Saturday, April 25, 2015

Inkling: Losing Balance

I wrote about how force should act along the line linking the point of contact with your opponent's centre of gravity. But my teacher said it is not just about pushing towards your opponent's centre of gravity. That got me thinking...

Got a new inkling.

It has to do with balance.

Our weight is supported by our contact points with the external world. As long as our centre of gravity is within this line or area defined by the contact points, we will not fall (we won't lose our balance).

And we are very good at shifting our centre of gravity to keep our balance.

The trick to getting your opponent to lose his balance could then be about getting his centre of gravity outside of the line or area. Either by your own doing, by his own doing, or a combination of both. What it means is that even if you don't push towards his centre of gravity, he can still lose his balance if the result is that his centre of gravity moves outside that line or area.

Food for thought, time to try out.