Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
When i broke it down into analogies of cars and other machines, she understood it so much better.
Excellent thread. It won't get much action, but i will still flag/star it just because I think it is excellent.
Thanks. There's a lot of utility with "the body as machine" description.
In martial arts I use it, thus:
To attack the body choose a system and attack those vulnerabilities.
Locomotion System
Respiration System
Hydraulics and Vessels System
Sensory System
...etc.
To attack the hydraulics, cut the femoral artery, or perform a blood choke on the neck.
To attack the respiration perform an airway choke, cover the mouth, or compress the chest with a triangle lock from backmount, various smothers
To attack the locomotion system, knee bar, ankle lock, sweep, leg kick.
To attack the sensory system - finger flick, finger jab, forward headlock, guillotine, smothers, right cross to point of jaw.
As you can see, using this system gives a functional grouping that one might not otherwise be able to freely access. It's a lot better than just
'punching and kicking' without an object in mind.
If the body can not sense, locomote, pump blood, keep blood pressure or get oxygen, it fails. Don't stop the attack until one or more systems are
disabled.
The best attack may be to the respiration system, since it is reversible and causes temporary unconsciousness. Though one might resist pugilistic
attacks, no one can resist a blood or an airway choke for long (except, maybe certain large judo experts). (a blood choke still uses respiration, and
oxygen transport as the operative method)
Anyway, yeah the body is a system of nano-gears and ratchets, rods and microtubules. Even the way cells divide uses a system of microtubules and
sliding filaments, and the way an iris expands and contracts is mechanical, as well.
If you look at root mechanisms, you often find very mechanical processes going on, from enzymatic reactions, to the way protein components
assemble.
[edit on 5-3-2008 by Badge01]