Hello Friends,
Tension and mobility are on two opposite ends of the spectrum: the greater the tension you recruit, the less mobility options you possess. From the Laws of Conditioning, we know then that if you train your nervous system to fire only for high tension, you diminish mobility.
This is important to understand as research demonstrates that most injuries occur not because a general or hi-tension deficit but because of a lack of ability to absorb and re-translate force, especially at extreme or unexpected ranges.
All strength is a skill. Yet, invariably, when people pick up Clubbells they attempt to use maximal tension to coerce the implement through the trajectory… and they fail every time. People attempt to use force all the time, yet what they need is the right amount of force at the critical moment.
Though a simple tool, the Clubbell is deliberately complex, because like a heat-seeking missile, it hunts out inappropriate tension at critical moments. In other words, whereas high tension focuses upon a tight-loose-tight grip protocol, the Clubbell demands that and everything in between it. And thus the Selective Tension doctrine promotes ‘real-world’ strength or proportional force in martial-arts speak.
This is nowhere more obvious than in the “intelligent grip” required in using the Clubbell. Strength is primarily transmitted through and by the hands. We evloveled into tool-using creatures and the most primal tool is the club.
In single-hand work, the Clubbell pulls through your hand rather than against it. In two-handed work, the dynamic push-pull of the “complimentary grip” demands that you coordinate an alternating power arm and locking arm. In double-handed (two Clubbells) work, you must coordinate two independently moving displaced centers of gravity. These all teach you to focus upon the entire movement rather than merely the concentric action phase. They teach you how to use “just enough” force to carry the Clubbell through each of the various phases of movement.
Clubbells and TACFIT maximize strength gains through optimizing our muscle software with Selective Tension. So we recruit only the muscles necessary for the task, and only the force necessary to accomplish the task. Always striving to work smarter, not harder.
Respectfully,
Scott B. Sonnon