Effortless Power - Part 2

[Note: This is Part Two of Five part of the series on Effortless Power by Yosef Susskind, 4th Degree Instructor GUIDED CHAOS. For Part - 1 go here: https://protectyourself.mykajabi.com/blog/effortless-power-part-1-2 ]

By Yosef Susskind

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. 

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. 

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 explosively, 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. 

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.

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.

Even in slow contact flow, trying to move with power most often results in antagonistic flexion.  Students 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.

Copyright 9/30/2017 Copyrighted.com MTPH-NHMX-M8JI-5QWZ

Yosef Susskind a 4th Degree Black Belt Instructor in Guided Chaos, who has trained with Grandmaster John Perkins and Senior Master Al Ridenhour since 2003. He is the editor of the Guided Chaos Instructors Guide, and writes newsletters on the mental and technical aspects of the art. He holds a bachelor of arts in literature from Columbia University and a master of arts in philosophy from Duquesne, and has lectured on Nietzsche, Plato, existentialism, and symbolic logic. As a security consultant with a background in executive protection and event security, he has protected prime-time network TV hosts, Fortune 500 executives, and Israeli dignitaries, and provided security at some of the most high-risk nightlife venues in New York City.