Fast Pain vs. Slow Pain

How fast do you make your techniques hurt? Seems like an odd question, right?!?!? Well, it is actually quite a good one! Not all pain is created equal. It turns out some pain is faster than others! Time to talk some science…

By studying a scientific process known as nociception, we learn that pain comes in at least two basic forms: fast and slow. Nociception is a process of encoding and processing noxious stimuli. So, what is that?

Basically, these are pain stimulations where there is potential for bodily harm. These impulses are initiated by nociceptors, otherwise known as pain receptors. Once range of motion or impact reaches an internal threshold, these pain receptors fire signals along the spinal cord to the brain.

Where do these pain receptors live? They are located along joints and in the skin. Their distribution varies within the body, but are in greater densities along the extremeties. For thsoe who love joint locking, especially fingers, you now have a good idea why fingers make such good targets!

Fast pain travels along type Aä fibers and terminates on the dorsal horn of the spinal cord where these synapse with the dendrites of the neospinothalamic tract. Fast pain can be felt in as fast as one tenth of a second! This pain is usually felt as a sharp acute pain. These are often stimulated along with tactile receptors which keeps the pain being felt as localized but intense pain.

In contrast, slow pain is transmitted by type C fibers, which are slower, to laminae II and III of the dorsal horns, which are known as the substantia gelatinosa. One tenth of these signals eventually terminate in the thallus and the other nine tenths terminate in the medulla. Pain is typically felt as more of an aching, burning, or throbbing pain.

How does this apply to CombatiXâ„¢? Well, it is simple. We try to stimulate Fast Pain Receptors as often as possible. This fast signals travel at lightening speeds through the brain stem and cause immediate reaction. When dealing with someone who is pain resistant, this is one of the most effective ways to get them off their feet. Often, the legs have buckled before they feel any pain; in some cases they never do feel it! Either way, these type of techniques are not really pain compliance techniques, since feeling it is not necessary to get them to work. Instead, they cause neurological reflexes to take place that are operating at a subsconscious level.

Now go grab a partner and make it hurt fast and good…

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