Manifesting the counter-force
Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 9:20 am
Lately I have been struck by the sense that, while the body is certainly capable of producing forces, the larger part of the bodies power is not in producing active forces, but rather in producing counter-forces.
Which is to say that, while the body has the power to move, in a larger sense it has the power to NOT move. In relation to an opponent it means that, while one can make movements which effect the opponent directly, the larger
portion of ones ability lies in being able to keep your opponent from effecting yourself, and so effecting your opponent indirectly. Meaning, the less he can move me, the more I can move him. Our muscular force is not the basis of what makes us hard to effect. The counter-force comes out of an innate passivity, a tendency towards stillness which is inseparable from having mass. It seems to me that all muscular/active forces must be increasingly geared around the maintenance of this passive resting state. Do I think this means you should not move your feet, or not move your own body? No, that is largely the practice, to be able to move your own body in every way, without taking your mass out of a resting, sunken, settling state. It seems to me that manifesting the innate counter-force draws many connections through out martial arts, particularly the so called internal styles.
Which is to say that, while the body has the power to move, in a larger sense it has the power to NOT move. In relation to an opponent it means that, while one can make movements which effect the opponent directly, the larger
portion of ones ability lies in being able to keep your opponent from effecting yourself, and so effecting your opponent indirectly. Meaning, the less he can move me, the more I can move him. Our muscular force is not the basis of what makes us hard to effect. The counter-force comes out of an innate passivity, a tendency towards stillness which is inseparable from having mass. It seems to me that all muscular/active forces must be increasingly geared around the maintenance of this passive resting state. Do I think this means you should not move your feet, or not move your own body? No, that is largely the practice, to be able to move your own body in every way, without taking your mass out of a resting, sunken, settling state. It seems to me that manifesting the innate counter-force draws many connections through out martial arts, particularly the so called internal styles.