Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Strength is something that the individual can control. ONe can work to develop and increase strength, and use that in powering technique.
What you are calling ground leverage and torque, are essentially what we call rooting and rotation/torque, and this is the method that we use to fully engage the whole body in delivering a strike.
If strength is relied upon, it tends to override the other methods, to its detriment. If one is relying on strength, then the arm and shoulder tend to "separate" from the torque and rooting, and only the strength comes into play. One may still rotate, but the rotation doesn't add anything to the technique because the timing is off and the act of tensing the arm and shoulders to throw the punch creates a situation where the action just is no longer powered by that rotation.
a little clarification here: core strength and leg strength is used in driving that root and rotation. Shoulder and arm strength, if engaged to primarily power the punch, is what I am talking about when I say it gets in the way and prevents proper rotation from realizing its full potential.
This doesn't mean that one should be floppy like gumby. There needs to be structural integrity in the technique and enough strength behind it so that it doesn't collapse. But, strength should not be used or relied upon when using rooting and torque.
Rooting and torque is what our system is built upon.
Backup mass, or simply driving the mass of your body behind the technique, can be a multiplier but it is reliant more on circumstances, tho it is also important in our system. But we recognize it as something that the entire system cannot be built upon. It is a secondary concept that comes into play when appropriate.
the other items that you list are not things that one can really work to develop as a skill. Those are things that are dependent on outside influences and circumstances. The only skill you can develop with those is the ability to recognize when they may come into play, so that you can take advantage of them. They have value, but it is largely outside of one's control. You are dependent upon the opportunity presenting iteself, or working to create the opportunity. But this is not the same kind of skill that one can develop inherently. They are good ideas in their own right, but you cannot use them as a way to systematically build a method.
I guess what I'm saying is, yes there are many ways to add power to a strike. But not all of them can be pervasive and systematic. Some of them are opportunistic and potentially rare, or at least erratic. Because of that, they cannot be automatically relied upon.
Those other ones, opposing force, marriage of gravity, rebound, etc. Those can be useful IF you are already using rooting and torque to drive the base technique. Couple that together when opportunity presents itself, and it can be very effective. But if you rely on those other ones alone, without that rooting and torque, and I think the effects are much reduced because there isn't an engine underneath it all, driving the base technique.
