e
Some may claim it is necessary to include the tactile sense in the Read. I agree that this is possible when your timing is late, which we examine in Combat Classes of the IAW curriculum. However, it’s imperative not to solely or even preferably rely on feeling.
So, reading is a dual skill of visual (looking) and cerebral (seeing) interplay. This eye-brain coordination takes practice via perceptual learning. Like using picture flashcards to memorize vocabulary, repeated simulation of Self-Defense situations will burn the images in your mind. You can then draw from that database in emergencies.
If you become a speed reader, you can universally absorb a broadband of information. But you are also able to pinpoint meaningful essentials by quickly filtering out irrelevancies. You are looking to see valuable signals in distracting noise.
You are reading the present, not predicting the future. Even psychics can’t do that perfectly. Indeed, a skilled attacker is harder to read. Or your opponent may throw a feint. But if you see him out of distance, you’re safe. If he comes into reach, you’re dangerous!
Looking is searching out. Seeing is finding out. Looking gathers everything indiscriminately. Seeing identifies something specifically. You need both proficiencies to read with depth and breadth, accuracy and precision.
In Part 4, we will conclude this series by discussing the Deed. Hint: it’s all about attack.