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| | | By Yosef Susskind, GC 4th degree
When most students think about training for effortless
power, they imagine they must develop such monstrous strength that punching a mere human in the
face feels effortless. They must perform feats of strength and ruination. Women must swoon
as they vaporize cinderblocks. Grown men must see the heavy-bag fold in two, and say “there
but for the grace of God go I.”
This model says: increase power to increase effortless
execution. Developing strength is one of
the best things you can do for yourself, but strength
training is not the same as developing
effortless power, as discussed in last week’s newsletter.
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| The more students try to
hit with power, the less natural their movement becomes, and the less they are able to call on
the explosive strength that a relaxed body can generate when
it lashes out with unity and purpose.
The easiest way to develop effortless power is the
opposite of the conventional wisdom. Rather than focusing solely on increasing strength and hoping to attain effortless
movement, focus on moving effortlessly. This will allow you to
return to a childlike state of natural, creative movement.
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| Free from the contrivances of patterned movement, natural movement is animalistic—adaptable and efficient. It allows the body to discharge its full power in an instant of
focused explosivity, and just as quickly, to return to a relaxed
stasis. A relaxed body deploys its energy where and when it needs
it.
At any moment, and from any position, it may detonate, or remain at rest.
Strikes that land with power are never the ones that
we try to throw hard. Our best strikes are the ones that feel to us as if we just reached
out and struck.
The reason is simple. When 99% of people think about striking with force, they flex
their muscles. Some flex subtly. Some nearly tear a ligament. Either way, this is not force, but
a show of force, a simulation.
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| In order for a muscle to flex, it must have force in
opposition, something to flex against. As Senior Master Al teaches, when you run, your legs are not
rigid; in order to run fast the muscles must remain supple, but there is a moment of flexion as
the foot strikes the ground.
When you strike, the body must similarly remain supple in
order to accelerate, and there is a similar moment of natural flexion as the strike impacts
against the enemy.
When a bodybuilder flexes on stage, he has nothing to flex
against, save for his own body. The biceps flex against the triceps. The pectorals flex
against the lats and the deltoids. The muscles are pitted against each other, and cancel each other’s
motion. These opposing muscle groups are called antagonistic pairs.
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| When people think about striking with power and flex their muscles in anticipation, the muscles are pitted in
opposition, cramping the pliability they need to accelerate, and
hindering their ability to flex against the enemy (fibers that are
flexed against each other cannot exert force against the target).
The muscles may flare, resulting in a show of muscularity,
and the mover will feel a flexion similar to what he might
feel if he hit with full power, but he will be unable to manifest his
actual strength.
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| Even in slow contact flow, trying to move with power most often results in antagonistic
flexion.
People try to simulate the feeling of striking powerfully.
If your body is aligned
properly, there is no need for artificial flexion. If your muscles are flexing,
even subtly, and the flexion is not the momentary result of a jarring impact with the target,
it can only be the result of muscle antagonism.
When you flex your muscles and simulate the feeling of
force in contact flow, even subconsciously, you are training yourself to move in a way
that subverts your power and adaptability. When you relax in contact flow, and focus on
natural movement, you can increase your mastery of the principles and develop the
neuromuscular coordination to move with effortless power.
For a comprehensive induction into natural body movement
and effortless, explosive power, come to the COMBATIVE MOVEMENT IMMERSION SEMINAR Nov. 3-5 (next week) by visiting the link below:
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...To buy Seminar or get more info!
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