WHY ARE CHIMPS STRONGER THAN HUMANS?
What has this do with Yiquan? A
lot, really! As discussed in the video, the chimps have less gray matter. They
have a smaller number of nerves controlling greater quantity of muscle fibers.
Therefore, when they use their muscles, it’s ALL or NOTHING form of reaction. Their
movement has integrity. When the muscles move, they move as ONE forming a
dynamic chain which generates power belies their small size.
As humans, we have more grey
matter which allows for fine motor skills and co-ordination. Why is this
detrimental to generating power such as shown by the chimps? This is the case
of “too many cooks spoil the broth”. Usually when we try to generate power, we
are unable to synchronize or co-ordinate all these muscle fibres to act in
symphony. Often, certain muscle fibres are inactive or acting in the opposite
of the direction we wish to move.
Through Zhan Zhuang, we strive
to intensely activate our neuromuscular control over all these muscle fibres,
fascia and ligaments. The focus is simple, namely to move with INTEGRITY. We attempt to move our muscles to form a dynamic chain, akin
to the ALL or NOTHING reaction of the chimps.