DavidCC said:
Can anyone describe exercises or drills that will help me learn to develop the muscular control necessary to coordinate agonists, synergists, and antagonist muscles?
Thanks!
David
For kenpo-specific movements, I will defer to Doc. For motion, in general, there is a thing called "M.A.P." it out. Abbrev. for Mental Aptitude Patterning, and is a re-tool of the procedures of the New Behavior Generator from NeuroLinguistic Programming, specifically applied to physical motions.
In a nutshell, some part of your mind has been recording every physical movement you've made since you started kicking the inside of your mothers womb (note the pseudo-scientific, paraphysiologic reference to "mind" and not "brain"...I have yet to be convinced that Self resides in gray matter...rather, communicates through it as a conduit to the flesh...my own idiosyncrasy, and completely unrelated to the efficiency or application of the technique). This includes subtle effects of monosynaptic and polysynaptic reflexes, involved or associated with agonist/synergist/antagonist interactions.
For conversations sake, let's call this repository of information "deep mind". In MAP patterning, what we do is to establish an open phone line with the deep mind, otherwise left out of the conversation. So easy, it's decieving. Worked on it with a guy who reeeaaallyy wanted to get a lead leg hook kick up clean (despite hip damage potential), was plenty limber (could do the splits to the front or sides, stretch head to knees while standing, relax into full lotus position), but could not get the kick above the level of his hip. Where to start is in having an individual go inside, and watch -- from the 3rd person --
a movie of them performing the move they want to do, as they want to do it.
Run the movie, and watch it a couple times.
Bring it closer, and step into the movie, so youre seeing the kick slashing out in the space in front of you, as if watching from your own eyes. Then, start to
notice subtle internal distinctions...how are your feet and hips positioned, while you perform this tech perfectly? How does your pelvis shift to accomodate the raising of the leg, and the pivoting of the ball in the socket of the hip joint?
Then move from general, to specific...
Performing this kick perfectly in your mind, and experiencing what it's like from the 1st person, which muscles twitch first? Is it a thigh flexor, initiating picking the kick up off the floor, ot is there a preparatory abdominal oblique contraction that happens first, to stabilize and position the pelvis to support the raising of the leg? What next...hamstring contraction as you pull it to a pre-chambered position? And so on. Definitely expands your working awareness of your internal universe.
Having identified the kinesthetic chain of events, view the movie in slow-mo, and, standing there in real-time, just twitch the muscles associated with movements, as they occur in the film. Slowly speed the film up, and continue to "twitch it out", as the film gets closer to the speed of your desired execution. Notice when each mucle "turns on", as well as when each muscle has to "turn off" while handing off the baton to the next major muscle in the chain of events.
Next, staying with the hook kick example, comes the Simon Says part. Imagine the kick done at low elevations,
see the path of travel it takes through the air, allowing it to leave a "trail" in the space before you. In real time, with your eyes still closed, throw the kick so that it moves p.r.e.c.i.s.e.l.y through the trail prescribed in your minds eye. It will only take a couple of times, and with each miss, you can inquire within, "what change do I need to make in tension and timing of coordination to match the trail?". Asked directly, deep mind will answer, but usually with a general sense of the change you have to make, and not with words. When you get it at that height and speed, take it up a notch...higher, faster, stronger...notice what the differences are in the path of the trail, and inquire within about the accomodations you have to make to
stay in it. (Simon [deep mind] says "this is what it will look like before you when all parts are in accord"...twitching it out, then shooting it off while continuing to ask Simon for adaptations, leads to letting your body tell YOU what the groove and synapses are for your own maximal performance, rather than you trying to dictate from the outside, in).
Just keep cranking it up, keeping the phone lines open, and you'll be amazed how quickly you can accomplish coordinated neuromuscular timing in execution.
Nutshell: Your body already knows how to do anything you want it to...plateaus are due not to a lack of determination, but communication...with the part of you that already knows how. Learning is not the creation of optimal synaptic grooves, but discovery of their existence and expression of their contents. (Learning is not creation, but discovery).
Big idea, with warning: The only limitations of the mind and body are those we accept. Mom could perhaps pull Caddie off kid (urban legend), but would blow out multiple spinal discs and soft tissues throughout her body in the act. In experimenting with MAP with myself, students, and clients -- including professional ball players and olympic competitors -- we've erased the concept of performance boundaries, but also developed an appreciation for "everything in its own time", as well as doing the work to support the activity (i.e., get mom in the gym on 'roids for a year before trying to lift the caddie off the kid).
Personally, wanted to see how much energy, speed, and force could be generated into a three-move combo on a heavy bag. I opened the lines, started the movies, and just kept urging the movies to go harder and faster. Surprised the poop outta myself (didn't know I could hit that hard or move that fast), but also tore part of my rotator cuff in the right shoulder. Thought I, "the only limitations of the mind and body are those we accept...it's only pain, so keep pushing". So I did...the combo got harder and fatser (literally scaring the mook who was holding the bag, a veteran BB and Thai boxer), and the infraspinatus and teres minor & major kept tearing. Use this wisely...just because we can do a thing with our bodies, doesn't mean we should (as Doc so wisely puts it).
Olympic pistol shooter I worked with nailed the "improvement through entering the movie of herself performing at the next level up" thing, but also had to go back to some physical development stuff because she was using her body differently. Offensive lineman from ther RAMS (when they were still in CA) found the intensity to stay 1st string with the younger guys, but crapped out due to injuries a few years later when they moved the team...his intensity was young, but not the tissues in his body.
MIND MOVES MUSCLE! And also coordinates the activities between them. You already know how, you just don't know you know it yet.
One of my favorite examples about this when touring and giving seminars was the big reverse punch question. Do you rotate the palm down early in the punch, in the middle of the punch, at the end of the punch, or throughout the motion? Answer? Yes! I have everybody in the class close their eyes, and imagine seeing their hand being brought up from their side, and placed in front of their face as if to look into their own palm. Then I'd have them twitch it out, then raise it slowly in the fashion prescribed by their own mind when they first envisioned it. Everybody in the room raises it a little bit differently, because each person in that room has lived their own lives, in their own bodies, with their own ongoing feedback. So whose was the
right way? Each was their own, congruent with the path THEIR mind told THEM was the best application of coordination to achieve the desired movement.
You can "discover" the groove your body wants to play in by constant repetition...generally, by virtue of the ongoing feedback, you will eventually discover the groove that's optimal for you (or at least close enough). Now, let's say that guy becomes a teacher, but before he did, he discovered his OWN groove was performed best by turning the palm down at the end of the punch. That's what he'll teach, because that's what he knows to be true for himself. Rest of the class takes it as gospel truth, and says "this is how it's done", and you have a motion version of an urban legend.
As a teaser, I had several "conversations" with Mr. Parker about this...the "Wow" of the sale is to take a novice or beginner, work with them for a few minutes, and have them executing a move with the same speed, power, and full-body coordination of the senior we used for a model (i.e., watch Mr. so and so throw this 4-count combo...take that movie, run it in your mind...now step into it, so you're seeing the moves executed in front of you from the 1st person perspective...twitch it out, etc.).
Just for kicks (no pun intended), take 1 of each of the following, and run the MAP drill with them, then just be aware of how those moves differ from your non-MAPped moves the very next time you train:
1. A block
2. A strike
3. A kick
4. A short (i.e., yellow, orange, etc.) Self-Defense technique or sparring combo.
MAP them out, and let me know what happens. But
have a limit pre-defined to avoid injury. For example, "I want my front snap kick to be 6-inches higher, and 50% faster than it is now". The specificity of outcomes also gives you a target movie for your deep mind communication, as opposed to being vague (you get what you ask for, so be specific). If you reach the bar in short order, experiment with raising it by specific increments, and watch how the communication/performance dynamic evolves. Example: "Now, I want to perform this SD tech 3% faster than I currently do, with the strikes landing 10% harder... What will I look like at 3% faster? How will it feel on the inside when I'm hitting 10 percent harder? How will by body moving through space sound differently? (kimono's make different noises when the body is in different gears. For some, this is the most important key to identifying and unlocking new potentials). Make the movie, switch from 3rd to first person by stepping in, follow along with twitches, SIMON SAYS with LSD trails, etc.
You can use this for golf swings, tennis games, distance running (gait refinement for speed improvement with energy conservation), penmanship, typing speed, you name it.
It's all about getting in touch with the part of you that already knows...the part of you that already can.
Psychological Warning: Many minds do best in a world with defined parameters. If you start futzing with boundaries of percieved reality (i.e., "It is the law of the universe that improvement only comes with long years of exhaustive repetition"), a mind thusly stanced may be apt to become a little shaky. Some part of you is bound to ask, "If I can change this with an appropriately designed intervention technique, what else that I've accepted as a limitation of mind and body might actually not be?". Unfortunately, I've seen some folks get a little wierd after playing around with Deep Mind potentials. So tread thoughtfully, and with ongoing introspection and awareness. If you find yourself challenging limiations you otherwise have a need to honor, stop.
Dr. Dave
LOL...Ok fair enough... it's signed sealed and delivered! Buritto? 
