Can a person outrun a flying bullet? Comics and movies say yes, reality no. But blurring the boundaries of reality is not as difficult as it seems at first glance … At least only a few succeed. How else to explain their completely inhuman speed?
WITH A SWORD AGAINST A PISTOL
Oriental films about samurai and ninja, anime, video games and science fiction like Star Wars confidently declare that the sword is a perfectly adequate defense against firearms. An experienced samurai (or Jedi) is quite capable of cutting a bullet on the fly with his trusty blade, and then chopping a short-sighted shooter into a cabbage. Today you can laugh at such stories … or is it not worth it?
A clear sunny day in 2011, at a small training ground - four people. Host, brain expert, marksman and samurai. The shot is fired from a distance of twenty meters, and the plastic ball rushes towards the target at a speed of 350 km / h. The samurai makes a single swift thrust and sheaths the sword while the camera captures the action and re-shows it in slow-mo. The ball, cut in two, shatters into small fragments. And this is not an invention or montage. The expert is dumbfounded trying to explain something about "a completely different level of perception and data processing", but the presenter is not surprised - he knew well who he had invited to the experiment. The samurai's name is Isao Mati, at thirty-seven years old, he is a multiple Guinness World Record holder for the fastest handling of a katana. Such an experience-show is not even a challenge for him - after all, he had to chop conventional "bullets" at a speed of over 800 km / h! In addition, the master's achievements include "the fastest thousand blows of the sword", "the fastest dissection of rolled bamboo trunks", etc. In the latter, by the way, he was at one point ahead of an industrial robot, about which there is a corresponding video. Considering that Isao himself helped "train" the car, it is hardly worth blaming him.
MASTERS OF SPEED
Isao Machi practices iaido, the ancient Japanese art of lightning sword attacks. Information about him is a little less widespread than about kendo, and the point here is all about fencing. In the days of the shoguns, samurai practiced iaido in order to hit the enemy with a sword in the blink of an eye, which was resting in the scabbard just a second ago, and with a calm soul put it into the same scabbard only by shaking off the blood. Nowadays, the technique of killing with lightning speed is not so relevant, but it allows you to set amazing records. Unless, of course, you are of the same type of superhuman as Isao Mati, not only practicing with the katana for decades, but also able to notice a tiny projectile flying at the speed of a bullet. One talent in such a matter is not enough - it already smacks of legends about the samurai of antiquity …
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The world knows another example of incredible speed, also from Asia. Bruce Lee, one of the most famous martial artists of all time, was also the fastest-hitting man on the planet. He didn't have to catch bullets (he never tried), but throwing rice grains into the air, then grabbing them in the air with chopsticks is easy. His movements during filming were so fast that they could not be captured by the technology at 24 frames per second (common at the time). Especially for Bruce, some scenes were shot in 32 frames, and it was difficult to keep track of his hands. The maximum impact speed of Bruce Lee at a distance of one meter was 0.05 seconds, i.e. approximately one-twentieth of the time it takes a person to blink. Add to this the punching force literally breaking through metal,and ask yourself the question - did this person really pass away in his prime from an aspirin pill?
Finally, super speed does not necessarily have to propel a person towards martial arts. Bruce's namesake, British musician Ben Lee, is officially considered the fastest violinist in the world, capable of playing "Flight of the Bumblebee" at a speed of 15 notes per second! He confirmed his "title" four times and has not been surpassed by anyone to this day. Watching his record, one might think that the violinist was filmed in fast motion - it is difficult to enjoy music, but the movements are simply amazing.
MUTANT RUNNERS
Bruce Lee began training at the age of five and continued every day, constantly finding new ways to improve his body. Isao Mati also started practicing Iaido as a child, having achieved amazing results in speed by the age of thirty. Ben Lee has honed the art of speed violin playing for tens of thousands of hours. They cannot be accused of cheating, because hard training is a serious argument. But someone else, perhaps, will also be engaged in martial arts or music for life, but will not even come close to the records of Bruce Lee, Ben Lee and Isao Mati. Fortunately, we usually do not need to demonstrate this, but can this phenomenon be called only a miracle?
There is an indirect justification for the talent of superfast people, discovered by geneticists. They conducted experiments only on mice - but they isolated the NCOR1 gene, which suppresses excessive growth and muscle strength. By blocking the effects of this protein, scientists were able to grow a natural super mouse sporting powerful muscles at a very early age. Such a mutant rodent ran twice as far and faster than ordinary mice. Similar experiments with similar results were carried out on other mice, using different methods of changing genes. So it is quite possible to become an unsurpassed athlete from birth if you win a prize in the genetic lottery.
FASTER THOUGHTS
Following the records of speed geniuses, it is easy to think how little we really know about the capabilities of our own bodies. It is true that the adrenaline rush in extreme situations can help the most ordinary person to set records in speed or strength without the slightest training - just fixing it is quite difficult. There were quite real people who jumped away from cars rushing on them like real athletes, running a hundred meters at the level of Usain Bolt, fleeing a chase, or lifting huge pieces of buildings, trying to pull loved ones out from under the rubble …
I recall the famous tale that the human brain uses only ten percent of its real power. And although this is pure fiction, physical ability is not so simple. A person makes each of his movements unconsciously, the speed of interaction between the brain and muscles is thousandths of a second. However, we realize that we cannot catch a grain of rice with chopsticks in the air or cut a bullet. And even if we try, we fail … except in emergencies, where there is no time for reflection. It turns out that training is intended not only for the adaptation of muscles, but also for the correct way of thinking - in which a person forgets about the impossible. And here genetics or sophisticated therapy are not required - only real self-confidence. Only those who believe in themselves are able to outrun a bullet - and still remain human.
Maxim Filaretov