horrible example on my part but in every day editors to delete 2 word backwards it would either be (what i'm used to is shift+ctrl then left arrow key 2 times + delete or start typing to change. Someone else mentioned ctrl+<Backspace> works just as fast. I probably should have given a much better case. However, my point still stands that pressing db or d2b is within home row or as other mentioned db. and then how ever many '.' you want to repeat also works nicely without have to "strain" my hands out of home row. I find having to extend my pinky constantly to backspace after an 8 or 12 hour day just really adds up I'm trying to find the best way to stay comfortable for prolonged hours with the least amount of key strokes.

I did use plain Emacs mapping for the first few months of learning Emacs but as many have mentioned it's like do acrobats with your fingers and I lost the benefit that I was looking for in Emacs (better productivity). The benefit of not having to lose my thoughts and use the arrow keys or mouse, once those benefits were achieved I noticed that there could still be a bit more improvement and the vim modal editing was the solution. I still use all default Emacs mapping for everything else org mode, bookmarks and standard plugin stuff, Such as C-c C-j for jumping to the declaration in go-mode or things like mapping imenu to C-x C-i.

The most important part about this is the fact Emacs supports multiple Frames (different than windows). So I can work on 2 monitors and use window-numbering to move between windows and 'other-frame' to change what monitor I am working on I usually bind that to M-` as it's in the same row for navigating windows or search across all open buffers and use ace-mode across 2 monitors. (I'm not sure if VIM has that).

one other note, ace-jump originated from vim under a different package, VI(M) does have a lot of neat features and I believe the Ying and Yang need to balance and be in harmony which Emacs allows with vim (EVIL) :)

Home row? I understand you completely: Ctrl+bbdd does what you asked for.

Vim's d2b actually moves far away from the home row (note the "2")!

Not wanting to do the finger acrobatics? I'm even more with you here: I remapped Ctrl and Alt to be just next to space, and space to serve both as space and shift.

And, to point out that vim absolutely requires pinky acrobatics all the time with its reliance on : and ESC, so IMHO it is even more demanding than emacs there.

My fingers feel more comfortable by using numbers but also I should mention using relative number line is important to go up and down quickly (pinky on backspace is a bit far vs over 1 key for me to use unlike the distance to :) or holding down ctrl + pnfb. Caps is so close to 'a' that it really doesn't feel strained about 1-3cm movement at most to change modes. Everything is a learning process :) but to say it's more demanding as in quantity sure, however the work that's involved is much less than going a further distance.

and I do believe all the numbers are within home row distance not like <Esc> which way up in the Artic on most keyboards before being remapped.

Esc is the bad one in my view, but I never press it at all while using vim. This comes down to two factors:

- I use "jk", typed quickly, to exit insert mode. Most vim users I know use either this or "jj".

- I have rebound Caps Lock to Ctrl, and in the few situations where I would otherwise hit Esc, I hit Ctrl-C, which causes much less strain. (This is technically different than Esc, but the difference doesn't usually matter; if it's necessary, Ctrl-[ functions exactly the same as Esc.)