Unbendable Arm?

[June1]

How does this so-called "unbendable arm" technique work? I know it has something to do with ki, and I know that it is possible to experience.

Has anyone done this?

[cathal]

Yeah this is great.

1 Hold your arm out horizontally, make a fist, and tighten all the muscles in your arm. Now have someone put one hand on top of your elbow, and the other hand under your wrist.

2 Have your friend try to bend your arm. If he's about as strong as you or stronger, he should succeed.

3 Now, hold your arm out (again, with just a slight bend at the elbow), and relax all the muscles in your arm. Let your wrist dangle comfortably. Use just enough muscle to keep your arm in the air.

4 Look ahead in the direction your arm is pointing. Feel as though your arm extends out from you hundreds of feet. Imagine reaching and touching a tree or building that is a long distance away.

5 Maintain this feeling, and have your friend try to bend your arm again.

[June1]

I should get someone to try this on me; it sounds really cool!

Have you done it before, cathal?

[cathal]

Yeah, it didn't work out for me on the first few tries but when the novelty wore off it worked.

[jedimc]

I have tried this, pretty cool.

[Zanejin]

Hm, I've tried three times already and still nothing. Maybe I need more practice, or maybe I need to concentrate more.

[monkeygirl]

I tried this and got it on my second try. (Yes, my part in the staff article was actually a true first-hand experience, just a few embellishments for dramatic purposes). You really have to have complete focus and totally believe in what you're doing. If you break your concentration even slightly halfway through, it won't work. You can't be thinking "I wonder if this is even gonna work". You have to visualize it working perfectly, visualize very strongly and believe that it will happen. That worked for me.

[Hogosha]

Didn't work for me......

[David]

This is a simple trick of misdirection, a standard of Aikido beginners classes. Google "unbendable arm" for a million articles. There are many such tricks that are one-off lessons in basic principles of mind or mechanics.

In the first attempt, you are subtly encouraged to brace your arm with your bicep, the muscle that bends the arm... In the second, it is suggested, one way or another, to imagine extension or distance. This leads you to resist with the tricep - the correct muscle with which to resist. Bingo, your arm won't bend, unless the other guy is sufficiently strong.

Rgds,

David

[David]

Additional.

This is suitable for the Internal Forum in that the extension-visualisation demonstrates how power can be generated in an apparently relaxed state.

The only tension is in the tricep, the mind is calm. This shows that you don't need to be pumped or angry in order to defeat someone.

Rdgs,

David