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“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”- Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)
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I was watching the Bruce Lee classic, “Enter The Dragon”, with my young son the other night. He loves the choreography of the fight scenes and the rapid rate that the fighters deliver the strikes.

I have to admit those movies are fun to watch. We also enjoy watching “The Three Stooges” for the same reason ñ- the speed of the strikes, although the “Stooges” do it for comic effect.

I remember for much of my youth my martial arts training revolved around speed. I was always trying to punch and kick faster. Often you were judged on how many strikes you could deliver in a given amount of time.

In this newsletter, we’ve already discussed the importance of striking a specific target on the other guy’s body, so lets talk about speed. Where does it factor in when you fight?

First a little physics is in order — Force x Velocity = Power. Most instructors in the combat sport and martial arts world focus on just one aspect of the equation… Speed. (Speed is how fast an object moves, velocity is how fast an object moves from point a to b.)

Why?

Because most of those disciplines are taught in what TFT(tm) terms the Effect-State(tm). The Effect-State revolves around you reacting to an event that already has occurred. In fact, it can be argued that most of society operates in this defensive state of mind. That subject would require a separate newsletter altogether.

In a fight it is natural that if you operate in a Effect-State you will try to compensate for your waiting to see what the other guy is doing — with speed.

Problem is… speed without force is only a portion of the equation, and even if your targeting is accurate, you strike with static force. In fighting, a static-force strike would be a punch using only your arm speed to strike rather than putting your entire bodyweight behind the punch.

Essentially, in the context of fighting, a speed- only response equals FEAR. I’m not saying it can’t be effective sometimes, just that you are counting on ALWAYS being able to be faster than the other guy. I don’t like those odds.

TFT was developed with the idea that you may not be faster or stronger than the other guys but you compensate for those realities by operating in the Cause-State(tm), striking with dynamic rather than static force.

I’ve touched on operating in the Cause-State in earlier newsletters so lets explore using dynamic force.

Dynamic force allows you to strike with the full power equation, putting your bodyweight behind each strike to maximize damage and minimize the length of the conflict.

The key to generating dynamic force is understanding how to properly lock your body and transfer your body weight into each strike. This can be accomplished quickly with some basic exercises and on-the-mat training at a TFT seminar.

Although it is beyond the scope of this newsletter to try to instruct this method, I will say that one way to start the process is to SLOW DOWN your free- fight sessions, hit your targets, and leave your body weapon on the target until your opponent MOVES AWAY from your body weapon.

Most people strike and quickly take their body weapon off the target. This does not allow for the force of the blow to penetrate the other guy’s body. It is the other guy that should move from the force if you want to generate maximum power. This also gives you feedback as to whether you are in balance when you strike.

You may do this at slow speeds and get the feedback without injuring your training partner. Quickly, you and your training partner can increase your speed AND deliver maximum power.

So let Hollywood entertain you with SPEED but make sure you TRAIN for POWER.

Until next time,

Tim Larkin
Creator of Target Focus(TM) Training