R.A.S Reticular Activation System. Program the Mind for Results

* R.A.S Reticular Activation System

R.A.S Reticular Activation System: Back many years ago I did an article on Facebook about the R.A.S and how it controls your reality.

Today, for the benefit of complete martial art training I am going to expand on this.

First what is the R.A.S Reticular Activation System

Most people experience the world though the input of their five senses. 

At any given moment there is somewhere in the neighborhood of two million bits of sensory information trying to make its way into the subconscious mind. And this is actually a low ball number. 

Of that information the subconscious mind can only process about 40,000 bits of incoming data per second.

Therefore the data that comes in the mind has to be filtered, to decide which data is important and which is not.

Unimportant data gets filtered out by a bundle of nerves situated at the core of the brain stem known as the Reticular Activating System or R.A.S.

R.A.S Reticular Activation System

* R.A.S Reticular Activation System

However the R.A.S can be programmed what to filter information by the conscious mind.

And this is what is of interest and importance to us as Martial Artists.

As the Buddha stated "we are what we think," the RAS is thus programmed by our predominate thoughts.


This is the reason, as an example, if you have a desire to own a certain type of car, and owning that car becomes part of your predominate thoughts, you begin to see that car everywhere.

I recall in 1979 when I was looking to buy a Corvette I saw Corvettes everywhere, wherever I went. The R.A.S Reticular Activation System was filtering my thoughts and giving me the results I was looking for. 

Another example is when people have negative self talk about failure. They continue to fail because the brain will provide the conditions this negative talk is requesting. Once the talk is changed, the reality changes with it.

The subconscious mind gives you the results without discrimination.

Your Perception equals your Reality

The average person has over 76,000 thoughts per day and better then 90% of them are negative. Yet they wonder why their reality is undesirable. This is why the saying above that your "perception equals your reality" is true.

It is hard wired into your brain. How the Reticular Activation System works.

* perception equals your reality

And this is also why people are easy to program and why Cognitive Dissonance is so very prevent in the majority of society.

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological term that describes the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: 

ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. 

Reticular Activation System

People have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by altering existing cognitions or adding new ones to create a consistent belief system.

This is what causes people to stop thinking critically and accept lies told to them. They will even fight to defend the lies.

When you engage in negative self-talk your RAS filters out your environment so that it aligns with your beliefs. What you say becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You must become aware of the way in which you are talking to yourself.

Anytime you tell yourself you can’t do something, something is hard, it or that it’s not going to work you are programming your mind to give you reference experiences that are in alignment with these beliefs.

If you tell yourself you can’t catch the ball, then you mind will go to work on not being able to catch the ball. Your thoughts actually structure the experience you have of the world around you. 

Then not only is "your perception equal to your reality" but "your opinion equal your illusion" of what is factual and truth about yourself and your environment. We are what we think.

Martial Art Training - Reticular Activation System

Now I am not going to talk to you about goal setting here. Yes the R.A.S is the part of the brain programmed to achieve goals. However it is also needed in daily training in martial arts. If that is, you wish to take your training to a different level. 

People have been programmed today to FOCUS on things in their environment that are not important AT ALL. Billboard littering the countryside pushing the failed Western Culture ideology of consumption for consumption sake.

And because your R.A.S Reticular Activation System has been programmed to look for this garbage you miss most of your environment. You are no longer AWARE of your surrounding. Even if you think you are.

Martial Arts awareness training falls SHORT because they do not understand how the brain works. People exist in a perpetual state of tunnel vision due to the non stop focus on this programming or external stimulus.

They are programmed to focus on the unimportant and miss the important. 

You must train to use your peripheral vision, and see everything. Relax the mind, and therefore stop the adrenaline rushes and reprogram the R.A.S for the desired results.

Learning to use what I call "soft vision" also increased the sensitivity of the other senses like hearing and smell. 

Reticular Activation System - How is this done?

First I am going to suggest a Free Video on Kosho from this link. There will also be a form below to download as well. This type of training teaches you to understand the visual plane.

To learn not to focus on the attackers incoming fist but instead see movement. Do not look at the face, but learn to soften your vision by looking at the knees as example, thus allowing the peripheral to see motion. 

You therefore respond to the attackers motion and not react to a punch. This is a lost teaching of the masters of old. Learning when to move above just what to do.

Everyone learns what to do, but not when to do it. 

Martial Arts are taught wrong on purpose but the training is not evolved as it was intended. Understanding the Reticular Activation System starts the process to continue properly learning and results.

Reticular Activation System in Conclusion

R.A.S Reticular Activation System in Conclusion

This is a complex subject but one I have dedicated over 2 decades to understanding. Martial Art training is a Body - Mind - Spirit experience. A true lifelong path. 

But MIND is the center. Everything revolves around MIND not body as many teach today. 

Technique comes from concepts. But today the focus is on technique and not the concept that gave birth to it. Thank you for reading my article on the R.A.S Reticular Activation System.


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Thank you for having read about the Reticular Activation System. You should also checkout my new book which is dedicated to this topic. It is called Kosho Ryu the Awakened Mind

Thank you for your time and have a wonderful day! Keep Learning!

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Al vostru în arte,
Mare Maestru Art Mason

Grand Master Art Mason
Grand Master Art
 

Retired Dojo Owner . Founder: Kyusho Jitsu World Alliance, Founder: Art Mason's Peaceful Warriors Martial Arts Institute Founder: Hon Sang Mu Sa Hapkido

World Budo Alliance