It was written on Monastery window when Daniel arrived:
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Supposedly, sprinters who study the starter and learn to anticipate his
rhythm have an unfair
advantage over rivals who haven't mastered the art of anticipation.
Presumably, then, sprinters that anticipate the gun are forgetting the real
purpose of the race: it is not just to see who can get to the finish
fastest, but instead who can *run* the fastest.
(...)
There are thousands of mental and physical techniques to master in a sprint
race.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A lesson followed for the young mantis:
Miyagi: MOST IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER DANIEL-SAN: Race only about who win, and
how fast time. Not about start.
Daniel: Yeah... but if I really studied the starter and could anti...
Miyagi: Uht, UHHT! Only practice REACTING to starter. Most important
thing.
Daniel: But, Mr. Miyagi, if I cleanly anticipate the gun, I could get .05
to .08 on the fiel...
Miyagi: UHT, UHHT! Race begin when gun go off ... not before. Grasshopper
win race by REACTING to GUN, accelerate better than others, reach highest
top speed, and hold speed longest.
Daniel: But, Mr.. Miyagi, the guys in the All-Valley Edmonton Tournament
are tough. Practicing to learn the rhythm of a starter to get out before
everyone else could maybe get me through to the finals for the second tim...
Miyagi: UHHHT, UHHHTT! Rocket start only get Daniel-san through first five
meters of race ... 95 meters of race left in exhibition! Maybe Daniel-san
concentrate on making up perceived disadvantage to better starters by
working on all 100 meters of exhibition. Not just FIRST five! Too much room
for DQ, if Daniel-san put all eggs in "anticipation" basket. Daniel-san
work to get great start, nine out of ten times, NOT GREATEST-EVER start one
out of ten times ... this alway make winner over many, many year exhibition.
Daniel: But, Mr.. Miyagi, how am I going to beat the guys who are ACTUALLY
faster than me?
Miyagi: Daniel-san , NOT GOING TO BEAT FASTER RACERS! Fastest runner most
time win exhibition, and get name on tournament cup most times over life ...
Daniel: But, Mr.. Miyagi ...
Miyagi: UUHHPT! Daniel-san ... try Miyagi way first and see what happen.
Daniel: But, Mr.. Miyagi ..
Miyagi: UUHHPT! Daniel-san! Miyagi's way work too well too argue point all
day. Should be spending time TRAIN! Miyagi way how Grasshopper Lewis
become Master Lewis. Grasshopper Lewis face Rocket-starting Mantis Warrior
from Northern Carribean Monastery. Sometime place 2nd. Still Grasshopper
Lewis keep eye on prize .. alway look EYES! Master Lewis triumph over
almost all Masters in many exhibition. Not worry about racing before gun go
off... worry about who first across finish line, NOT who first across
starting line.
Daniel: Mr. Miyagi, do you think they will institute the NFS rule before
the All-Valley Edmonton tournament?
Miyagi: No. Too much at stake in Exhibition for fan. Only eight runner on
track, Edmonton Exhibition need all grasshopper at tournament to be success.
All Exhibition need all eight runner to be success. Without Master Greene
in Exhibition, evil monks at IAAF feel wrath of powerful HSI Monastery.
No. Always two fall start allowed for grasshopper. Even one who can REACT
GUN in .1001 second.
Now, back to important bisniss of Tournament. Training. Always training.
-----Original Message-----
From: Adam G Beaver [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2001 3:00 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: t-and-f: X-Men (was: Reaction Time)
Justin Clouder wrote:
"So, far from being the ultimate reactor, [Armin Hary] was the ultimate
anticipator. Or cheat, as I prefer to refer to sprinters who think that
anticipating the gun is OK."
All this discussion about reaction times has just convinced me more than
ever that the legal limit on reaction time should be 0.000. If you go before
the gun, you have false started; if you go even 0.001 after, you have not
false started.
The objection to this very literal interpretation of a false start is, of
course, that it is cheating to anticipate the gun. Supposedly, sprinters who
study the starter and learn to anticipate his rhythm have an unfair
advantage over rivals who haven't mastered the art of anticipation.
Presumably, then, sprinters that anticipate the gun are forgetting the real
purpose of the race: it is not just to see who can get to the finish
fastest, but instead who can *run* the fastest. Anticipating the gun is
counter-productive to honest athletic competition.
This argument is both false and hypocritical. Learning how to anticipate the
gun is the mark of a cagey competitor, not a cheater. There are thousands of
mental and physical techniques to master in a sprint race. We would fault a
sprinter if his start technique involved standing bolt upright at the gun
before running; we would also criticize him for foolishly splitting
20.0/27.0 in a 400 rather than 22.0/23.0. In fact, we would even criticize
him for not anticipating the gun at all--can you imagine a sprinter who lost
every race because he was genuinely surprised every time the gun went off,
claiming that he had no idea if it would come 2 seconds or 10 minutes after
the "set" command? So why is it that a competitor who has, in the spirit of
craftiness that has always been a part of athletics, honed his analysis of
the gun is a cheat?
Saying that sprinters may not anticipate the gun because it is unfair is
tantamount to saying that 5000m runners may not make strategic surges in
races because that shows an unfair level of mental investment. If a sprinter
may not employ his mind to gain a few hundredths, why should a distance man
be permitted to watch video and analyse his competitors to gain whole
seconds? No one complains when sports teams reposition their fielders in
response to pre-match research on particular batsmen. Why do we fault
sprinter for doing their research?
Personally, I admire any sprinter talented enough to get his reaction time
down to .001. It's part of the competition, and people looking for a "pure"
footrace shouldn't expect it from professional athletes.
AGB
