IS THERE SUCH A THING AS TOO MUCH POWER?

 By Phillip Starr

In the practice of martial arts, is there such a thing as “too much power?” The simple answer is, YES! Actually, the clearer answer is, “there IS such a thing as TRYING to emit too much power.” I've been witness to this many, many times; in black belt practitioners as well as beginning students. They endeavor to fire every technique with every ounce of “power” they can muster. The end result is likely different than what you might expect.

For instance, I know one instructor who does his level best to put 100% of his strength into every punch, block, and kick. Actually, he doesn't kick much anymore; years of slamming his knee straight with every ounce of strength that he can muster has permanently crippled him. His knees are totally shot. When he delivers a punch, strike, or even a block, you can see him first “cock” it back a bit just before he fires it with everything he's got. He's a classic example of what NOT to do.

Good technique is crisp and sharp (and the elbows and knees are NEVER locked straight!). If a sword is extremely sharp, it requires little brute force to cut. If the sword is dull, all you have is a very pretty club. If use all of your strength to thrust or cut, you lose control of the weapon and you may even damage it. This holds true for all weapons..including your bodily weapons.

One of the secrets to reaching a high level of skill is to learn to use as little (muscular) effort as possible when performing a given movement. Efficiency. It's achieved in much the same way as when sculpting something out of a large, jagged stone; cutting and chipping away what you don't need. A true master's technique doesn't appear to be terribly powerful on the outside at all, but it is crisp, clean, and sharp. Perfectly controlled. Being on the receiving end of it, however, reveals its true power (which is explosive).