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Friday, July 22, 2016

The Survival Instinct (Maslow’s Needs)

  1. Survival: the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of conflict and/or violence (an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances).
  2. Security: the state of being free from danger or threat; the state of feeling safe, stable, and free from fear or anxiety; the safety of a state or organization against criminal activity such as terrorism, theft, or espionage; procedures followed or measures taken to ensure the safety of a state or organization.
  3. Belonging: be a member or part of (a particular group, organization, or class); have the right personal or social qualities to be a member of a particular group; (of a person) fit in a specified place or environment; be rightly classified in or assigned to a specified category.
  4. Esteem: respect and admiration, typically for a person; respect and admire; Self-Esteem: a person's overall subjective emotional evaluation of his or her own worth; a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self; beliefs about oneself, as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame; the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it.
  5. Self-Actualization: the realization or fulfillment of one's talents and potentialities, especially considered as a drive or need present in everyone (A person who embraces the unknown and the ambiguous; who accepts themselves with all their flaws; they enjoy the journey not the destination; inherently unconventional without succumbing to shock techniques; motivated by growth, not a satisfaction of ego; have purpose in life; not troubled by small things; have gratitude and show appreciation; have close tribal relations while identifying with others; humble; resist enculturation; accept their imperfections).
The reason I have presented definitions to the Maslow hierarchal pyramid of needs is to show that ‘Survival’ is the very foundation of that hierarchy, it is the very essence of humanity itself. It is encoded not just in our gene’s but in nature itself and permeates every single atom that makes up our universe. Consider the concept and theory of the ‘Big Bang’. Isn’t that actually a form of violence, a form so huge the human mind has issues with the very concept and why it is referred to as a big ‘BANG.” 

There is a most excellent article about Maslow’s needs and you can read it here before continuing here (Note: this article has nothing to do with my article except as a subject of discussion, etc.)

There, in my mind, is an apparent dependency here and why I feel that survival holds up the pyramid and thus is meant to teach us that survival is the very essence, the cornerstone, of humanity and human existence. It is one of those reasons as to why I have the belief that every facet of human existence is based solely on humanities very survival/existence. It is the very core of why, what and how to  the very existence and meaning behind such disciplines as martial arts (Karate for me in particular). It is why I feel considerably strong about the existence of martial arts is about survival whether as a tool to keep our connection with that fundamental principle through a philosophical study or through the more violence oriented fense (defense/offense) studies. 

Hey, even playing video games has a thread that reaches toward an instinctual feeling in regard to ‘survival’. In truth, I see and feel that the five levels of the Maslow model is how we come to create our selves as to personality and character. I have also come to believe that the upper levels of security, belonging, esteem and self-actualization are all ego based personality and character traits the provide humans the ability to think, analyze and synthesize so that they can navigate the world and universe and survive the worlds and the Universes obstacles that are often dangerous and a threat to our very … wait for it … ‘SURVIVAL’!

You then have to ask yourself at every dangerous encounter, “How will this effect my survival?” Not just those immediate dangers that result in either or grave harm or death but the layers in between that affect your survival, i.e., your job stability as it relates to your income as it relates to your ability to provide as to the ability to have shelter and sustenance as to staving to death as to being exposed to the elements of the world as to your surviving those very elements by not freezing to death; being exposed to the dangers of nature; being exposed to the dangers of others who would need, want and require what you have for their survival and so on. Oh, and I didn’t forget that a pert of all this is also that drive to propagate so that your tribe (family) and you survive. 

If you stop and think of the connections they all find themselves connected to the very center of each individual and groups center - a need to survive. If we take the pyramid and change it a bit we can then see survival as the very center of human existence while the other needs circle and connect to make survival possible except when survival becomes and triggers our very instincts, i.e., the flight-fight urges. 

Bibliography (Click the link)


Monday, July 18, 2016

Dopamine (Notes, Quotes and Meme’s)


I came across what follows while reading a “Friggin Outstanding Book” written by Sebastian Junger titled, “War.” I was a spell binding true story about the title and held me captive until I finished just a few minutes ago. It wasn’t till I got to the last few chapters that the author brought a lot together into what I wrote as notes provided in italics throughout this particular mindless meandering thought provoking bunch of typed words. 

It spoke to me and the quotes triggered the proverbial, “Oh Shit” moments that one gets every once in a while when something they unconsciously understood but couldn’t actually grasp till some one else spit out some paradigm shifting often very wisdom oriented bunch of alpha-characters into some semblance of understandable written or spoken words. 

“The basic neurological mechanism that induces mammals to do things is called the dopamine reward system. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that mimics the effect of cocaine in the brain, and it gets release when a  person wins a game or solves a problem or succeeds at a difficult task. It is stronger in males and men are more likely to become obsessively involved in such things as hunting, gambling, computer games, and war.”  - Sebastian Younger, WAR

They say that eating ice cream does pretty much the dame thing, that part of the brain even when imbibing in something totally legal triggers that “comfort food or drink or smoke or something” of our brains saying, Ohhhh and Ahhhhh and Feel good stuff. Like when we get to take off by ourselves for the very first time driving our very first car - orgasmic ain’t it?

At least it puts an understandable spin on why we do some of the things we do where morality, social conditions and other such teachings are the only things that separate our thoughts and actions from actually doing vs. contemplating of things. 

In self-fense through martial arts it tells us the why we take up such difficult and often dangerous disciplines as well as once again connecting us to our very nature, the nature of conflict and violence. I mean, we are so far distanced and conditioned to the ignorance of reality that we even forget that violence is about the very food we eat where others now do the killing, cleaning and preparation over how we humans once got up each day and hunted and gathered and slaughtered the very sustenance of our very survival. 

It also explains how our brains are the very tools used to bring us to conflict and violence of survival from the very methods we once used to feed ourselves to the acts we do to ensure our and our families survival all the way up to how we go to war for the very survival of our society, the way we live and our heritage survivals, etc. 

Combat starts out as a fairly organized math problem involving trajectories and angles but quickly decays into a kind of violent farce, and the randomness of that farce can produce strange outcomes. “Every action produces a counteraction on the enemy’s part, the thousands of interlocking actions throw up millions of little frictions, accidents and chances, from which there emanates an all-embracing fog of uncertainty.” - quote by Jack Belden WWII

“Combat fog obscures your fate - obscures when and where you might die - and from that unknown is born a desperate bond between the men. The bond that is the core experience of combat and the only thing you can absolutely count on.The shared commitment to safeguard one another’s lives is unnegotiable and only deepens with time. The willingness to dies for another person is a form of love that even religions fail to inspire, and the experience of it changes  a person profoundly.”

“ … a wounded man will go AWOL after their hospitalization in order to get back to their unit faster than the military could get them there. This was considered by soldiers not as an act of courage but an act of brotherhood, and there probably is not much to say about it except, ‘Welcome back.’” 

When I read this part I wondered if this missing component of human survival is another reason for our modern lost way syndrome where everyone is for themselves and each individual feels a strong entitlement pull that exists counter to the social connectivity necessary for the survival of the tribe or clan over that of the individual. I wonder if it will take some cataclysmic life threatening event to bring the solidarity and connectedness of a brotherhood way to get us out of the quicksand before our heads sink into oblivion. I also wonder if there is some way other than through the dangers of war and death and survival that will bring about a social connectedness that helps us cope and connect and get along in a brotherhood like manner?

“A survey of ethnographic data found that pre-contact hunter-gatherers around the world lived in shifting communities that ranged from 90 to 221 people., with an average of 148. Romans used in their time a formation of a 130 men, called a maniple, or a double century, in combat. It might be of interest to know and understand that in the Hutterite communities of South Dakota would split up after reaching 150 people because, in their opinion, anything larger cannot be controlled by peer pressure alone.” 

“The size of hunter-gatherer communities were not spread evenly along a spectrum but tended to clump around certain numbers. One group size in ethnographic data was thirty to fifty people - essentially a platoon. Those communities were highly mobile but kept in close contact with three or four other communities for social and defensive purposes. The larger these groups were, the better they could defend themselves, up until the point where they got so big that they started to fracture and divide. Many such groups formed a tribe, and tribes either fought each other or formed confederacies against other tribes. The basic dichotomy of ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ happened at the tribal level and was reinforced by differences in language and culture. The parallels with military structure are almost exact. The molten core of the group bond was the platoon, with a headquarters element, a radio operator, a medic, and a forward observer for calling in airstrikes is the smallest self-contained unit in the regular army.” 

Could it actually be about modern societies dependency on a few not connected in any clan or tribe or social way leaving us gathering in larger and larger groups that are unable to keep us connected in a human survival like way? It seems that we naturally gravitate toward smaller and smaller groups of like minded and culturally connected with mutually beneficial beliefs that make the tribe work, is this why we are getting more violent and trying hard to stop such atrocities that currently plague not just our societies but our very human existence across the entire globe called, Earth?

Is it because we have far exceeded our humanity in the name of technology for the ease of instant gratifications that we are trying to use to cover up and disguise or hide our true selves? Is our effort toward the modern social media driven connectedness actually destroying our very existence as it separates us placing a huge growing chasm or divide between not just individuals but tribes, clans, groups, disparate social groups within the social entity of our nation and so on? 

“Self-sacrifice is defense of one’s community is virtually universal among humans, extolled in myths and legends all over the world, and undoubtedly ancient. No tribe, community, can protect itself unless a certain number of its youth decide they are willing to risk their lives in its defense. Over and over again throughout history, men have chosen to die in battle with their friends rather than to flee on their own and survive.” 

Are we losing sight of our heritage, a heritage of sacrifice of the self for the good and survival of the many while maintaining the many at levels conducive to human existence and the very human nature that makes us, “Human?” In our concerted blinded efforts to make ourselves as individuals comfortable are we failing to realize the value and need of humans to bond and band together as a single wholehearted tribe that lives, works, survives and thrives together into the weaker and vulnerable single individuals we are becoming while blinding ourselves to reality of connectedness that is merely a blind rather than a reality? 

“Genetic material gathered from contemporary hunter-gatherers suggests that for much of prehistory, humans lived in groups of thirty to fifty people who were loosely related to one another. They married into other groups that spoke the same language and shared the same territory. Our evolutionary past was NOT peaceful: archaeological evidence indicates that up to 15 percent of early humans died in battles with rival tribes. Because of our violent past, evolution may have programmed us to thing we’re related to everyone in our immediate group - even a platoon - and that dying in its defense is a good genetic strategy.”

Isn’t it just possible that evolution has run against a wall of stone regarding human existence? In our run for the ring have we failed to slow ourselves down, take control of human existence and made technology, industrial ability and our agricultural progress our masters when they all should be our slaves doing our bidding in accordance with the evolutionary process natural to humans and to the very Universe in which we live, die and survive? Are we just banging our heads against that stone wall and are we pushing ourselves past natures limits until nature’s inevitable conclusion that our human existence has outlived its usefulness and sends us off to nev-dull? 

Bibliography (Click the link)

Friday, July 15, 2016

OFF TOPIC: In a Nutshell




Possibilities in the Dojo


As sensei we encounter many different people all seeking something, often that something being self-fense through the building up of confidence, experience and a certain philosophical belief system toward their own betterment, improvement and abilities. Education of this type does not come from study alone, academics, but through hands-on physical experiences that occur only when people act in tandem with the mind and its studies so that things get absorbed into the very core of who and what we all are.

Only when people come together into social like groups do we achieve such things. Only through a type of forging by fire do humans connect at such a level of mind and body that we achieve great things in all things. It reminds me of those times when our society learned how to do these things from the influences of our parents, elders and clan or tribe connections and their experiences as passed down through the generations comes from experiences where the most important and critical knowledge and understanding are about … “Military Service.” 

It has been and always will be about human survival that requires the tribe, the clan the social entity in context must learn what it takes for the groups survival in a world where conflict and violence are normal, nature and a part of the entire universe in which we live, exist and survive. 

Our current modern difficulties is born from a loss of that connection and fear has created a type of social conditioning that has suppressed the very core traits necessary to meet the needs of a human society, group, clan or tribe. It has jammed a wedge between the reality of existence and survival that is taking us toward the spiraling pull of a social black hole where at some point the ability to resist its strong pull toward oblivion that the tribe then ceases to have the ability to survive and thus expires into the void, it dies leaving a hole that will be filled by those fittest to survive in a universe of conflict and violence. 

The dojo, being a hall of learning toward proper coping skills, both mental and physical, to handle all types of conflict and violence, to achieve a cohesive brotherhood of connectivity that, historically, came from the fire of military training, service and in some cases combat that created a mind-set, mind-state and social philosophy that actually instilled a social brotherhood that spans the overall society in general and permeated every facet of its existence down into its groups, clans, tribes, and families where adversity simply means we come together with a core experience of knowledge and understanding that allows us to achieve a dynamic that exudes power and authority keeping the wolves at bay so the tribe, group, clan and family can survive, flourish and live well from generation to generation. 

It is in the dojo where sensei can re-instill that kind of spirit much like the actual spirit of the mind and body and dojo members into a single wholehearted connected tribe that can handle such adversities that threaten the very existence of its members as individuals as well as the proverbial dojo family, tribe or clan. 

The dojo dynamics holds the possibilities to achieve a return to such a state of humanity that would cause such modern disfunction’s to no longer exists much like a return to a national military draft would bring back in a few generations that brotherhood that permeates our very genes and thus extends that philosophy into our culture, our beliefs and our very being. 

Using such aspects as mind-body-spirit as developed through thought and actions of things like the yin-yang dynamics in the practice of martial arts of sensei-deshi, senpai-kohai and tori-uke, etc. Through the shin-gi-tai and the shu-ha-ri and other philosophical aspects the create the type of foundation that I am trying to convey. 

I remember that my family with my father, my grandparents and our ancestors all had that one trait that came from what can only be termed as a culture and philosophy built by the fire and blood of military service, the only way to achieve the brotherhood and connectivity that brought us all together when our very existence was threatened, our very survival. I feel that we have brought ourselves to that state in our modern society simply because we have suppressed those vey survival instincts out of ignorance and fear. We have become, as history proves by those who came before but have disappeared from existence, our worst enemy while the hordes of the barbarians stand at the gates pounding against its weakening structure simply because we fail to maintain our readiness to combat and survive the threats of our society, our tribes and our families. 

Bring back the military draft, draft all who reach the mature age of 18 years; draft both genders and allow them to server in all capacities; and in a generation of three or four that spirit will return or it will not and our way of life will go the way of the Roman Empire, into the dust never to be seen or exist again. 

Sensei shall go forth into the dojo with a new purpose, to re-instill our nature and our abilities to handle and cope with all forms of conflict and violence, the very core and nature of existence, by the way, the way of the warrior through martial arts. We do have a responsibility but it goes way beyond mere competitive tournaments for trophies and accolades of our peers, it goes to the very core of our survival against those who bang at our doors just waiting for the chance to enter and destroy our way of life in the name of their way of life. 

Then again, what the fuck do I know …

Bibliography (Click the link)

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Consequences, It is About Consequences!


In our world almost nothing has lasting consequences, so everyone can blunder through life in a kind of daze, a selfish self-serving individualistic daze. You don’t have to calculate how the ways in which the most mundane things of your life tend to play out because in modern society this can’t kill you. You therefore lose that sense of the importance of things, even the most mundane of things, the gravity of things. 

We forget that mundane things and details to have the power to destroy us, but that cause and effect relation are often obscured and spread so far apart that we don’t even make the connections today. We have lost our way in a world where survival through social connections and that brotherhood developed between clan/tribal members is smothered in selfish, self-centered and instant gratification seeking thinking and living. We have become careless and unconscious and once we go across that line we become and succumb to the dangers of life, our very survival being the cost. 

We lack awareness of our very instincts, our very nature and our very existence as a social being. Our continual loss of a connectedness is opening us to the dangers presented by those others in the world who see us as selfish, self-centered and individualistic so that we lose our connectedness with our selves, our families and our tribes/clans/social constructs toward our very survival - we are like the once proud and mighty Roman empire, where are they today? 

We have become so over confident in our size and perceived might that we fail to see the cracks and crevices that erode and weaken us to the point that a well planned strategic maneuver can pull down our mighty walls and leave us exposed to things we, as individualistic self-centered and ignorant and inexperienced souls we will be easy targets for those very predators we sometimes call, “Others.” 

Our actions today are the very tools others are using to chip away at our very foundation of humanity leaving us weakened, exposed, unprotected and easy targets for those others by our actions and emotionally driven ignorances to one another driving wedges between each of us, each of our clans and each socially driven entities that make up the mighty and great place we call home. 

We blind ourselves to the obvious, we refuse to open our eyes and see ourselves for our true nature in modern times and that will be the downfall of the mighty into the lost souls that fill our histories with long gone and lost societies only known by the names history books provide if at all. We will go the way of the do-do bird if we cannot shift our ways and return to the very nature of humans and the universe. 

See the consequences of our very actions not just as to how they effect and apply to us as individuals but as they effect and apply to us as a society for failing to achieve that return to our nature means our very survival. Are we so blinded by self-righteousness, selfishness, and instantaneous gratifications that we cannot see the Forrest for the trees or even the leaves? It is about the collective be it our clan, our tribe, our families, our neighbors and neighborhoods and so on, a collective once so strong and powerful none would dare to challenge us but today even at such great numbers our lack of social survival collective connectedness leaves us vulnerable, weak and inept. 

Isn’t it time we returned to our very roots of human nature? See outside the box we have build around our individuality and open the gates to our neighbors, friends, and family/clan/tribe so that we bond, bind and recreate the brotherhood that made us so many years ago the power of our world with such stability, strength and intestinal fortitude that the world regains its respect and admiration over the current disdain, contempt and disgust of today. 

I actually remember a time when folks would greet law enforcement daily with a howdy, a smile or a wave of goodness and appreciation. A day when we cheered our returning combat veteran’s with parades, accolades, jobs and support. A day when our neighbors stood up for neighbors, tribes stood up for tribes, clans stood up for clans and families stood up with families to build a collective solid strong wholehearted band of socially connected people ready to stand tall, protect one another and achieve great things for the whole benefiting the few and even the individual - all as a collective wholehearted one. 

We can get it all back only if we see ourselves, only if we accept and embrace our current state of affairs and only if we begin to act as a family and good neighbors, etc. Only if we see how our individualism is detrimental to our collective whole survival. No person is an island no matter how it may seem in our modern world, we need one another to survive and we must remove the obstacles that would keep us apart, separate and alone. This coming from a man of solititude, a stoic introvert and a person who is most content when not with others. Even I realize the need and danger of that way of life, it is a matter of survival. Do we want our way of life to become extinct, gone forever and replaced by something else? 

Take responsibility for ourselves but more for our social existence, allow ourselves to see outside the box and to make a paradigm shift necessary for our very survival - I feel that the effort is worth it, don’t you? 

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Darts and Martial Arts


What! Darts and martial arts, that is a stretch don't you think? Not really, there are certain aspects of the physical and meant all that parallel martial arts. 

Background: about twenty years ago I played the game. Local pubs, bowling alleys and local tournaments. I guess looking back I would consider myself an average player.

I managed to win a few for money purses and I lost a whole lot more. It turns out to be a real mental-physical game.

There are other discipline similar like golf but comparatively speaking expense investments darts is way less costly in gear and in playing.

Background: I decided on this as a topic because I am taking up the game once again and tossing my first day was enlightening and triggered my thoughts to my practice of karate and martial arts.

What does it take to throw a dart, precision! It takes balance, structure, alignment, focus, awareness, rhythm, cadence, mindfulness of the moment, immovable mind, etc., sound familiar to you?

Call up a dart tourney on YouTube and take a look, it isn't just tossing a dart at a board but after the first view go back and apply that critical eye to the game and the players - think about the psychological aspects as well.

Dart Kamae: you need to root, 80% on the lead foot while 20% to steady and balance the body on the trailing foot.

Dart Mushin: Immovable mind, a mind that is not distracted by things; a mind that is focused on one single moment in the ebb and flow of time and space; a mind that controls the entire body and mind without resorting to any focus of attachment of that body and mind. Dart mushin is just that, a focus and attentive mind that is only in the moment, the moment leading to the release of the dart guiding it to its final destination chosen without attachment to anything other than that targeting at that moment in that situation. The only way to achieve that mind is to train long and hard to reach such mental and physical freedom that your mind does not need to attenuate and attend to any one aspect but to flood and drive a concerted wholehearted effort in that one moment of release. The mind is everywhere, it does not focus on the feet, the dart kamae, the structure and alignment, the arm and hand and the final release to the target - you forget everything, you attain the void, you shed eve the thought of void so that the mind is not taken by the void - the essence of mushin, the essence of dart mushin. 

Immovable Mind: “Immovable does not imply the immobility or insensibility of such objects as a piece of wood or a rock The mind itself moves freely, i.e., the complex composition of neuron connections makes it possible for data to transfer freely and without obstacles if the mind-set and mind-state allow, in all directions. The mind never stays identified with one object or one thing. This is fudo-chi or immovable wisdom.” To achieve efficient proficient tossing of darts, much like applying methods, techniques and principles in karate, one must first program the mind then free the mind from such attachments allowing the primal conditioned response to freely arise from procedural memory so that one may toss the dart through a state of mushin - thereby affecting not just the mind but the natural movement of a trained body to toss darts, to achieve mastery.

As can be readily seen, such connections can be made to demonstrate the mutual beneficial principles and methodologies toward any discipline and as will be demonstrated hereafter that darts conveys a sense of the complexities and simplicities that make for a difficult art discipline of darts symbolizing the methods and types of critical atomistic things that make for mastery in either discipline.

A slight deviation in the way you hold each dart in the process of tossing to the target. A slight variation in the rhythm of the arm tossing the dart. A change in the alignment of any single part of the entire body from the floor and up to the very finger tips holding the dart before, during and after the process of the throw all have an effect on how that dart, at that moment, in that situation arrives at its designated target from a very small target just and only 3/8” wide and just a couple of inches long. Precision is the name of the game through a variety of physical and mental gymnastics the end at the very fingertips touching the barrel of a dart. 

In order to conceive of the complexities of darts in example to the complexities of karate and martial arts just take a look at the processes to master the very basics of tossing darts as follows:


How to grip the dart; how to stand properly; how to throw; and when to move along the throw line.

Hold the dart between the thumb, the index finger, and the second finger. The thumb will sit naturally under the darts center of gravity. Using the center of gravity, the weight of the dart is evenly distributed and you will be ‘flighting’ the dart properly and, theoretically, having better control of the dart.

The fingers and thumb should apply pressure to the barrel to establish a firm grip - yet a grip as light as possible - without causing the dart to drop out of your hand. Change the grip to compensate for poor accuracy; by moving the thumb and/or fingers up and down the barrel; and experiment with different flights, shafts, and dart weights, to zero in on a comfortable and satisfactory grip.

Make sure you check the darts after each throw and check your hands for warmth and cleanliness, especially hand oils and sweat. 


First and critically important: NOTHING is supposed to move except your throwing arm. Any movement of any other part of the body while throwing - such as one leg swinging about, the raising of the heel, the involuntary sticking out of the tongue or deliberately leaning forward or sideways - will result in inaccuracy. 

Imagine a line from the point where the plumb line from the center of the board hits the floor and then runs along the floor in a straight line to the ochre line, throw line, diddle line, etc. Place your right foot against it, with the big toe pointing directly along that line to the dartboard. Place your left foot slightly behind your right foot at an outward angle (see figure 11). At this position, dart kamae, rotate your trunk slightly so that when you raise your right arm to throw, your right elbow points at the dartboard and is also directly over your right toe. Your weight will sit mostly on your right leg and foot, the left will sit and bring balance and stability to help keep your body from moving.

As with the grip, trial and error and change will eventually customize your stance to suit your own style of darting. The BOTTOM LINE: If your stance is balanced and comfortable, with no superfluous movement, your darts will likely fly true. 


I can see no other part of the darting process that holds more importance than the throw. The throw involves a good deal of variable just from the shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm and especially the wrist, hand and fingers of the throw. As long as the rest of your body is static, stationary, and unmoving then you can get the throw right by the following recommendations.
  • When performing your throw, you practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.
  • Perfect your smooth, fluent, single action arm to propel the dart precisely to its intended target.
  • Achieve mushin before stepping up to the throw line, immovable mind is critical.
  • Concentrate and focus on the intended target. 
  • Come to the line relaxed and confident.
  • Check your stance and grip.
  • Take hold of the first dart.
  • Check your stance and grip.
  • Bring your arm up so the dart is at a good sighting position level to the right eye.
  • The dart should almost but not actually touch your cheek.
  • The closer to the cheek without touching the better increasing the accuracy of alignment of the eye with the intended target.
  • Never lose sight of your dart by pulling it back to far.
  • You should see the dart out of your peripheral vision while still focused on the intended target. 
  • Make certain your elbow is pointing at the dart board.
  • Make sure your arm and elbow stays pointing at the dart board throughout the dart toss.
  • Bring the forearm back to the face, ensure your upper arm remains horizontal.
  • The wrist is a pivot point, allow the hand to bring the dart a little further back to the right ear without losing sight of the dart.
  • With the target and dart in sight, take careful aim.
  • Elbow still pointing at the dart board.
  • No other movement, move the forearm forward and, at the top of the arc prescribed by that action, release the dart with a light, smooth, fluid motion.
  • The dart should fly toward the target along the sight line.
  • Your focus should not wonder at any point in the throw and remains on the intended target.
  • Keep the elbow tucked in, and move only with the forearm and wrist.
  • Follow through, follow through, follow through; release the dart smoothly and complete the follow through!
  • Maintain the exact same speed and rhythm of your throw consistently. 
  • At each time of a toss, throw each dart at the same speed with the same smooth, confident action. 
As you can see now darting is not just a kids game and it takes a good deal of concentration, focus and mindfulness coupled and connected to proper physiokinetics to achieve a good, consistent throw every time. 


Moving and change are the hallmarks and cornerstones of support of life itself. Change is movement and movement is health and movement is the way of life for humans move constantly. In darts both movement and stasis are compatible and mutually beneficial. We assume a static dart kamae, our bodies assume a certain position and then become static, set in a stasis of non-movement so that our shoulder, arms and hands can move properly to hit the target.

One such movement necessary for success in darts is the movement of the body to move the stance to a position on the ockey line to properly position the body and arm to toss a good dart. 

First, throwing all three darts from a set position, dart kamae, ensures conformity of the throws and that is true and yet that is also not true. In short you have to position yourself on that ockey line so that the static dart kamae is lined up by sight to the intended target on the board. This means you may need to move your entire body left or right accordingly on that ockey, throw, line. 

When you do move, go back through the process you use to settle into position, gain the immovable mushin mind and then proceed through the procedures you use to toss a consistent and accurate dart. Always settle down your mind and body into that toss comfort for that new position on the ockey line.

IMPORTANT: Only move along the ockey line if it is absolutely necessary for every move during a set of three tosses means a change to that toss position and process, it changes things and therefore has the potential to change how that dart will fly.

Now, as an aside, there is a way to gain proficiency and accuracy in your throws. Someone has created a device that will help a player get that position and properly aim and hit an intended target with consistency, rhythm and cadence so that every toss can be as identical as the last as humanly possible, it is called a “SightRight” device. You can view the material on this device here:

You can also do a google search to see how others feel about this device before buying and also how the latest version also marks a line to each side that will help in moving back and forth on the throw line to sight-right for doubling out, etc.

Chaplin, Patrick, PhD. “The Official Bar Guide to Darts.” Sterling Publishing. New York. 2010.

If you note similarities then you are getting the importance of how such disciplines are practiced, studied, understood and mastered. The correlations and similarities speak to the very rudiments of all disciplines, those principles both major and minor that are universal in nature yet contribute to the practice and application of such diverse yet similar disciplines. 

Note: for those who are in darts or interested in taking up the discipline I have a blog on the subject HERE. (Yes, a shameless plug and yet still relevant in understand the processes involved in these disciplines, yes?

Bibliography (Click the link)

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