Post by Stephen on Jan 4, 2006 22:48:43 GMT -5
he unbendable is demonstrate as this :
Stand facing a partner and place your right arm on your partner's left shoulder, elbow facing down. Hold your arm rigid with all your strength, while your partner puts both hands on your elbow (one on either side) and pulls down. Your partner should be able to bend your arm without much difficulty.
Now, repeat this, but instead of holding your arm rigid, imagine your 'ki' flowing from your center, along your arm and out your fingertips to the nearest wall. Extend your fingertips toward the wall. Your partner should find it much more difficult to bend your arm.
Now, if left at that, it might be considered a "parlor trick". But I like to explain to students a little more.
Consider, when you hold your arm rigid, your biceps and triceps are working against each other, and your biceps supply some of the strength needed to bend your arm.
In contrast, when visualizing 'ki' I find most people are contracting only their tricep muscle, and not using their biceps. To your partner it may seem as if you have some mystical force strengthening your arm, but it's really just an efficient use of your musculature (hence seiryoku zenyo).
I've found that a lot of judo beginners tend to wear themselves out staying rigid before learning to use their bodies efficiently. Unbendable arm is one of the "tricks" I use to help them learn "maximum efficiency".
The first involves the biomechanical leverage of the elbow. At a 90-degree angle, your elbow is at its worst mechanical advantage. It's easy to prove this. Hold your "unbendable arm" at exactly 90 degrees and have someone strong try to bend it. Even with proper muscle group coordination, it will be somewhat difficult. Stop, rest your arm a bit, and try again. This time, make sure you start with your arm at slightly more than a 90-degree angle (say, 93-97 degrees, depending on the length of your arm). You'll notice that you can resist the bending much easier. This is because the mechanical advantage of your elbow increases as the angle increases.
The second is even more powerful, and can make almost anyone's arm "unbendable": Make sure that the "bender" understands that they should be trying to push your hand straight back towards your shoulder. Have your arm at the correct angle. When the "bender" starts pushing, you use only the right muscle groups to resist, as always, but you also subtly push your elbow upward while the bender is pushing backward. This changes the entire dynamics of the forces involved.
In doing this, you are not only resisting the push, but redirecting it at thte same time. Pushing upward also utilizes and increases the mechanical advantage of the elbow joint, but the bender won't sense this (unless your movement is too obvious) and won't compensate. They will keep pushing in the same direction.
If by some chance the bender starts getting an edge on you and closes your elbow too close to 90 degrees, don't resist harder--just subtly shift your center down and backward As you maintain your hand in the same spot. This increases the elbow angle. You then shift forward and raise your center, which uses your leg muscles to overpower and redirect the the push away from your shoulder.
Stand facing a partner and place your right arm on your partner's left shoulder, elbow facing down. Hold your arm rigid with all your strength, while your partner puts both hands on your elbow (one on either side) and pulls down. Your partner should be able to bend your arm without much difficulty.
Now, repeat this, but instead of holding your arm rigid, imagine your 'ki' flowing from your center, along your arm and out your fingertips to the nearest wall. Extend your fingertips toward the wall. Your partner should find it much more difficult to bend your arm.
Now, if left at that, it might be considered a "parlor trick". But I like to explain to students a little more.
Consider, when you hold your arm rigid, your biceps and triceps are working against each other, and your biceps supply some of the strength needed to bend your arm.
In contrast, when visualizing 'ki' I find most people are contracting only their tricep muscle, and not using their biceps. To your partner it may seem as if you have some mystical force strengthening your arm, but it's really just an efficient use of your musculature (hence seiryoku zenyo).
I've found that a lot of judo beginners tend to wear themselves out staying rigid before learning to use their bodies efficiently. Unbendable arm is one of the "tricks" I use to help them learn "maximum efficiency".
The first involves the biomechanical leverage of the elbow. At a 90-degree angle, your elbow is at its worst mechanical advantage. It's easy to prove this. Hold your "unbendable arm" at exactly 90 degrees and have someone strong try to bend it. Even with proper muscle group coordination, it will be somewhat difficult. Stop, rest your arm a bit, and try again. This time, make sure you start with your arm at slightly more than a 90-degree angle (say, 93-97 degrees, depending on the length of your arm). You'll notice that you can resist the bending much easier. This is because the mechanical advantage of your elbow increases as the angle increases.
The second is even more powerful, and can make almost anyone's arm "unbendable": Make sure that the "bender" understands that they should be trying to push your hand straight back towards your shoulder. Have your arm at the correct angle. When the "bender" starts pushing, you use only the right muscle groups to resist, as always, but you also subtly push your elbow upward while the bender is pushing backward. This changes the entire dynamics of the forces involved.
In doing this, you are not only resisting the push, but redirecting it at thte same time. Pushing upward also utilizes and increases the mechanical advantage of the elbow joint, but the bender won't sense this (unless your movement is too obvious) and won't compensate. They will keep pushing in the same direction.
If by some chance the bender starts getting an edge on you and closes your elbow too close to 90 degrees, don't resist harder--just subtly shift your center down and backward As you maintain your hand in the same spot. This increases the elbow angle. You then shift forward and raise your center, which uses your leg muscles to overpower and redirect the the push away from your shoulder.