then establish important connections betweenindividual nerve cells? Did you further know that only this makes it possible for different areasof our brain to communicate? Did you know that this communication is the prerequisite forthinking? Did you know that the performance of the communication channels between thedifferent cells basically creates the difference between “stupid” and “intelligent” children?Just to give you an example:

When children are able to perform targeted movements they are able to create an innerimage of the outer space through their varied movement experiences. As soon as the childlearns to categorize directions in relation to its own body (What is before, behind, right orleft of me? What is above and what is below?), the experience of space is created. The childperceives itself within space and estimates the limits and the character of the space by

moving through it in various different body positions and then stores these impressions asperceptions and experiences. Mathematical and geometrical thinking result from this. This isbasically nothing else than rearranging, arranging and correlating values within an imaginativeinner space. The layout of our body with its internalized perception of space is the basis forthis.

All too often parents confuse conditioning with intelligence. Parents are often proud whenthree-year old children are able to operate a Gameboy or zap through the TV channels ontheir own. The trained offspring is then presented to friends and acquaintances whileexclaiming: “Look how intelligent he/she is already!” Well, pressing a button does not qualifyas an academic achievement. Any lab rat can do this after a few days of training and will thentrain the professor, who runs and gets a piece of cheese as soon as the button is pressed.

Children that spend a lot of time in front of electronic devices or are “pacified” by thetelevision are missing important steps in their development that can never be made up foragain.

Acquiring basic skills for our movement opportunities and developing a broad repertoire ofmovements is crucial. As soon as children focus on one sport too early or are forced byambitious parents to do so, they acquire what we call partial skills. Children may then be ableto play excellent ping pong with one half of their body. The other half of their body,however, will not be capable of anything. The same goes for walking, standing or sittingproperly. When physical movements are new to the brain it is activated and needs to work.When the movements become a routine the brain is deactivated and of no use. Therefore, aphysical exercise needs to fulfill two aspects: a) the physical movement of the body and limbs

(cardio) and b) the mental aspects of involving the brain. This can be done in several ways,for instance by frequently mixing up different physical movements and therefore confusingthe mind. Running during a game of football is very different as running on a treadmill or bythe lake. During football the brain is activated because it needs to monitor other teamplayers, the opposing players, the field and of course the location of the ball. You can't playthe game without using the brain. Jogging is different because you don't need your brain. Infact, many people use the time to listen to music and "motivate" the body to continue with anexercise that is boring to the brain.



Of course, the same applies in martial arts. If all you do is kicking, punching, blocking androlling on the floor then you don't have much brain left anyways. But if you do, you realizethat this is boring. It doesn't give you any "Food For Thought" and you only operate on thephysical level of martial arts, the beginner levels. You need to dig deeper and move up to thenext level, the mental level. This is where you learn about the principles, reasons and

philosophies of martial arts. This is also where you really learn how to fight and apply themovements from the physical level. Granted the majority of martial artists prefers to operateonly on the physical level because it is the easiest, hence the lowest level. But the realbenefits are in the higher levels (mental and spiritual). Understanding these higher levelsmake you a better person and a better fighter, a warrior. This is where you watch a Masterperform a particular technique yet you still cannot do it. The reason for that is that themovement or technique is executed on a higher level, not the physical. It is the same forartists like musicians. In a group of guitarists or violin players everybody knows the physicalexecution needed to make a sound. But there are a few who are just better than others. Theyperform on a higher level.

In order for your child to have all the chances for its personal development and to fully

develop its predispositions it needs to have a broad base of possible movement options. Thebasis for the infrastructure of our central nervous system can only be secured through anextensive ability to move. The more different kinds of movement your child can perform, thebroader and more pronounced this basis will be and the surer it is to develop its intellectualpossibilities later on.

Of course what is written here is also valid for adults. An adult brain learns throughout itsentire lifetime and, to follow this logic, you would have to have reached the highest point inthe development of your motor skills at the end of your life and therefore have an excellentmovement capability. Unfortunately, at that point in their lives many people are back wherethey started many decades ago. They are now washed, fed and have their diapers changedlike babies. Therefore my advice is for you to become a little more flexible every day. Only

this way will you become a little smarter every day. Adults, especially parents are the rolemodels for children.

Chapter 7: Journey of a Developing Brain

Step back a half-billion years ago, to when the first nerve cells developed. The original needfor a nervous system was to coordinate movement, so an organism could go find food, insteadof waiting for the food to come to. Jellyfish and sea anemone, the first animals to createnerve cells, had a tremendous advantage over the sponges that waited brainlessly for dinnerto arrive. After millions of generations of experimentation, nervous systems evolved someamazing ways of going out to eat. But behind all the myriad forms of life today, the primarydirective remains – Movement. In fact, a diminished ability to move is a good measure of

aging. Inflexibility heralds death, while a flexible body and fluid mind are the hallmarks ofyouth.

Before birth you created neurons, the brain cells that communicate with each other, at therate of 15 million per hour! When you emerged into the world, your 100 billion neurons wereprimed to organize themselves in response to your new environment – no matter the culture,climate, language, or lifestyle.



During infancy, billions of these extraordinary cells intertwined into the vast networks thatintegrated your nervous system. By the time you were four or five years old, yourfundamental cerebral architecture was complete.

Until your early teens, various windows of opportunity opened when you could most easilylearn language and writing, math and music, as well as the coordinated movements used in

sports and dance. But, at any age you can – and should – continue to build your brain andexpand your mind.

Throughout life, your neural networks reorganize and reinforce themselves in response to newstimuli and learning experiences. This body-mind interaction is what stimulates brain cells togrow and connect with each other in complex ways. They do so by extending branches ofintricate nerve fibers called dendrites. These are the antennas through which neurons receivecommunication from each other.

A healthy, well-functioning neuron can be directly linked to tens of thousands of otherneurons, creating a totality of more than a hundred trillion connections – each capable ofperforming 200 calculations per second! This is the structural basis of your brain's memory

capacity and thinking ability.

As a product of its environment, your "three pound universe" is essentially an internal mapthat reflects your external world.

Many neuroscientists believe that learning and memory involve changes at neuron-to-neuronsynapses. Such changes, called long-term potentiation (LTP), make it easier for connectedneurons to communicate with each other, and therefore to form memories. LTP involvespatterns of synaptic strengthening and weakening that can last for weeks.

Because receptor aggregation may contribute to LTP – and dispersal may contribute to thereverse scenario, long-term depression – the discovery that receptors can scurry in and out of

synapses strengthens the synaptic hypothesis of learning.

A study by neuroscientists at Brown University provided further evidence that learning useslong-term potentiation (LTP) to produce changes in the synaptic connections between braincells that are necessary to acquire and store new information

When the researchers taught rats a new motor skill, scientists found that the animals' brainshad also changed. The strength of synapses between neurons in the motor cortex of theirbrains had increased through a process consistent with the use of LTP.

Previously, "the link between LTP, synaptic modification and learning was tentative," saidsenior author Ph. D. Dr. John Donoghue, professor of neuroscience at Brown. "This latest

study provides strong evidence that learning itself engages LTP in the cerebral cortex as away to strengthen synaptic connections."

Chapter 8: How Physical Exercise Impacts Your Brain’s Activity

You may have heard the term “mind-body connection” as it applies to remarkable stories ofhealing without surgery or stress management, but did you know there is actually a physical



connection between the brain and muscles? It is called the neuromuscular junction andchemical exchanges that happen at this junction are the key to your ability to move.

Brain chemistry reveals an essential unity of mind and body. Neurons not only contact otherneurons, they also connect with skeletal muscles, at a specialized structure called theneuromuscular junction. There the brain uses acetylcholine – its primary chemical

neurotransmitter for memory and attention – to communicate with muscles. Another of thebrain's key chemical messengers, dopamine, helps regulate fine motor movement.

The role of these neurotransmitters in regulating movement underscores the intimate relationbetween body and mind, muscle and memory. In fact, many body workers find that a deepmassage can trigger the release and awareness of powerful, long-held emotional memories.

When acetylcholine is released at a neuromuscular junction, it crosses the tiny space(synapse) that separates the nerve from the muscle. It then binds to acetylcholine receptormolecules on the muscle fiber's surface. This initiates a chain of events that lead to musclecontraction.

Scientists have shown that muscle fiber contains a scaffold made of special proteins that holdthese acetylcholine receptors in place. Research led by Jeff W. Lichtman, M.D., Ph.D., atWashington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, indicates that a loss of nerve signals –due to inactivity – actually disassembles this scaffold and causes a loss of acetylcholinereceptors. When the muscle becomes active again, however, the scaffold tightens its grip andcatches any receptors that come by.

"So muscle activity is a cue to keep a synapse stable, and synaptic inactivity is a cue todisassemble a synapse," says Lichtman, a professor of neurobiology. "So if you lose activity,you lose receptors. But if you regain activity, you get those receptors back."

When we are young the world seems filled with curious wonders, delightful discoveries, and

daunting challenges. Our brains are taking in countless bits of information and we aredeveloping lifetime skills. This burst of learning is like the brain Olympics of our humanjourney. Yet unlike the Olympic athletes who have a limited time to demonstrate their peakperformance, the human brain can continue to grow and improve with exercise.

Following is an exercise that can strengthen neural connections and even create new ones.Switch the hand you are using to control the mouse for your computer. Use the hand younormally do NOT use. What do you notice? Is it harder to be precise and accurate with yourmotions? Do you feel like you did when you were first learning to tie your shoelaces?

If you are feeling uncomfortable and awkward don’t worry, your brain is learning a new skill.Try other neural building and strengthening exercises with everyday movements. Use your

opposite hand to brush your teeth, dial the phone or operate the TV remote.

In a fascinating experiment, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation discovered that amuscle can be strengthened just by thinking about exercising it.

For 12 weeks (five minutes a day, five days per week) a team of 30 healthy young adultsimagined either using the muscle of their little finger or of their elbow flexor. Dr. Vinoth



Ranganathan and his team asked the participants to think as strongly as they could aboutmoving the muscle being tested, to make the imaginary movement as real as they could.

Compared to another group that did no imaginary exercises and showed no strength gains; thelittle-finger group increased their pinky muscle strength by 35%. The other group increasedelbow strength by 13.4%.

What's more, brain scans taken after the study showed greater and more focused activity inthe prefrontal cortex than before. The researchers said strength gains were due toimprovements in the brain's ability to signal muscle.

Pay attention to your breathing. Is it slow and deep, or quick and shallow? Is your bellyexpanding and contracting, or is your chest doing all the work?

Research on the physical results of thinking has shown that just using the brain actuallyincreases the number of dendrite branches that interconnect brain cells. The more we think,the better our brains function – regardless of age. The renowned brain researcher Dr. MarianDiamond says, "The nervous system possesses not just a 'morning' of plasticity, but an

'afternoon' and an 'evening' as well."

Dr. Diamond found that whether we are young or old, we can continue to learn. The brain canchange at any age. A dendrite grows much like a tree – from trunk to limbs to branches totwigs – in an array of ever finer complexity.

In fact, older brains may have an advantage. She discovered that more highly developedneurons respond even better to intellectual enrichment than less developed ones do. Thegreatest increase in the length of dendrites occurred in the outermost dendritic branches, asa reaction to new information.

As she poetically describes it: "We began with a nerve cell, which starts in the embryo as just

a sort of sphere. It sends its first branch out to overcome ignorance. As it reaches out, it isgathering knowledge and it is becoming creative. Then we become a little more idealistic,generous, and altruistic; but it is our six-sided dendrites which give us wisdom."

Animal studies show that intellectual enrichment can even compensate for some forms ofphysical brain damage. For example, a mentally stimulating environment helped protect ratsfrom the potentially damaging effects of lead poisoning.

Neuroscientists at Jefferson Medical College compared groups of rats given lead-laced waterfor several weeks in two different environments. Rats living in a stimulating environmentshowed a better ability to learn compared to the animals that were isolated. "Behaviorally,being in an enriched environment seemed to help protect their brains," says Jay Schneider,

Ph.D., professor of pathology, neurology, anatomy and cell biology.

"The magnitude of the protective effect surprised me," he says. "This might lead to an earlyeducational intervention for at-risk populations." It suggests a way to diminish the damagethat lead does to kids: by manipulating their socio-behavioral environment.

Walking is especially good for your brain, because it increases blood circulation and theoxygen and glucose that reach your brain. Walking is not strenuous, so your leg muscles don't



take up extra oxygen and glucose like they do during other forms of exercise. As you walk,you effectively oxygenate your brain. Maybe this is the reason why walking can "clear yourhead" and help you to think better.

Physical movement and exercise increase breathing and heart rate so that more blood flowsto the brain, enhancing energy production and waste removal. Studies show that in response

to exercise, cerebral blood vessels can grow, even in middle-aged sedentary animals.

Studies of senior citizens who walk regularly showed significant improvement in memory skillscompared to sedentary elderly people.

Walking also improved their learning ability, concentration, and abstract reasoning. Strokerisk was cut by 57% in people who walked as little as 20 minutes a day.

When the cognitive abilities of elderly women were compared, those who walked regularlywere less likely to experience age-related memory loss and other declines in mental function.

University of California at San Francisco researchers measured the brain function of nearly

6,000 women during an eight-year period. The results were correlated with the women'snormal activity level, including their routine walking and stair-climbing.

"In the higher-energy groups, we saw much less cognitive decline," said neurologist KristineYaffe, MD. Of the women who walked the least (a half-mile per week), 24% had significantdeclines in their test scores, compared to only 17% of the most active women (17 miles perweek).

It wasn't a matter of all or nothing. "We also found that for every extra mile walked per weekthere was a 13% less chance of cognitive decline," said Yaffe, who is Chief of GeriatricPsychiatry at the San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center. "So you don't need tobe running marathons. The exciting thing is there was a 'dose' relationship which showed that

even a little is good but more is better."

"In the higher-energy groups, we saw much less cognitive decline" – a protective effectamounting to as much as 40% – according to Yaffe. "This is an important intervention that allof us can do and it could have huge implications in preventing cognitive decline."

In the morning, while you're still in bed, slowly begin to move your toes – any way that feelsgood. Wriggle, scrunch, and stretch. Move all your toes up and down several times, or workjust your big toes. Wiggling your toes activates nerves that stimulate your brain and internalorgans.

You can do the following exercise first thing each morning or after sitting for an extended

period of time. It will help you to wake-up and become alert more quickly. Your whole bodymay feel pleasantly energized. Most important, your first steps – and those throughout theday – will be safer ones. (Falls are the second leading cause of spinal cord and brain injuryamong people over 65 years old.)

The human foot is one of the body's most complex engineering marvels. The eight arches inyour feet do a remarkable job of evenly distributing the weight of your body, while 200ligaments coordinate 40 different muscles that control the 56 bones in your feet – one fourth



of all the bones in your body! An intricate system of blood vessels and nerves connect the feetwith the rest of the body. Your feet are good barometers of the aging process; inflexible toes,cold feet, and poor circulation are signposts of time.

Before enrolling in the trial, and four months later, the cognitive abilities of the participantswere tested in four areas: memory, executive functioning, attention/concentration, and

psychomotor speed.

Compared to the medication group, the exercisers showed significant improvements in thehigher mental processes of memory and in "executive functions" that involve planning,organization, and the ability to mentally juggle different intellectual tasks at the same time.

"What we found so fascinating was that exercise had its beneficial effect in specific areas ofcognitive function that are rooted in the frontal and prefrontal regions of the brain," saidBlumenthal. "The implications are that exercise might be able to offset some of the mentaldeclines that we often associate with the aging process."

Contrary to popular myth, you do not lose mass quantities of brain cells as you get older.

"There isn't much difference between a 25-year old brain and a 75-year old brain," says Dr.Monte S. Buchsbaum, who has scanned a lot of brains as director of the Neuroscience PETLaboratory at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Cognitive decline is not inevitable. When 6,000 older people were given mental teststhroughout a ten-year period, almost 70% continued to maintain their brain power as theyaged. Certain areas of the brain, however, are more prone to damage and deterioration overtime. One is the hippocampus, which transfers new memories to long-term storage elsewherein the brain. Another vulnerable area is the basal ganglia, which coordinates commands tomove muscles. Research indicates that mental exercise can improve these areas andpositively affect memory and physical coordination.

Numerous studies show that better-educated people have less risk of Alzheimer's disease. In aCase Western Reserve study of 550 people, those more mentally and physically active inmiddle-age were three times less likely to later get the mind-robbing disease. Increasedintellectual activity during adulthood was especially protective. Examples included reading,doing puzzles, playing a musical instrument, painting, woodworking, playing cards or boardgames, and performing home repairs.

Blumenthal and a team of researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that anaerobic exercise program decreased depression and improved the cognitive abilities ofmiddle-aged and elderly men and women.

They followed 156 patients between the ages of 50 and 77 who had been diagnosed with

major depressive disorder. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: exercise,medication, or a combination of medication and exercise. The exercise group spent 30minutes either riding a stationary bicycle or walking, or jogging three times a week. To thesurprise of the researchers, after 16 weeks, all three groups showed statistically significantand identical improvement in standard measurements of depression, implying that exercisewas just as effective as medication in treating major depression.



In a study of 193 people believed to have Alzheimer's disease, researchers found that peoplewho participated in fewer leisure activities between the ages of 20 and 60 were 3.85 timesmore likely to develop Alzheimer's. Most beneficial was spending time in intellectual pursuits."A passive life is not best for the brain," said Dr. Robert P. Friedland at University Hospitals ofCleveland.

In a sedentary group of people aged 60 to 75, University of Illinois researchers introducedthem to a fitness regime. For six months the elders had either an aerobic or non-aerobicworkout for up to 90 minutes, three times a week.

"We chose couch potatoes," said the study's lead author, cognitive neuroscientist ArthurKramer. The 214 healthy adults hadn't been involved in any physical exercise for the previous5 to 10 years. "Indeed most of our subjects hadn't done any formal exercise for more like 30or 40 years."

One group took long walks three times a week, and the other only did gentle toning andstretching exercises using weights. Walkers, who completed an hour-long loop around theuniversity, improved significantly in mental tests, as well as being fitter. An improvement of

only 5-7% in cardio-respiratory fitness led to an improvement of up to 15% in mental tests.The non-walkers, however, did not gain any benefits for their brains. "We see selectivecognitive benefits which accompany improvement in aerobic fitness," says Kramer. Althoughbenefits were not obvious in every type of test, improvements were clearly attributable tothe aerobic workouts.

Even beyond age 70, cardiovascular exercise can improve memory and reasoning skills."People who have chosen a lifetime of relative inactivity can benefit mentally from improvedaerobic fitness. It's never too late."

By improving cardiovascular health, exercise increases the flow of oxygen-rich blood to thebrain. Over a lifetime, this makes a big difference to brain function. In fact, cardiovascular

health appears to be the primary biological reason why elderly women tend to have bettercognitive function than men.

When Dutch researchers tested 600 people age 85 and over, they found that the odds ofhaving a better memory were 80% higher in women, even after considering factors such asformal education and depression. "Good cognitive speed was found in 33% of the women and28% of the men," they reported. Women at age 85 are known to be relatively free fromcardiovascular disease, compared to men, and this relative absence of atherosclerosis is alikely biological explanation, according to Dr. A. J. M. de Craen of Leiden University MedicalCenter.

Psychologist James Blumenthal also points out the long-term importance of exercise for brain

function. "We know that in general, exercise improves the heart's ability to pump blood moreeffectively, as well as increases the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity," he says. "It is thoughtthat one of the reasons why the elderly – especially those with coronary artery disease orhypertension – tend to suffer some degree of cognitive decline is in part due to a reduction inblood flow to the brain."

Chapter 9: Ancient Principles for the Modern Day Warrior



Let us shine some light on a very important part of the body. Unfortunately, this body part isnot exercised in most martial arts and is dangerously neglected. Sometimes it may even seemas if some people are missing this part completely, while nature has treated others quitestep-motherly in this respect. This single part alone is responsible for victory or defeat in adangerous situation. We now want to welcome this book‘s main actor, the human brain.

Personally, I cannot understand why many people want to work out their body instead oftaking care of their brain and spinal cord. After all, a muscle is a rather lifeless structure. It isnot capable of anything useful on its own. What it definitely needs is regulation. Similar to acombustion engine, the engine also needs an electric regulation that controls the injectionamount, the air supply, the valve opening time, and many other parameters. Our brain alsoneeds to tell every muscle what it needs to do how often, how fast and when. The muscle willagain tell the brain what he has done, how often, how fast and when. With more than 280muscles moving simultaneously, you might be able to imagine the incredible data streams. Itis unbelievable how fast our brain can make the right decisions in milliseconds. The world‘sbest computer looks like a beast compared to that.

You can see by this example, how much the brain is responsible for our movement: if a

person‘s spinal cord is damaged in a car accident, they may suffer paraplegia from the injurydownwards. Although the muscles might be healthy and completely functional, they willremain immobile. This has one simple reason: the communication route between the brainand the muscle is separated. The muscle will not know which movement to make.Furthermore, it will not know which tone it should take on. Therefore, it will just becomelimp and do nothing at all. If you know that the brain controls the body, would it not besmarter to train your brain to give off the right commands to the body?

Sure, this approach requires totally different thinking and changed exercise methods; thatyou need to leave several old perceptions behind that you need to swim against theunenergetic stream of conventionality that is why you are actually reading in this book rightnow. For me, this is a far greater challenge than blindly doing what everyone else does.

If, after reading this book, you will ask yourself if I have actually ever fought, there is onlyone answer: of course. Just because I read and write books, one should not make the,sometimes tragic, mistake of thinking that I am all theory. If some readers may not like whatthey read here, I do think that they will receive one or two thought-provoking impulses andbegin to question their martial arts training more.

Let’s turn back the wheel of human history by a couple million of years. Our language mainlyconsisted of „grrr“, „mff“, „uha“ and „uga“ – some solid grunting. Writing, arts and the iPodwere completely unknown. Our behavior was mostly controlled by our brain stem, the oldesthuman brain part.

This brain stem is also sometimes called reptilian brain, because our brain stem is very similarto that of a crocodile and it is responsible for the primitive processes in our body, likemovement. Furthermore, it also regulates other basic instincts, like hunger and thirst andself-defense or attack mechanisms. This brain region has neither moral, nor can it distinguishbetween right and wrong. Its “philosophy” is 100% competition. At the same time, the brainstem is also responsible for primitive emotions. This ancient brain part is just as active todayas it was millions of years ago and therefore determines the largest part of our existence.



Imagine that something square-edged is suddenly coming at you with screeching tires. Fromthe corner of your eye you can see a considerably sized car and you immediately jump out ofits way. If you had rationally assessed the speed of the car in order to exactly calculate howfar to jump, you would have turned into quite a messy hood ornament.

It is similar with self-defense. A sudden blow of the fist from a close distance needs about 0.1or 0.2 seconds to blast you right in the chin. It is absolutely impossible to rationally assess thissituation and then still be able to think logically. As you now know, we always react like ourstone-age ancestors. If there is a sudden attack, we will not be able to morally-intellectuallyevaluate this situation. We are completely controlled by our basic instincts and fears becausethe brain stem will use all means necessary to secure our lives and the survival of our species.

Chapter 10: Use Your Brain, Dummy

It is very wise to act like in the Stone Age in dangerous situations. First of all, we do notreally have a choice, and secondly, the Stone Age molded our survival strategies. After all,there were plenty of dangers in the prehistoric struggle for survival. Our ancient brain part

was already pretty clever back then. It sent off the right reactions for survival withinfractions of a second and was so good at beating the imminent dangers that we humans haveeasily survived until the third millennium. Basically, it makes no difference if a prehistoric“homo brutalis” is coming at you with a huge club or if a modern human vehicle made of 1.5tons of colorful steel is racing towards you. The brain stem will initiate a life-saving leap tothe side.

Recent discoveries prove that humans were already walking upright 1.7 million years ago.Anthropologists say that one of the most amazing findings is that the skeletons of Dmanisi(Caucasus) already had pretty much the same body proportions as we modern humans. Thelegs are considerably longer than the arms and the thighs are longer than the upper arms. Thespine also already displays an S-shape and the arches of the feet are also well-pronounced.

“All these features are an unmistakable proof for bipedalism, which allows us to cover longdistances walking or running on two legs”, says Professor Christoph Zollikofer of theUniversity of Zurich‘s anthropological institute. There was just one major differencecompared to modern man: the brain, with about 600 to 800 cubic centimeters, was only halfas large as that of today‘s humans. Since we were already walking upright with an identicalmuscular and skeletal system, it can also be presumed that the movement patterns of earlyhumans were largely identical to ours. These 600 to 800 cubic centimeters were absolutelysufficient to let us walk upright and to be able to assert ourselves against wild animals, butalso against fellow humans, in the evolutionary struggle.

The influence of this mere handful of brain and the even older reptilian brain on our motoricskills is very strong. After all, our oldest brain structures prevent that the various artificially

acquired techniques, attacks and movement patterns of traditional martial arts systems canbe applied during a hectic street fight. You can practice blocks, solid bong saos from WingChun or other defense techniques and still not be able to execute one useful defensivemovement in a dangerous situation. You may have learned the most elaborate joint locks, andstill not a single one will be executed because the brain stem‘s motory functions arecontrolled subconsciously. Our consciousness has no influence on man‘s basic motoryfunctions and we cannot change them effectively either.



Of course, I too know that new movements can be learned through the forebrain that arethen later available to us automatically. One example is driving a car. At first we practice theinteraction of accelerating, changing gears, braking and steering very consciously and quiteslowly until we have internalized it after a while. Later we even complete these automatismsso thoughtlessly, that we wonder how we even got from A to B. However, no later than weget into a dangerous situation under high nervous stress, coupled with a strong adrenaline

rush, and these artificially acquired movements turn into that what they have always been –thin air. Here, the brain stem takes the command again. For the modern situation ofcontrolling a car in a crash situation, our brain stem, which is controlled by prehistoricinstincts, has no useful reaction pattern available. The results are well-known and sometimesvery tragic.

An established neurobiologist and behavioral scientist therefore coined the rather humorousbut very fitting phrase of the „caveman in the street cruiser“. The University of Duisburg-Essen physicist André Bresges found similar results. In cooperation with police authorities, heexamined test subjects in an MRT while they were driving a simulated car race. His finding: atvery high speeds the forebrain ceases its activity in favor of an area close to the brain stem.The higher the speed, and therefore the thrill, the more the thinking part of the brain was

shut off. Similar to a reptile, humans then react in a fully automated mode. “These parts ofthe brain are very quick to react”, says Bresges, “but also very old and fascinatingly stupid.”

Another example for artificially acquired motor skills in the forebrain is typing. Let us assumeyou are perfect at touch typing. Now assume that you are held up at your office by two guysthat open your company‘s safe and one of them holds a knife to your throat. He demands thatyou type a letter dictated by him on the computer. You feel the cold steel of the blade andyou realize that these criminals are capable of anything. As a result, you will have anunusually large number of typing errors in your letter and will also need significantly moretime, or you may not be capable of any reasonable reaction at all. On a superficial level, youwill say that you were too excited, that you were scared for your life and trembling with fear.On a deeper, nerval level, however, the acquired movement loops were blinded out

immediately and the brain stem activated its emotional and motoric survival program.According to the current state of knowledge, we only have access to the predeterminedreaction patterns of the brain stem through one method, sensory-motor programming, alsoknown as Revat Reflex Training or NRP™. All we actually do with our method is reactivate thefull movement program in the brain and make sure that all reflexes and reactions are fullyemployed. No human can change the age-old reaction pattern of their brain stem. We wouldneed another couple million years for that and would have to adapt the human anatomyaccordingly.

There are things that we can change very well with specific Reflex Training, however: discardlimiting impulse reaction patterns that are damaged by civilization and reactivate theoriginal, most effective impulse reaction patterns. We do not really learn anything new and

confuse our central nervous system even more, on the contrary, we learn to sort out nervalwaste and to eliminate rigid movement habits. This way, we re-establish an order in ournervous system and therefore in the operation of our entire body. Compared to that, allmartial arts, without exception, prescribe their pupils preconceived and ridiculous rules, farremoved from any human anatomy and physiology. These are often many strongly regulatedtiny details, which are seen as extremely important and with which pupils can be occupied foryears on end, preferably rules for how to fold your fist, how to move your elbow, how toposition yourself before the fight and thousands of other instructions, while a real fight is



always unpredictable and without rules. This contradiction already shows that most mastershave no clue about real fights and never had to go through a few fights without rulesthemselves. This is more than embarrassing, of course. Or would you want to learn how toswim from someone who has never swum and even shies away from water? This isunderstandable. Water is much too dangerous anyway. You could drown, and then peoplewould notice that you are not a real swimming instructor, not even a swimmer, but that you

are just wearing swim trunks to appear competent. And to complete your insignia of power,you wear a golden whistle. Fake certifications and medals are then supposed to legitimize andsupport your house of cards built on sand.

Now let us get back to martial arts. Here you need to maintain the illusion of your owndangerousness and absolute skill at any cost. Where would we end up if people found out thatyou can rough up pretty much any random „master“ just like that? Where would we end up ifpeople found out where a certain Superdooper Grandmaster really got his degree? In contrastto the other major opinion leaders, we do not use Revat as a stage for a „human comedy“,staging cheap stunts and trying to impress simple folks. What we do with the NeuroReflexiveProgramming in Revat is to get rid of inveterate rules. We show and prove to the student thathis body, controlled by an unoccupied brain, will do everything right by itself, provided that

the student learns to let the anatomical and physiological procedures of his body run freeagain. This leads to a very realistic view on the phenomenon of fighting and to an intuitiveand consistent self-defense ability, just like it is given to all animals by nature, includinghumans; a self-defense ability that has proven to be especially fit for survival in trillions offights for life or death over the course of a long evolutionary selection process.

If you want to understand the complexity of human behavior and its reaction patterns, youneed to go back way more than just a few million years in evolution. To be exact, humandevelopment started approximately 4.5 billion years ago. All human genes and theinformation stored therein (cell structure, behavior) developed over several billion years ofevolution. Therefore, our behavior today is controlled by the genetic experiences of ourentire development history. Although we drive cars, use cellular phones and are slowly

beginning to explore outer space, our behavior is still similar to that of a caveman or evenbacteria. They too have only three basic behavior patterns: eat (attack) and not be eaten(flight) as well as passing on their genes (reproduction). Over the course of animal and humanevolution, these billion-year-old behavior programs were not changed fundamentally, onlyadapted to the lifestyles of the individual species.

Although we believe that we are much smarter today than our ancestors millions of years agobecause we invent and use modern technology, we should keep in mind that people in just500 years will see us and our technology as equally primitive and outdated. One thing we doknow about future human beings, however, is that they too will be controlled by their brainstem and therefore lead wars, indulge in consumerism and own status symbols to informothers of their social position. Just like people today brag of their „car, house and wife“,

people in the future might brag of their „spaceship, planet and aliens“. The culpritsresponsible for this stone-age behavior are our genes. They are incredibly slow to change.About 7 million years ago, our ancestors separated from those of today‘s chimpanzees.Despite this enormous amount of time, our genes are still 98.5% identical to those of thechimpanzee. We are actually related closer to chimpanzees than chimpanzees are related togorillas. Due to this extremely slow genetic change, we still have the same gene and brainstructure as Pharaoh Cheops, Plato or Attila the Hun.



Chapter 11: The Justice of Self-Defense

If we think that we have grown to be morally and logically controlled humans today, we arevictims of a fundamental fallacy. If you want to know who we still are, and why an effectiveself-defense program like Revat still is more than appropriate today, please take a look at thefollowing numbers:

The number of wars between 1900 and 2000 has doubled, compared to the previous century,from 200 to 400. The number of war casualties has increased tenfold, from 6 million to 60million. Since the Holocaust, there have been more than 10 genocides with more than onemillion deaths. Throughout the entire 20th century, there have even been more than 35genocides. Add to this the millions of batteries, rapes, murders, thefts and robberies thatoccur in the „civilized“ and „morally superior“ industrial nations in just one year.

I would prefer that judges and public prosecutors be enlightened about the crucial role of thebrain stem in violent altercations and about the way human behavior is determined. Howmany trials for violent crimes and excessive self-defense could be judged differently andmore favorably? One should keep in mind that exactly those people that are judging and

valuing other people would react just as primitively in a physical altercation. After all, nohuman can escape his evolutionary heritage. Or put differently: the wolf judges the wolf forhis wolfish behavior and demands that he does not act like a wolf, but like a sheep. As apunishment, we lock the wolf up for several years and then expect him to be released as amiraculously transformed sheep. The more clever wolves actually do pretend thistransformation quite well – there we literally have the wolf in sheep‘s clothing.

There is nothing left of the artificial movements, practiced for years in sterile gym rooms. Inmixed martial arts competitions, the representatives of the individual styles can only bedistinguished by their different uniforms in the ring and on the mat. The differences betweenthe styles disappear even more; the fewer rules limit the competition. In a totally no-rulesfight for life and death, all stylistic differences will disappear immediately. After all, two

nervous systems are fighting each other that have the same million-year-old identicalbehavioral and motoric program. It cannot simply be replaced by new movements learnedthrough the cerebral cortex. Technical thinking and the assumed logics of countering “thismove” with “that move” block this instinctive behavior much too often.

According to “Demann‘s Law”, real fights among martial artists look just like brawls betweenregular people. They look more like mediocre carnival boxing, with a few bright moments andlucky punches. Therefore, most martial artists are disillusioned as soon as they make anypractical experiences. It can be very frustrating if you have been practicing blocks, joint locksor throwing techniques, and none of it can be applied in a dangerous situation. Many martialartists instinctively feel this contrast between theoretical training and “unpretty”, real streetfights. They then like to hold on to their pretty illusions and we hear the following excuses:

“We‘re not allowed to fight outside the ring.” “Our techniques are too dangerous.” Or Asianphilosophy nonsense is recited: “The greatest warriors are the ones that do not fight.” Tomake the absurdity clear: “The best drivers are the ones that don‘t drive.” Or: “You have thebest sex, if you have no sex at all.”

Another part of frustrated fighters will really knock themselves out with hardcore workouts.They practice a few basic techniques on the punching bag and on partners until they drop.With 35, at the latest with 40, these people will be physical wrecks and spend the remainders



of their lives telling others how bad they used to be. Things like: “Things aren‘t what theyused to be. The workouts were harder, the opponents were stronger and I was still kickingit.” Especially in martial arts, a hero is born through such misrepresentations of the past.Their own death is always especially beneficial for creating heroes. Then all you need to do isattribute various marvels and heroic feats to their characters and have that rub off on you. Itis a little like decorating a Christmas tree. Another ornament here, some tinsel there, and

everything will look pretty. Of course, there is still just a regular pine tree underneath, justlike millions of other pine trees. Therefore, I advise you to look past the colorful ornamentsand the shiny tinsel. What is hidden underneath all the glamour and glitter is often a ratherpitiful figure.

Knowing about the function of the brain stem almost automatically reveals the fashion thathas been prevalent in martial arts in order to bring naïve consumers (not pupils) into theschools. Another point is a fairytale world that was able to survive from the middle ages andis cultivated with great care by many non-thinkers.

The development of a physical altercation already requires that the opponents act on aninstinctive level and let primitive emotions and impulses control their behavior – just like

crocodiles, monkeys or dogs. If the protagonists could (or were able to) activate theircognitive brain earlier and rationally view their behavior and communication, most verbal andresulting physical disputes would never even take place.

Watch and compare the animal instinct-based behavior of a screaming pack of monkeys andthe behavior of a brain stem-controlled, aggressively screaming mob during a street brawl.You will only find three differences: monkeys are not bald, tattooed and do not need toacquire liquid courage first.After a certain point, there is no turning back for humans. We are no longer the coollycalculating masters of our own homes, but are overwhelmed and controlled by hormones. Noperson can rationally or logically control a strong adrenaline rush and the resulting thinkingand behavior. Now to get back to our justice system:

If judges or prosecutors in a trial for excessive self-defense or even for battery demandexperienced martial artists to have “enough technical means and absolute body control” andto be “rational masters over their own senses” who should be able to keep attackers oropponents under control, one thing can be determined for sure: A significant percentage ofjudges and prosecutors are asking the impossible and are judging from an very high pedestal.

The second newest fashion is naming the special units of the police and armed forces in orderto convey the fairytale of the own system‘s superiority to the world‘s more simple-mindedindividuals. According to the logic that anything the Special Forces use must definitely begreat. Just like in real life, people in the special units are also prone to follow any pied piper.30 years ago, Judo was the ultimate system, and then followed by Karate, and after that Jiu-

Jitsu became the thing to learn. This was then also replaced by a new and improved, moreexciting combination of techniques, aka MMA. The truth is simple: those people also have justone brain stem. Therefore, there can be no tricks, gimmicks or mysterious special techniques.For anyone that followed the confrontations between leftist trouble-ma-kers and the police atthe G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany: Where were the effective intervention andsubmission techniques of the police then, that were maybe even tough by the best self-defense experts in the world? Which police officer moved better, more effectively or more



efficiently than the rioters? Did it not take at least three policemen to subdue and march offa single, wildly resisting rioter?

The same thing that stands for the example of competing martial artists in the last chapteralso here: if police had been wearing the same clothes as the rioters, one could not havebeen able to tell the difference. No one would see that one of the parties completed a

“solid” martial arts training. This should not surprise us. Just like the civilian needs his Asianfairytale world and does “martial arts”, the public authorities need their illusion of securityand the “best education possible”. In my eyes, it is the worst education possible because itconveys illusions that disappear into thin air during a real operation. What makes this caseeven worse: although the martial arts systems prove to be completely useless for regularoperations – there have been enough experiences and there is plenty of video evidence – themembers of the police force are basically ordered to keep up this illusion. With such a lack ofexpertise, I can only hope for their safety during operations.

Let’s now go to a mystic fairytale world. Have you ever seen a Chinese or Japanese personride their bikes differently than Europeans or Americans? Do the Chinese swim completelydifferently during the Olympic Games than the swimmers from other nations? Do you think

Asians dance Samba differently than Brazilians? Do you think if a Chinese person beatssomebody with an umbrella that his blows would look any different than those of the Polish,Argentineans, Norwegians or South Africans? No? Then how in the world do people come tobelieve that Asians fight so much differently? An American book about anatomy will be just asvalid in China and accepted as a teaching book as it is in Japan, Brazil or Greenland. Twoarms and two legs, the same muscles with the same functions in the same place andeverything is controlled by an identical nervous system. These are the cold, anatomic-physiological facts. If you consider this who will need Asians to defend themselves? Finishingthe thought: Were the Europeans completely defenseless for thousands of years? I do notthink so! The opposite is probably the case.

Chapter 12: The Practical Side of Using the Brain

While we were mostly concerned with the brain in the previous part, this next part will focusmore on the subordinate of the brain, the body. You will find out why there can be nograppling on the ground in a real fight, which basic human reactions are the same in all 6billion people of this planet, and why it is crucial that we act in accordance with a veryimportant part of our brain.

Of course I do know that countless numbers of people continue to roll around awkwardly,learn techniques and waste their time with joint locks and throws. I still have real hope thatthese books will actually reach one or another independently thinking reader and make himreflect.

You can also believe me that I, as well as other Revat experts in Europe and America canprove true what is written here in a matter of fractions of a second. In martial arts, werevolutionized an entire system. Many masters of the Wing Chun styles are trying to learnfrom various books written by my teacher and myself and adjust their training according toour recommendations. For example, my teacher was the first one to illustrate, by means ofthe human physiology and anatomy, that their chisao must be practiced in slow motion underany circumstances and which meaning the forms have.



If you want to become a real expert, it is actually advisable to become a Revat expert rightaway. This will not only give you updated information but also put you light years ahead ofmost martial artists. Additionally, being a Revat teacher is a very exciting and diversifiedcareer that leaves you free to manage your own time and offers an above-average income.You can find more information about the education and the training atwww.RevatOnline.com.

Chapter 13: Attack or Flee?

Do you know about the amygdale? No? Maybe under the name almond or tonsil? Still not? Youshould, though, because we talked about it earlier in this book. If you know how this littlepart of the brain works, you will also know how you work under pressure.

The amygdale is pretty much in the center of the brain. Every brain half has one amygdale. Itis crucial for the process of fear, but also bravery, and plays an important role in emotionallyevaluating and recognizing situations and analyzing possible dangers. It processes and sortsour sensual impressions and induces the according reactions. The amygdale initiates either a

flight or an attack behavior.

Since we can only react to an external impulse with this attack or flight behavior, the fightingsystems that specialize on one of both are most successful in real situations. Most peop¬lehave predominantly egomaniac motivations for fighting. They want to prove what they arecapable of and earn a certain reputation, as well as many other things. For evolution all thatcounts is passing on the genes, and whoever was left at the end was able to do so.

Therefore, a clever fighting system would only focus on fleeing fights. This has the invaluableadvantage of letting us stay alive and able to pass on lots of genes to many differentrecipients. The “scrappers” however, on one hand risk being seriously injured and on theother, losing disgracefully and contracting the image of a weakling. This reputation is quite

disadvantageous for passing on one‘s genes.

Another clever fighting system would focus only on attacking continuously, without evenconsidering flight. No matter which system you choose, both work in accordance with ourevolutionary physiological and psychological basic configuration. We therefore act “brain-compatible.”

Let us now take a look at around 99 percent of all conventional martial arts. There you“protect” yourself through defensive techniques. You try to parry the arm of the opponentthrough a block or a defensive movement. You attack inconsistently, retreat if you areunsuccessful and keep dancing back and forth. Do all these things constitute an effectiveflight or attack behavior? No! A block or defense is neither an attack nor a retreat, rather

something in between. And this “in between” unnecessarily confuses our nervous system andcreates faulty reactions. After all, our nervous system knows this from its evolutionarydevelopment: we survive and protect ourselves the best if we a) do not fight (flee) or b) endthe fight as fast as possible (attack). Although it is often considered a disgrace among martialartists, people that flee also act according to their natural predisposition and are thereforeconsistent with their genes. On the other hand, those that jump around without choosing oneor the other and even try to “defend” themselves through defensive movements or



counterattacks live in a twilight zone, which actually has no place in our nervous system. Thetransfer from the “twilight zone” to the harsh reality is often painful and sometimes tragic.

For example, the advantage of the WT/VT/WC (Wing Tsun, Wing Chun and other derivates)attack styles was not that they had a superior technique or sophisticated footwork, but simplythe fact that these styles were based on a continuous attacking behavior that was unknown

until the early 1980s.

A boxer that is used to retreating after one or two punches or a combination to not neglecthis “cover” is usually confronted with an opponent in the ring that does the same thing.People conditioned like this are not able to deal with an opponent that is wildly attackingthem with chain punches. Even less so, since the counterpart does not simply stop punchingand retreats but rather keeps firing full blast and will not hesitate to use elbows and kneesand does not seem to know the meaning of fairness.

A karate fighter fixated on his system that expects the opponent to “block” his leg when hekicks him and then attacks with one punch or kick at the most will also be stupefied by ahighly aggressive and constantly punching attacker. Athletes like this often call such wild

contemporaries unfair, not sports-manlike, or aggressive rowdies. And one should be proud ofthat! After all, this is the only way to win fights in the street or a real-life altercation.

Fairness and sportsmanship were not planned by evolution. Only brains that are completelyunaccustomed with life would think of such a thing and are then surprised if other people willnot act in accordance with their fantasies and moral dogmas. How, if not through punchingand kicking, are you supposed to win a fight? And last but not least: of course you need to beextremely aggressive. How else would you want to assert yourself in a fight? By acting weakand submissive? Aggressiveness is a completely normal behavior, intended by nature. Birthitself is already an aggressive act. Where would we be now, if our mothers had not pressedaggressively? How do you want to further your career and become more successful withoutaggressively pursuing success? If you think aggressiveness is wrong, think again.

Winning in a fight can only be ensured by acting in accordance with our brain, not through„superior“ or even „mysterious“ techniques. Therefore my advice is: either practice how toattack no-holds-barred or practice your sprint. Both offer ideal chances for coming out of astreet fight unscathed.

Chapter 14: The Illusion of Ground Fighting

I have already taken a clear stand on ground fighting in several other publications. After thesebooks about self-defense had been published, a collective outcry went through the internet,expressed through the anonymity of various martial arts forums, about who was going to doexactly what to me. Of course, nobody did anything to me.

Independent from my following physiological and anatomical point of view, the softcoreaction in short panties that takes place on the mats is as useless in a real fight as a first-aidkit on the outside of a space shuttle. However, only those people that have actually been inreal fights a few times will know this. Including those, that train according to an intelligentsystem, like Revat.



As you will surely know, I keep persisting that there is no ground fighting in realistic self-defense. Now some guests at our courses ask me the legitimate question why millions ofpeople on this planet actually practice ground fighting and why there are sports likewrestling, luta livre, jiu jitsu, sambo or judo, which are basically centered on it.

Now, first of all, I write about realistic self-defense and not about martial arts with rules that

restrict you so badly that you are basically forced to go to the ground. Secondly, one couldtake a mental leap here and ask the legitimate question why millions of people smokecigarettes although the package actually says that smoking kills. Just as well one might askme why millions of people would never eat 35 sugar cubes at once, but are very willing todrink them all at once when they are dissolved in a brown liquid named Cola. On the otherhand, this is pretty healthy and almost like a diet if you consider that many “healthy” yogurtseven contain the equivalent amount of 55 pieces of sugar. To this, and too many otherphenomena of human behavior, I know no answer. After all, you never know what ishappening in the heads of other people. It is usually not as much as one would guess though.

If you are open enough to follow my opinion that there can be no grappling in realistic self-defense, there can therefore not be something like “anti” grappling either. This basically

disqualifies all those wannabe experts that practice anti grappling techniques. In ourworkshops and seminars, we tackle this phenomenon in more detail and I’ll show you how youcan defend grappling attacks, takedowns and throws.

As a rule, no conventional ground fighting is possible in a real street fight without rules or ifpeople actually move like real human beings. Only few people actually move like humans,rather they move very laboriously, stiffly and completely wrong. By the way, athletes are noexception. There are only two muscles that play a role in ground fighting.

If these two muscles are used right in relation to the entire body, more than 90 percent of allconventional attacks that try to take you down will not work in the first place. The rest of theattacks should be very easy to handle if you happen to have practiced Revat diligently for at

least 4-5 years. The reason is quite simple. If these two muscles are used correctly, the entirebody develops completely new movement patterns. Automatically correct movements thatare opposed to exactly those cumbersome movement patterns that regular people, includingthe martial arts fraction, use every day.

The first of the two important muscles is the psoas major. It begins at a large area on theright and left side of the inner lumbar spine, runs through the abdominal cavity in two thickstrands and joins the inner side of the trochanter minor. This muscle connects the lower spineto the legs and one can even say that this is the muscle that connects the upper with thelower body. The psoas is also the only muscle that is visible on an X-ray. It is the strongestflexor in the hip joint. Not using it when bending forward would be just as foolish as not usingyour triceps when punching or not using your jaw muscles when eating.

In real life, many people actually do not use this muscle at all. They are portrayed either bytheir back aches, their bent posture, their hanging shoulders or their hunchback.

Chapter 15: How the Psoas May Change

Muscles are a very changeable structure in the body. A muscle can be long or short, thick orthin and change its state within a few days. A few days of being bedridden and you feel weak.



A few days of physical labor and you will feel strong. Everyone will probably have experiencedthis at one time or another. Functions that are not used degenerate. A muscle that is kept ina contracted position continuously or is not used over its entire movement range anymore willlose its flexibility and its tone. This is when we speak of a fixed structure.

Of course, muscles have a basic tone. Even during sleep, every single muscle in the body is

activated 6-12 times. This also creates a basic muscle tone. A muscle is never really loose,except if the nerves are damaged, like after polio. However, we often find pathologicaltension disorders within the entire muscle structure of a person that hardly allow regularmovement anymore.

Since the deep down psoas muscle is rarely activated by most humans and leads a humbleexistence, it is under far too much tension. In many cases there are actually differenttensions in the left and right psoas strands. These people can be recognized through theirscoliosis, a hyper-lordosis, a rotated pelvis or different length legs.

Other muscles also display the same kinds of asymmetrical tension as the psoas. This is eitherthe large abdominal muscle, the straight quadriceps muscle, the large adductor and, as the

corollary muscle of the psoas, the iliac muscle. Although there are several good reasons forwhy these muscles shorten, stiffen or only work sparsely, I will focus on only one aspect.When looking at the countless images of today’s world‘s “Masters of Disaster” online or inbooks you can then judge for yourself. This important aspect is the un-physiological sittingposition. All the aforementioned muscles are victims of incorrect sit-ting postures and theresulting false employment. By adapting to sitting activities and this dysfunctional use, themovement range and the strength of these muscles are reduced accordingly by the body.

All this wrong sitting behavior is made worse by the fact that even today‘s human beings willsometimes have to walk, run or fight. This requires the pelvis and the spine to bestraightened up. The according muscles will already stop allowing this straightening up after afew months. The results are back aches, slipped discs, hanging shoulders, hunchbacks and

contracted / shortened abdominal muscles.

This is why you only have to watch how the „Masters of Disaster“ and their students sit, andadepts like me and our instructors will immediately see how badly they are using their bodies.The Asian acrobats are also only acting like they are sitting correctly. As soon as the photohas been shot, they will sink down again. You can immediately see if someone sits upright bynature or is only keeping himself straight for some time with a large effort. In all cases, wecan find no mastery in the use of one‘s own body, but only excessively shortened andsometimes even constantly contracted, stiff muscles.

This also applies to almost all martial artists. They do vast amounts of stretching, they dosplits and practice flic-flacs. They do sparring, torture the sandbag and pump heavy iron.

Afterwards, the “strong” and “agile” martial artist will sink into his chair because he is muchtoo weak to sit properly. He is so stiff, that gravity will pull down his much too short andinflexible abdominal muscle and do its work with pleasure.

Even a novice will be able to determine whether or not the protagonist can move functionallyand correctly and is really creating force with his entire body, presuming that he knows howto look for it. On one hand, you can see this by how the candidate is sitting. The pelvis mustbe tilted forwards slightly and stand upright like a bowl. However, most people sit on their



lumbar spine, and the Tai Chi and Chi Kung scenes and their screwed up movement cultureare no exception.

Whether someone is moving functionally can also be seen by how they bend forward whenstanding. You can be clever and use your psoas, the strongest hip flexor, for bending, or youcan be a fool and do it without. The former will already prevent ground fighting before it

even happens. The latter will lead to back aches, slipped discs, and hunchbacks… and groundfighting, which does not exist as we know. However, the completely wrong and pathogenicuse of the own body also has a few advantages. After all, you can become a master of yourrespective style. And even more: In fact, you can become a master in any style, except forRevat, with this dysfunctional movement ability.

If you are interested in learning more about it please visit our website www.RevatOnline.comfor upcoming workshops and seminars.

About the Author

Celebrity trainer and coach Ingo Weigel is an entrepreneur, author, martial arts master and

self-defense expert with over 20 years of professional experience. Born in Russia and growingup in former East Germany, Weigel always had an interest in the philosophies and principlesof martial arts. As a teenager, Weigel was a gifted athlete and enjoyed a variety of differentsports that catapulted him to local stardom. In his later teenage years, he started to focus onhis martial arts training. Here is where he met a colleague who became a close friend andmentor. Their studies and research of the practicality of today’s martial arts training hastaken them to topics such as anatomy and muscular movement in martial arts, how togenerate power, the influence of the human brain and how martial art training can influencethe development of the brain.

Weigel, a former law enforcement agent has spent over a decade to study and learn fromsome of the best and most influential martial arts masters of our time. His primary focus has

always been the practicality of the training for mind and body as well as real life applicationson the physical, intellectual and the spiritual level. It was his commitment to practicalapplicability of martial arts training that has taken him from Wing Chun to Revat.

In 2000, Sifu Weigel left Europe and moved to the US where he opened a martial arts schoolin Chicago, IL. The training and philosophies taught quickly turned the school into the leadingWing Chun School in the Midwest. Many of the advanced Wing Chun instructors in the Midwesthave gone through his program and adapted the curriculum. Sifu Weigel also has beenteaching seminars and workshops throughout the US, Europe, Canada and Brazil.

He has been featured in various Media outlets and helped many of his students to develop alove and eagerness to discover martial arts and apply the philosophies in their daily lives.

After a very successful decade in Chicago, Sifu Weigel left the Midwest behind to tackle newchallenges and goals here in sunny California.

For almost two decades, Sifu Ingo Weigel has been teaching experts and leaders in themilitary, various law enforcement agencies, VP’s and SVP’s from corporate entities, fightersand other martial arts practitioners. With over 20 years of study and active training, Sifu IngoWeigel is one of the most senior Wing Tsun / Wing Chun and Revat Masters in America. Weigelis fluent in English and German. He is also a certified Reiki Master.

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