Every few months we get asked the same question. God bless the Internet. I've decided to write a quasi-official statement about bypassing the flinch.
Everything works in a demo.
The contention that a metronome-like 1/4 beat will bypass a primal, neuro-biological DNA level system that has evolved with mankind since cavemen kicked butt is a myopic contention. No one is fast enough to continuously bypass a flinch. Forensics studies and photographs of dead victims clearly show that the hand, forearm and upper arm get in the way of bullets, knives and glass (car accidents) prior to facial contact. How frickin fast is that? Is someone suggesting that they are faster? Fast enough to repeatedly launch and land multiple blows of various angles and the recipient of this barrage couldn't turn away, cover or even micro-flinch??
Everything works in a demo.
Let's speculate for a moment…suppose it was athletically feasible and realistically reliable to effectively move on the 1/4 beat, so quickly and accurately so as to also maintain complete balance and control of both yourself and the opponent…OK… all the while, this barrage that is both attacking the recipient's nervous and psychological systems also bypasses the human body's withdrawal reflex, the primal flinch… hmmmm, OK….lets talk real-life. Lets talk about an instructor's message, moral& legal culpability and let's peel it back to a more Zen- like scenario specific compatibility….if the said skill was transferable, repeatable and reliable, this machinegun-like 1/4 firing of multiple vicious strikes renders the 'deliverer' unable to stop spontaneously, as is legally required (Force must parallel danger). The described technique is a deliberate & premeditated action. The simple legal and moral responsibility to STOP when the opponent is no longer a credible legal threat would seem to be bypassed too. This suggests that perhaps the person getting hit was the really the victim of a sucker attack, possibly making the '1/4 beat beater' the bad-guy in a court of law. At the scenario level, critical elements like threat discretion, multiple assailant awareness and perimeter & environmental awareness are reduced or compromised. Fellow combatives trainer Tim Larkin recently told me, "Just because it works, doesn’t mean its right."
In summary:
a) This concept completely misses the moral and kinesthetic rationale for studying startle-flinch conversion.
b) This premise doesn't take into account the 'idea' of being attacked, i.e. an ambush, ergo: self-defense. In other words: a lawful, moral, ethical response.
c) If you're the 'good Samaritan' and you're attacked, you flinch first. That's life. That's human nature. Suggesting the flinch can be by- passed with mano e mano skills (where the first blow wasn’t a sucker punch) reveals a gross lack of respect for and understanding of how the physiological withdrawal system actually works.
d) In credible self-defense, when you're attacked, you need to weather the attack and get back in the fight. If you're seriously scared, injured, unconscious or dead you wont do anything. Period.
What you’ve described (and I've heard it be before) is a completely offensive demo done with a cooperative role-player. If you want to get a sense of the validity of a claim and the 'master' making the claim, watch the demo and isolate the role-player...is his movement sound, authentic, realistic? Or does he freeze up so that the 'master' can make his moves?? Most of the time you will notice the role-player pauses, freezes or hesitates so that the technique can be demonstrated. This will not happen in real-life.
Regarding the Blender.... it was only a performance metaphor - an idea. It was never a technique per se. We demo-ed and discussed it as a tactical reaction at extreme close quarters. And it was always influenced by the opponent's movement.
Re 'Beats': the only relationship to math I ever taught was inspired from boxing and fencing and that was half-beat theory, which is simply the notion of intercepting and done between natural beats in motion. Frankly, no one I know who really understands fighting moves like a metronome and talks about repeating 1/4 beats.
If you want my opinion, it sounds like the logic of that guy in SOMETHING ABOUT MARY who tells Ben Stiller about his new business idea to sell 6-MINUTE ABS - one-upping the popular 7-MINUTE ABS product! (It is a popular myth in some circles that subtly or overtly putting down someone else's position somehow validates theirs.) Stating it bypasses the flinch in the marketing suggests to me an attempt to capitalize on the SPEAR System's popularity. As for the 1/4 beats…I'm not good at math and what if someone develops a system of 1/8 beats!!??
TB