FearlessFreep
Senior Master
Tomorrow I'm starting to play in a church softball league, and I have some thoughts as far as TKD and Softball.
First off, I've played on and off for a few years, maybe a couple games a year at most, so I'm not really experienced.
Also the more time I spend in Tae Kwon Do and the more time I've watched baseball players, it seems to me that the difference between throwing 85mph and 95mph is mostly one of body mechanics. Like a strike in martal arts, the speed of the ball depends on the speed of the hand at the point of release, and there is a lot you can do with your body to make that faster, other than just muscle strength, starting from your legs and hips and shoulders.
One thing my short time in Tae Kwon Do has taught me is that for a strike to be powerful, the weapon has to be moving fast, and part of moving fast is to stay relaxed so your muscles are loose so they do not fight each other. Tensing up means that that the opposing muscles fight against each other and you cannot extend as fast. You stay loose until the moment of impact, *then* everything tightens into a rigid striking weapon so that the energy goes into the target and not back into you. Stay loose, then tight; timing is crucial.
Also, like a good jab or reverse punch or roundhouse kick or sidekick, the lower body is important. When you jab, you transfer your weight forward a bit to get body mass behind the punch. When you roundhouse kick, your hips twist to move the foot faster. When you hop-to kick, the rear root lands on the ground at the moment that the front foor hits the target to transfer energy through the body; the more stable you are the more energy goes through the weapon into the target rather than back through you, etc..etc...
Anyway, it has occurred to me that a lot of what I've learned about body mechanics and energy transfer and power can apply to...well..softball as well. To throw strong and fast, the hand needs to be moving fast, and that means stay loose and relaxed; don't tense up just to try to muscle the ball. Stay loose and relaxed. Hitting I think is even more appropriate, to hit hard you need to have the bat moving fast. Twist hips to get the shoulders turning to move the hands faster, stay loose through the swing so you can move fast and your muscles don't fight each other. Then, like a roundhouse kick, at the moment of impact, everything tightens into a rigid position so that the energy goes into the ball and not back up the bat to you. Loose than tight; timing of step and hip twist. Seems very similar to me.
Also fielding issues in terms of staying balanced and using footwork for quick, balanced motions
So, other than just being lighter and in better shape than last year at this time; it seems to me that there is a lot about body motion and mechnics and energy and speed and power that I have learned from training in Tae Kwon Do that I can now apply to other areas as well. Not just being physically stonger but being physically..smarter, if you will, and more controlled.
Does this make sense?
As anyone else run into this; using the physical and mental skills from martial arts in other areas of physical activity?
Anyone else ever seen the Japanese Anime of "Ranma 1/2" where Ranma would see just about everything was some sort of martial arts training, and often he would get himself into weird competetitions and such and would do well when he was able to relate them back to somehow be an application of martial arts? In particular I rememeber the OAV "Nihao, My Concubine" with cooking and sewing like that
First off, I've played on and off for a few years, maybe a couple games a year at most, so I'm not really experienced.
Also the more time I spend in Tae Kwon Do and the more time I've watched baseball players, it seems to me that the difference between throwing 85mph and 95mph is mostly one of body mechanics. Like a strike in martal arts, the speed of the ball depends on the speed of the hand at the point of release, and there is a lot you can do with your body to make that faster, other than just muscle strength, starting from your legs and hips and shoulders.
One thing my short time in Tae Kwon Do has taught me is that for a strike to be powerful, the weapon has to be moving fast, and part of moving fast is to stay relaxed so your muscles are loose so they do not fight each other. Tensing up means that that the opposing muscles fight against each other and you cannot extend as fast. You stay loose until the moment of impact, *then* everything tightens into a rigid striking weapon so that the energy goes into the target and not back into you. Stay loose, then tight; timing is crucial.
Also, like a good jab or reverse punch or roundhouse kick or sidekick, the lower body is important. When you jab, you transfer your weight forward a bit to get body mass behind the punch. When you roundhouse kick, your hips twist to move the foot faster. When you hop-to kick, the rear root lands on the ground at the moment that the front foor hits the target to transfer energy through the body; the more stable you are the more energy goes through the weapon into the target rather than back through you, etc..etc...
Anyway, it has occurred to me that a lot of what I've learned about body mechanics and energy transfer and power can apply to...well..softball as well. To throw strong and fast, the hand needs to be moving fast, and that means stay loose and relaxed; don't tense up just to try to muscle the ball. Stay loose and relaxed. Hitting I think is even more appropriate, to hit hard you need to have the bat moving fast. Twist hips to get the shoulders turning to move the hands faster, stay loose through the swing so you can move fast and your muscles don't fight each other. Then, like a roundhouse kick, at the moment of impact, everything tightens into a rigid position so that the energy goes into the ball and not back up the bat to you. Loose than tight; timing of step and hip twist. Seems very similar to me.
Also fielding issues in terms of staying balanced and using footwork for quick, balanced motions
So, other than just being lighter and in better shape than last year at this time; it seems to me that there is a lot about body motion and mechnics and energy and speed and power that I have learned from training in Tae Kwon Do that I can now apply to other areas as well. Not just being physically stonger but being physically..smarter, if you will, and more controlled.
Does this make sense?
As anyone else run into this; using the physical and mental skills from martial arts in other areas of physical activity?
Anyone else ever seen the Japanese Anime of "Ranma 1/2" where Ranma would see just about everything was some sort of martial arts training, and often he would get himself into weird competetitions and such and would do well when he was able to relate them back to somehow be an application of martial arts? In particular I rememeber the OAV "Nihao, My Concubine" with cooking and sewing like that
