I was asked by another forum member about my experiences with Deep Trance Identification (DTI) and unconscious modeling in regards to martial arts training. I am not an expert on this topic and I don’t always get the results I want but I have studied it and have achieved excellent results at times.

After listening to the audiotape version of “Unlimited Power” by Anthony Robbins, my first exposure to NLP, I became interested in the skill of modeling since it can be used to learn any skill. The tapes really didn’t teach the skill though the book does cover it with a version of the New Behavior Generator, which is the first technique I’ll cover.

Several NLP books and audio programs teach the New Behavior Generator (NBG,) a technique that can be used for modeling, especially physical skills. People teach different versions and IMO it is best to try them out and figure out which one works the best for you. You can also use the Paraliminal “New Behavior Generator” side B as well as other Paraliminals for this technique. One thing I’ve found to be important is to make sure you use all representational systems. I used to only use the visual system and my martial arts instructors said that I looked like I imitated the grandmaster very well but I lacked the feeling. I did not know what they meant until I realized that I left out the kinesthetic system, something very important for physical skills.

Typically, the NBG is done in the head, but some teach to do it physically in the real world. Using this version, you imagine your model as a 3-d hologram in front of you performing the skill you want to learn. You then physically step into the model and fully associate to the model in the visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and digital representational systems. You experience doing the skill as your model. At this point, if you want, you can practice the skill a few times. An optional step is to imagine your timeline in front of you and walk forward on it to future pace the learnings.

I used this on two students when I was teaching martial arts. One student said that he received insights into the grandmaster’s mindset, though that would be hard to verify. He was impressed though. What impressed me was the other student who was new and had difficulty dealing with multiple opponents. After this he became very good at fighting multiple attackers. In fact he looked much better than when he was just practicing techniques.

Another technique is to use micro-muscular movements to pace the model. This is similar to a more covert method of rapport. Rather than pacing big movements and body posture, move yourself in small ways but with the same intent of making movements just like the model. This is useful when modeling a speaker at a seminar. You don’t want to get up and start walking around the room as you pace the speaker. When modeling off a video, go into the accelerated learning state as if you were Photoreading and make your statement of intent to learn the skills and why you want to learn them. A strong enough reason is important. I’ve had very good results with a good intent but when my intent was to learn the skills just for the sake of learning them I did not get good results. Then you watch the video as you pace the model throughout the entire video. When you finish the video, you make a statement to integrate the learnings or use an NLP or hypnosis technique to integrate them. What I’ll do is induce catalepsy in my arm and give myself the suggestion,”My arm will not return to its original position any more quickly than my unconscious mind integrates these skills into my nervous system and makes them available to me whenever I want or need them.

There are several ways to do Deep Trance Identification. The way I do it is based partially on the method taught in “Training Trances” by John Overdorf and Julie Silverthorn. As with the last technique I’ll go into the accelerated learning state and make my statement of intent. I’ll then give my unconscious the suggestion to notice everything about the model including gross motor movements, posture, balance, micro-muscular movements, facial expressions, etc. I’ll then watch the video in a trance state. After this, I’ll travel back on my timeline to an early age, like 4, and see my model performing the skill. I’ll then associate to the model completely in all representational systems and absorb the learnings. The next step is to induce catalepsy and tell my unconscious to raise my arm as it gathers all the learnings from the model. After this, I’ll give the suggestion as in the last method for my arm to return only as quickly as the new skills and learnings become integrated into my nervous system. If I do not have a video but have trained with the model in person I’ll skip the video segment and instead ask my unconscious to search for all experiences with the model and move on from there.

I was out of training for around two years due to back injuries from a car accident. After the first year a friend asked me to help with a demo, and this was a public one at a church fair in front of a couple hundred people, something I’ve never done before. I used this technique two days before the event and the night before we met to practice. My friend was impressed by the improvement I made but said I was doing a style that was too aggressive and wanted the demo to be a softer style. The style he wanted to do was a difficult one, effective but hard to learn. I put in the video that night, used DTI, and did a great demo the next day. I used techniques I never used before and a few months later I watched the tape again and saw those techniques. I’m not always that successful. When I did it simply to learn the results were usually not very good. When I was teaching and wanted to learn to teach the students I had better results.

In my experience, doing DTI is good for having the overall “feel” of a martial art while the NBG is better for individual techniques. DTI is also good for adopting another person’s attitude. Sometimes in the martial arts as well as other things a simple change in attitude can dramatically improve your performance. I’ve had good success with the Paraliminal “Instantaneous Personal Magnetism” for modeling a person’s attitude. I usually give my unconscious the suggestion to try on the attitude for a few days to see how it works if the model’s attitude is significantly different from mine.