Principle of the Thang

Aikido I have been told is a martial art based on principles of body mechanics and balance.  In Tommy-key Aikido we have principles like same hand/ same foot, hand in the center of the body, stepping off line,etc.  Here's the Wikipedia notion of Principle:

A principle is a law or rule that has to be, or usually is to be followed, or can be desirably followed, or is an inevitable consequence of something, such as the laws observed in nature or the way that a system is constructed. The principles of such a system are understood by its users as the essential characteristics of the system, or reflecting system's designed purpose, and the effective operation or use of which would be impossible if any one of the principles was to be ignored.^[1]
Examples of principles:

• a descriptive comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption,
• a normative rule or code of conduct,
• a law or fact of nature underlying the working of an artificial device            

I have a rule of thumb about Principles:  If you are arguing based on principle, it probably isn't a principle.  or at the very least it is a domain dependent principle: it only works in the dojo against someone who is allowing it to happen.  A true principle has no ifs, ands, or buts.      Here is a good example of domain dependent principles.  

I would say that all martial arts are domain dependent in a way. They only work under certain conditions and when they are "allowed" to happen.  Fire is very domain dependent.   Miyamoto Musashi talked a lot about science.  Science is not domain dependent, its truthful, and it lives in the realm of IFS, ANDS, or BUTS.  He said something along the lines of, " There are only so many ways to kill a man with a sword."  We can extend that notion to:  there are only so many ways/situations to hit, throw, joint lock, pin, choke a guy to where the reward outweighs the risk, or success dramatically outweighs failure.  I think we go into dumbass mode when we think that we can achieve a state where we can start a fire anywhere, anytime.

Since I'm a Tommy Key guy and I live in the age of You Tube where observational learning is free, I like to watch Tommy do his work.   There are two excellent sources:

      

                                                              

  

watch these and ask yourself some homework questions?

1.  what is the code of conduct for the good/bad guy?  

2.  what are the assumptions of how the bad guy will act? each technique, each set of techniques?

3. what are the characteristics of the system?  

4.  what are the artificial devices?  (canvas clothing, techniques born in dojo for the dojo?)

5.  what was this system designed for?   

6.  what is the inevitable consequence for failure and success of each technique?  

7. Is it domain dependent or does it live in the realm of IFs, ANDS, and BUTS?   

Now look at this excellent video and ask the same questions:  

now lets look at this big 3 dollar word:  Heuristic and the Wikipedia definition?

Heuristic (pron.: /hjʉˈrɪstɨk/; or /hyoo-ris-tik/; Greek: "Εὑρίσκω", "find" or "discover") refers to experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery. Where the exhaustive search is impractical, heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution; mental shortcuts to ease the cognitive load of making a decision. Examples of this method include using a rule of thumb, an educated guess, an intuitive judgment, or common sense.  

Now watch the videos again and look for the Heuristics and then think about just how damned smart ole Tommy Key really was.  I think we need to step back from the damned principles and start talking about the rules of thumb instead.