Yeung wrote:Singapore Wing Chun Academy - Single Hand Chi Sao with Sifu Johnny:
Bhassler wrote:Primates have different muscle attachments and much greater leverage than humans. That's going to be a much bigger factor than muscle-fiber type.
Strength is a factor of the number and thickness of muscle fibers, but also one's ability to recruit muscle fibers effectively. A muscle fiber is either all on or all off-- if you want to do an action with less force, you use less muscle fibers. So there's a real neurological component to strength. I would suggest that most of taiji's strength comes from more efficient neurological engagement and simple Newtonian mechanics. Lots of people talk about tensegrity structures, but I think looking at the mechanics of cranes (like construction cranes, not birds) is more useful.
You might also look into the Golgi Tendon reflex if you want to start down the rabbit hole of muscle inhibition.
I don't have any grand theories for you, but those are some areas of research that I found interesting.
wayne hansen wrote:My first teacher in 1973 was a osteopath/chiropractor and acupuncturist
He had a 4 the dan in karate and masters certificate in tang shou Tao
He had also studied yoga and had been a power lifter
Back then he told me speed depends on how quickly you could fire your muscle fibres and strength on how many you could engage at one time
All our training revolved around those principles
Most things I find people see as new learning today are things he told me back then
I was lucky enough to not only live with him but work as his assistant in his clinic
Maybe his study is based on the following study:
Yeung wrote:In simple terms, the recruitment of muscles can be demonstrated by the kinetic chain model or the 15 joints of the body from wrist, elbow, shoulder, etc., utilizing more joints or muscles will increase the intensity or strength of a strike.
LaoDan wrote:Yeung wrote:In simple terms, the recruitment of muscles can be demonstrated by the kinetic chain model or the 15 joints of the body from wrist, elbow, shoulder, etc., utilizing more joints or muscles will increase the intensity or strength of a strike.
I realize that TJQ uses rotation and extension for delivering strikes (power), but my understanding is that TJQ is not using a purely “kinetic chain” type of power generation. With alignment and structure comes what some have called “wave” power, which is the power transmission in the manner of the “Newton’s cradle” toy (transmitting through the structure from the reaction force into the ground, through the structure, and out of the striking surface):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LnbyjOyEQ8
Do you not see it this way? Do you think that TJQ utilizes primarily force propelled through the “kinetic chain” mechanism?
marvin8 wrote:Excerpt from "A New Paradigm in Biomechanics: Fascia, Rotation, and Waves," https://www.just-fly-sports.com/biomech ... ion-waves/:Kevin Foster on July 16, 2018 wrote:Neuro-fascial System
The role of fascia in movement has always been a highly debated and somewhat mysterious topic. Highly elastic in nature, and heavily integrated into the neural network of movement, the neuro-fascial system helps explain the importance of a proximal to distal activation sequence.
As our connecting piece of anatomy to the ground, our feet play a massive role in the facilitation of tension through the neuro-fascial system. Our feet have an astonishing number of afferent neural connections that reflexively communicate tension up these neuro-fascial pathways. How our foot strikes the ground therefore plays an important role in where the tension goes.
Rotational Dynamics in Arthro- and Osteo-kinematics
At the level of the joint there is no such thing as linear movement. There are muscles that pull on tendons that pull bones in arcs and circles. By understanding this, we can see linear motion as a finely choreographed sequence of arcs and rotation, that when pieced together create a straight line.
When looking at movements pieced together in this way, we can see the importance of rotation in the creation and transfer of energy in movement. An important concept from Adarian Barr’s work is the role of end range of rotational motion in timing and energy transfer.
As an example of this concept, look at how energy gets transferred through the kinetic chain in a baseball or javelin throw: Energy of internal rotation of the right side of the pelvis gets stopped and absorbed by the stiffness of the left hip (think about a bicyclist crashing into a curb and flying over the handle bars to help visualize this example). The linear and angular momentum of the body causes this energy to get transferred up the spine, where end range of thoracic extension and rotation acts as another “curb” that transfers energy to the scapula.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEFfsg8MYbY
Jan Zelezny is the epitome of these motions in action
The end range of scapular retraction and posterior tilt acts as another “curb” that forces gleno-humeral external rotation. When the shoulder hits its end range of external rotation, it acts as a “curb” for the transfer of energy into elbow extension, whose end range acts as a “curb” for gleno-humeral internal rotation and forearm pronation.
There are three key takeaways from this example.
First, as noted above, is that individually these motions all occur in arcs and rotations, but synergistically pull the baseball or javelin in a perfectly straight line.
Second, is that at these “curbs,” the mass of each lever gets progressively smaller, so the conservation of angular momentum plays a massive role in accelerating limbs to high speeds.
The third is that the end ranges of these joints act as a built in “timer” for movement. If you have adequate mobility, and the ability to stay relaxed, each joint will perform its actions when the force gets there.
Timing, Waves, and Elastic Energy
Muscles, tendons, and fascia are all intrinsically elastic. The stretching and contracting of these elastic tissues can be looked at as waves of tension. Remember back in physics class, how all waves followed a sine function when analyzed on a graph? The same concept can apply to stretching and contracting muscles/tendons/fascia.
Building on this concept, when two waves “collide” they can either be constructive or destructive. That is, they can either add together, or cancel each other out.
Whether they add together or cancel out is a function of timing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcPdMwHjGxJ/?utm_source=ig_embed
Let me try to explain in more detail. A kinetic chain type of action is like throwing a baseball where the legs start the action and then the torso twists and the arm swings and extends... There is a relatively large displacement of each successive body part from beginning through the follow-through. This is the mechanics that most fighters use for their strikes.
But a different power transmission mechanism that plays a part in TJQ (as I practice it) can instead be called “wave power” or a “pulse” (like a pinball machine’s bumpers). This can be along a straight line as in the Newton’s cradle toy, but it can also be transmitted through arced segments (as with billiard balls touching each other in an arced shape; or like through the human body). The pulse relies more on alignment of the different segments of the body rather than on displacement of different segments of the body. As long as one maintains proper alignment such that power transmission is not lost significantly at any of the joints or body parts that the force travels through, then power will be transmitted from the reaction force into the ground, through the body, and out for the strike (like one ball transmitting the force through other balls in the Newton’s cradle toy and sending that force out through the last ball in the sequence). This does not require a large displacement of the intervening balls in the Newton's cradle toy example, yet the force is still transmitted.
This pulse mechanism probably does not concern fighters who strike from non-contact since they are free to wind up and move the segments of the body needed to generate momentum. But those who practice from-contact striking (or push-hands) will probably realize the benefit of developing pulse power to strike or push an opponent. Let’s call this pulse “pengjin” and you may see what I am trying to get at.
What could be more kinetic chain than this
The energy is rooted in the feet
Sprouts from the thighs
Directed by the waist
Manifests in the finger tips
Fa Jin does not have to be worked on
It is in CORRECT forms
The energy in a fight comes from the adrenalin response
Any person who has been in real fights will know this
The training in the internal is to stop the overextension that leads to defeat
Technical,mental or spiritual
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