Warrior Perception

A warrior, while engaged in a conversation, perpetually scans the area. The eyes
subtly shift, taking notice of the surroundings. This attribute is
hardly noticeable and appears to be a half-hearted disinterested glance here and
there. The peripheral vision concept is the Gan precept, and the primary tool of
any military, police officer, martial artist or warrior. It is a lifesaving
mechanism without which the warrior would be useless to himself and others. It
also must be utilized on an almost sub-conscious level, allowing the warrior to
key in on hundreds of indicators simultaneously without dwelling on one or two.
Then, when something unusual triggers a response the warrior acts immediately
with whatever action is needed to do the job. Gan is the most important survival
technique for people performing dangerous jobs.

We put aside the etiquette of what is considered proper conduct between people
engaged in conversation. Looking into someone's eyes is secondary to seeing
everything at once. The true warrior understands when another person does not
constantly keep his eyes fixed on his or her eyes during a conversation. This is
especially important in a fighting situation. During a battle, you should not
keep your eyes fixed on your opponent's eyes. There is too much to see in the
eyes: fear, anger, emotion, which are all irrelevant to you at the moment of
battle. Your main concern should be to attack the opponent if necessary. Block
or shift from his attacks and ultimately win, as quickly as possible, without
dwelling on your subject or his emotions. He is, at that moment of battle, an
object rather than a human being. You must also put aside your own feelings
during the heat of the fight, even a fraction of a second is too much time to
waste on emotional thoughts.