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Sunday, December 22, 2024

George Silver, True Times and the Blink of an Eye! Part One©



Author’s note -- since few people today use swords in combat or otherwise engage in hand to hand combat, most modern research involves the use of handguns of the ability to brake a vehicle, however this fact does not change the conclusion reached in this article.  

Also, I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

What can be done in a second?  George Silver, an early British swords master, wrote Paradoxes of Defence, in 1599.  In it he talked about the “true times” of a fight, which described which combination of body parts moved faster or slower.  The “true times” are just as accurate today as they were in 1599 and the principles behind them can be used to estimate how many seconds or fractions of a second, different actions take to complete.  But just how many seconds or fractions of a second are we talking about?

 


A second doesn’t seem very long, but in a fight, it is an eternity.  In fact, a blink of an eye might be the difference between life and death itself!  We are talking fractions of a second, since the average human blink lasts only 0.1 to 0.4 seconds, or on average about 0.25 of a second. 

 

Interestingly, the average human reaction time to visual stimulus is also 0.25 seconds, giving a bit of scientific credence to the saying “blink and you miss it”.

 

But before you can decide to take an action, you must first observe and understand the situation, and this is called “reaction time”. 

 



Reaction time is defined as the time between a visual, audio, or touch stimulus and a response.  It is the time that it takes your brain to observe, decide and react to a situation.  For complex tasks or responses, human reaction time is measured in three different phases: the “perception phase”, the time it takes to perceive or observe a danger; the “decision phase”, the time it takes to decide on the correct response; and the “response phase”, which is the time it takes to respond.

 

And while on average, for simple responses, human reaction times are about 0.20 seconds, for complex tasks they can be much longer.

 


Researcher J. Peters Blair, et al., noted the average reaction time for trained individuals to shoot a pistol when prompted by a light was 0.31 seconds and of this time, 0.23 seconds was taken up with deciding whether to shoot or not shoot and the remaining 0.08 seconds with the actual physical motion of moving the finger from a resting position to a firing position.  Additionally, he found that this is consistent with other reaction time research which has shown that reaction time to simple visual tasks is about 0.20 to 0.30 seconds, while the reaction time to complex tasks almost doubled, increasing to 0.56 seconds.  

 

Human reaction time can be complicated by a lack of situational awareness, attentiveness, line of sight, sensory overload, fatigue, and other factors.  Someone who is mentally distracted or unaware may never observe that they are in danger or must take an action.

 

By the way, reaction time should not be confused with reflexes.  Reflex responses are not controlled by your brain, your spinal cord is in control of reflexes, and reflex responses are much faster than an action decided by the brain.

 


So, once you have reacted and decided to do something, just how long does it take to complete an action, what can be done in a second, and just how does it apply to George Silver and his true times?

 

Come back next week for George Silver, True Times and the Blink of an Eye! Part Two©

 


I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

  

Sources

 

ARCCA; “Human Reaction Time in Emergency Situations”, October 1, 2021, https://arcca.com/blog/human-reaction-time-in-emergency-situations/, accessed December 18, 2024

 

Backyardbrains.com, “Experiment: How Fast Your Brain Reacts To Stimuli”, [© 2009-2017 Backyard Brains], https://backyardbrains.com/experiments/reactiontime#:~:text=Looking%20at%20your%20data%20you,seconds%20for%20a%20touch%20stimulus, accessed December 21, 2024

 

Blazepod; “What is a normal reaction time?”, November 26, 2024, https://www.blazepod.com/blogs/all/what-is-a-normal-reaction-time, accessed December 18, 2024

 

Irving, Phil; “Human Reaction Must be Taken Into Account”, The Age, May 18, 1954, page 10, https://books.google.com/books?id=1vZjAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA6&dq=%22reaction+time%22&article_id=6806,2382176&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXm7yP1buKAxVsFlkFHe8AIbg4ChDoAXoECAsQAg#v=onepage&q=%22reaction%20time%22&f=false, accessed December 22, 2024

 

J. Peter Blair, et al.; “Reasonableness and Reaction Time”, Police Quarterly, Vol. 14, No, 4, pages 323 to 343, https://alerrt.org/r/21, accessed December 21, 2024

 

Jones, Roy D., Col.; “Gun Fighting Police Doom Gangsters”, Popular Mechanics, September 1930, page 456, https://books.google.com/books?id=deIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA452&dq=break+down+of+the+time+it+takes+to+draw+aim+and+fire+a+pistol+seconds&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPl6atobmKAxUnElkFHaeQE-EQ6AF6BAgGEAI#v=onepage&q=break%20down%20of%20the%20time%20it%20takes%20to%20draw%20aim%20and%20fire%20a%20pistol%20seconds&f=false, accessed December 21, 2024

 

Lewinski, Bill, Ph.D.; Biomechanics of Lethal Encounters Officer Movements, The Police Marksman, November/December 2002, Vol. XXVII, No. 6, page 19 to 23, http://rochester.indymedia.org/sites/default/files/biomechanics.pdf, accessed December 22, 2024

 

Remsburg, Chuck; Force Science News, March 3, 2010, [© 2024 Force Science, Ltd.], https://www.forcescience.com/2010/03/excessive-shots-and-falling-assailants-a-fresh-look-at-ois-subtleties/, accessed December 22, 2024

 

Unknown; “Reaction Time”, St Petersburg Times May 28 1964, page 35F, https://books.google.com/books?id=lYAmAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA79&dq=%22reaction+time%22&article_id=5954,4670543&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjXm7yP1buKAxVsFlkFHe8AIbg4ChDoAXoECAgQAg#v=onepage&q=%22reaction%20time%22&f=false, December 22, 2024


Sunday, December 15, 2024

Getting Paleo Fit...Start Exercise Program Now!©

 

 


Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 



First, I am not a doctor or a physical therapist, so the following are simply suggestions and some things to look for in an exercise program.  However, these ideas might help you develop an exercise plan with a mix of high intensity interval training and low intensity, steady state exercise.

 


First, get a step counter and go out for a walk at a steady comfortable pace and find out how long it takes you to complete 10,000 steps.  Your walking pace will fall into one of the following brackets:

·       Slow pace of  60-79 steps per minute, about 2 mph or 3.2 kph, taking up to two hours and 45 minutes to complete 10,000 steps.

·       Medium pace of 80-99 steps per minute, about 2.5 mph or 4 kph, completing 10,000 steps in just over two hours.

·       Brisk pace of 100-119 steps per minute, about 3 mph or 4.8 kph, walking 10,000 steps in less than one hour and 40 minutes.

·       Fast pace of 120+ steps per minute, about 3.5 mph or 5.6 kph, taking less than one hour and 23 minutes to complete 10,000 steps.

 

According to both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic, physical activity per week, which is the equivalent of 30 minutes a day, or 75 minutes vigorous-intensity activity, or a combination of both, five days per week. 

 

These guidelines highlight the importance of raising your heart rate through movement, but do not prescribe any specific activities, instead encouraging people to move more and sit less.

 





And not all activities are created equally, some offer a better cardiovascular workout than others.  If you don’t have much time to devote to an exercise program, choose an activity with a higher steps per minute value and don’t forget the other things that you do during the day and add them up to get to your 10,000 step goal.

 



Take things slow and steady during month one.  Start your exercise program by walking at your current pace for 30 minutes five days a week.  Always take two days off each week, to let your body recover.  Plan one session of interval training each week, this is enough to maintain your current fitness level and is where beginners and newcomers should start.  And don’t forget stretches and weight training.  


A 16.9 oz, ½ liter, water bottle weighs just over one pound or ½ kilogram and can be carried in each hand to increase your strength and to afford good hydration.

 

In both months two and month three, increase your walking pace on the light days, over the month before.  In both months two and three, increase your interval training sessions to two times per week, to improve your physical fitness, and increase your intensity over the month before.  But remember, no back-to-back high intensity interval workouts, and always put a low intensity, steady state workout day in between interval workouts.  Keep up with your stretches and increase your weight training in both months, over the month before.  Increase the number of water bottles that you carry in your knapsack. 

 

·       Check with a doctor before starting any exercise program.

·       Wear proper footwear, comfortable shoes that offer good support are important to prevent injuries.

·       Warm up by stretching and starting with a few minutes of easy walking.  Finish your walk with a few easy minutes and some more stretches to cool down.

·       Vary your speed during your walk, this is called interval walking.  Three minutes of fast walking followed by three minutes of walking at a moderate pace, will build better fitness levels than walking at a steady pace over the same time.

·       Add some weight to your walk.  Start with a backpack carrying about 5% of your body weight, which for a 150 pound person would be about seven and half pounds (3.4 kgs), or about the same number of 16.9 oz (½ liter) water bottles.

·       Add stairs, hills or inclines to your workout.  Walking uphill and downhill engages different muscles in your legs compared to walking on flat terrain.  It also burns more calories and increases the intensity of your workout.

·       Gradually increase the intensity of your workout.  However, whenever you are increasing your walking speed, adding weight, or beginning hills do it gradually to allow your body to adapt.

·       Stay hydrated!  Carry water, particularly on long walks or during hot weather or wintry weather to avoid dehydration.

·       Listen to your body!  If something hurts or you experience pain and discomfort, stop, slow down or take a break.  If the pain continues speak to a doctor.

·       Try to get outside.  Being outside is good for the mind and body, but don’t forget that you can also workout inside during inclement weather on treadmills, stationary bicycles and walking tracks.

 

So, make Paleo Granddad proud and get out there and get Paleo fit!

 


 

For more information see the following:

·       U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

·       Getting Birchbark Fit: A Three Month Program

·       Getting into Wilderness Shape, a Three-Month Program ©

 

 

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource!  To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE.  Thank you and Happy Trails!

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Sources

 

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Hora, Martin; Pontzer, Herman; Struška, Michal, Entin, Pauline; Sládek, Vladimír; “Comparing walking and running in persistence hunting”, Journal of Human Evolution, Volume 172, 2022, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248422001075?via%3Dihub, accessed November 19, 2024.

 

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