Chats with My Knight

This video is not very long but presents a few topics that are worth discussing. 

Here is a quick run down of thoughts I came across:

He didn't go into the theory of plateaus much and how they operate with cognative plasticity. Generally you reach a mental plateau when the skill becomes well set into the autonomous stage, however it also means that you have reached a point where how you are learning the skill has peaked with how well you can process a particular subset of information. This is why, "changing it up" or practicing weaker skill sets causes more constant improvement. Actual linear plateaus don't exists if you are constantly trying to improve, only the slope of the learning curve (which is different of every person).

The brain has a natural tendency to rehearse new information, even more so with things you find interesting, and progressively fix it more and more into your memory. The idea of being "driven" improves the amount of information entered into your memory as your brain will change physically to accommodate it. This is called sensory upgrading if your interested, where there is an increase in pre- and post-synaptic neurons that help establish stronger long/sort-term memories.

Also, and yes instructors you'll get a kick of of this, cognitively humans respond more rapidly to fear/pain and learn faster. These negative responses will over ride pleasure/reward aspects of the brain every time. This is why critical comments that break down failures with our fighting help us learn more quickly rather than complements, which lull us into more of an Autonomous stage and decrease the level of improvement overall.  This ties into a previous post, on being coach-able.
(My knights response to this: I was thinking that perhaps it is time for the squires to spend a few months fighting off hand )

With out actually mentioning the term visualization he did talk a bit about it. By geeking out and recording patterns, that he found within more successful writers texts, he was able to improve his memory/writing by working within these noticeable subsets. His over all abilities changed because he was able to adapt by visualizing how they needed to be change.

My Knight's Thoughts:
Consider if there is value in spending 20 minutes a day visualizing (replaying) a difficult or failed engagement. This is not studying video (a different and valuable tool also allowing study of the masters as well as personal failure) but rather closing the eyes and being in the fight again. Visualize and feel the execution of variations on your original actions. Try different weight balance, on guard positions, foot motion, hand and elbow positions and motions.... It should be difficult or impossible not to have the body responding to the replay.

I think the other key point that I missed emphasizing is the "study yourself failing." Failure for the sake of failure means little and failing as an excuse against learning should be anathema to the student. What do I mean by this last bit? When another advises and the response is a rejection of advise because the student is focused on failing, I think the point of the failing is missed. The point is to push the envelope of skill and skill set to the point of failure, analyze (and accept analysis) and adjust.