Experimentation, distributed cognition, and flow

Measuring Things That Measure You: Complex Epistemological Practices in Science Applied to the Martial Arts

“…For example, boxing gyms can contain their own intricacies of communication-such as, signifying each punch with a number for shorthand communication during training and competition. As we have argued elsewhere [23], such intricacies are part of the distributed cognition of a given martial arts gym. If the coordinated cognitive effort is effectively planned, intracommunal repertoires become part of a secret recipe, serving as an advantage.…”

“…There are countless drills that require some fluctuating elements, provided by an active training partner. As we have argued elsewhere, this type of activity isolates and stabilizes specific techniques to be used within particular contexts [23].…”

“…In our 2021 paper, "Experimentation, Distributed Cognition, and Flow: A Scientific Lens on Mixed Martial Arts", we argue that combative techniques become distributed throughout a given practitioner's cognitive and physiological system, such that, when placed in changing environments, the system itself responds automatically, and with minimal cognitive effort from the practitioner. This, in short, is a flow state in martial arts-the practitioner has saturated their cognitive and physiological system so thoroughly with a given technique(s) that when placed in a chaotic environment, the technique, distributed throughout a system, performs itself [23][24][25][26][27][28] 3 . Notice here that the stabilization of the precision and effectiveness of a given technique within a given context (internal validity) extends to new contexts (external validity) [29] 4 .…”