Grip

Grip - a grip on yourself and your environment - is fundamental to impact, without this it becomes difficult to build anything meaningful.

My local gym runs boxing classes which are the ideal forum for studying the art of impact. The concept is simple - hang a bunch of heavy bags and guide the participants through a series of punching combinations while playing Ne-Yo. Taking a look round during the session it's clear that impact is not proportional to size or gender; some of the smallest women punch harder than the bigger guys. So why is this? One root cause is the lack of grip. Very few have a grip on the floor at any point during their punch; their mind is in their arms, those weak appendages attached to our shoulders. To improve requires getting a grip, establishing a solid foundation, finding balance, developing awareness and control of our body. By gripping the floor with our feet and legs, combining a downward push from the head and shoulders with upwards pressure from our feet and knees, we start to feel a dynamic tension that can power a whiplash strike from the upper body.

Impact will progressively improve by being aware of the power of grip and investing time to achieve it. Energy can be saved if foundations are in place, balance is maintained and awareness is enhanced. We can move out of the "sweat" zone (see prior entry "Swimming, Splashing or Sweating") by reducing the amount of resource invested fixing problems that arise due lack of grip. Similarly on the heavy bag, a solid grip gives a base to launch punches that accelerate and penetrate, generating effortless power instead of powerless effort.