The Development of Power, Part 1

 by Mike Gittleson on 2010/01/12

 

As a Martial Artist, power is a major concern.  Often, the generation of power is the deciding factor in the determination of an individual’s skill.  To develop great power takes not only physical skill, but also a strong mental capacity, a solid working knowledge of the factors involved, and a complete training routine.   Frequently, power is directly related to strength. It is assumed that the biggest and strongest person generates the most striking power.  To the contrary, strength is only one of many traits necessary to create power.  It is proven that a much smaller man can possess a more punishing blow, through the betterment of the various other traits that effect power.

WORK VS. POWER

Work is a measure.  It is used to designate what has been attained in an action. When throwing a shot put, the work ends where it lands and is depicted by how far the shot traveled.  With a punch or a kick, the work in question is how much damage is inflicted upon contact.  Work has a direct relationship with power. Work being the measure of results; power being the measure of how those results are achieved.

While facing a target, concentration is frequently on how hard it can be hit.  This pattern of thought only concerns the end result.  It is not power that is in mind rather it is work.  Breaking a three-inch pine board does not exemplify power; it shows a great amount of work.  Describing the action used to break that board would be describing power.  A sidekick travelling at 70 mph, cracking the board easily, in a fraction of a second, illustrates power.

Staring at a heavy bag, with thoughts of knocking it into infinity, precision, accuracy, and all other characteristics are soon forgotten. Along with those characteristics is the element of time.  Time is what separates work from power.  Without time in the equation no power is exhibited, only work.  For example, moving a 100lb pile of sand, grain by grain, in a matter of months is a lot of work.  Although, moving that same pile of sand all at once is power.   Consequently, when the work is performed more rapidly, additional power is made evident. This leads us to probably the most important factor effecting power; speed.

SPEED = POWER

Since the rate in which work is done effects power so greatly, speed becomes the primary concern in increasing that power.  Speed as a whole is thought of as the time elapsed between the beginning of a motion to the end.  This is only one perspective i the measurement of speed. There are many types of speed.

First is perceptual speed.   This is the measure of how quickly one sees an opening or perceives an attack. The second, Mental speed, is the quickness of the mind to decide on the appropriate reaction. Initiation speed comes next, being the rate in which a motion is started or initiated.  Performance speed, most often referred to as speed itself, is the time elapsed between point a and point b.  The last is alteration speed.  This concerns how suddenly a motion can change direction midstream.  Every one of these types effects power in one way or another.

With superior mental or reaction speed a weaker man can surely win. With his superb quickness, he lands first, nullifying the adversaries attack.  No matter how big or how strong, if a man does not possess discernible speed, he may never even reach the target. This brings us back to our definition of power.   Since, power is the rate in which work is achieved, when no contact has been made, no work has been performed.  Therefore, there is no power in the attack.

To increase speed as a whole, the individual parts deserve individual attention.  Practice routines should be comprised of specific exercises to augment the weakest attributes.  To strengthen these weak points results in large advancements in power.

In Part 2 we will discuss Form & Body Feel and Timing & Distance.