Neko Ryu General Principles: Balance – Part 6 – Mental Balance

When someone calls you mentally unbalanced you rightly assume you are being insulted – called crazy. But, if you are momentarily confused, disoriented, distracted, or indecisive, you are mentally unbalanced enough to give your opponent an opportunity to launch a successful attack.

Anything that causes you to hesitate or take inappropriate or ineffective action mentally unbalances you. Of course, if you cause your opponent (uki) to hesitate or take inappropriate or ineffective action you create a momentary advantage during which you can launch an attack.

The kiai or “spirit yell” can mentally unbalance your opponent taking him by surprise. Using words to make him think there is a threat behind him might make him hesitate or take inappropriate action.

Inflicting pain, even without inflicting damage, will distract most opponents inducing momentary confusion and lack of situational awareness as the brain focuses on pain. The momentary confusion can be enough to permit your decisive action.

Any unexpected action you take could result in uki’s hesitation as he tries to understand your action. Against a trained and experience opponent, however, your action will also need to be coordinated, balanced, and leave no unintended openings in your defense. Else, your experienced uki will convert your action into an opportunity to delivery his attack.

Creating an intentional opening in your defense might cause uki to move in a predictable way that you can use to unbalance him. It may also cause him to hesitate, undecided weather or not to attack the opening.

A stomp of the foot, a purposely telegraphed glance, a threat to his eyes or groin, a downward motion of your hand in front of uki’s face, a noise from an unexpected direction; any of these could create mental unbalance, kuzushi, in your opponent.

Create your own surprises and distracters and practice them. Add them to your daily drill until they become a natural part of your techniques tool box.

Virtually anything unexpected might possibly create a momentary mental unbalance in your opponent. The more unexpected the action the more likely it is to be effective. On the other hand, the more experienced your opponent the less likely uki is to become unbalanced and, if he is unbalanced, the quicker he will recover.

Link to other topics in the Special Report: Balance and Kuzushi