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B-nole
AUG 28, 2012 10:38 AM
1,587
Sports
The Secret to Brick Breaking
Brain power, not brute strength, may explain how karate experts can break bricks with a bare-handed or bare-headed strike, according to scientists who say years of martial arts training change the organ's structure.
I don't think I've ever broken bricks bare-handed, but would love the ability to.
Researchers in Britain compared the short-range punches of a dozen karate masters to those of a dozen physically fit beginners and found the black belts' secret is not found in muscular power but an ability to coordinate the peak velocity of their shoulder and wrist.
This allowed higher acceleration and a larger impact force, according to scientists.
The scientists then scanned the two groups' brains, and found that those who threw the more effective punch had changes in the structure of their white matter, which transmits signals between the brain's processing regions.
The longer they had been training, the more changes were observed in the brain.
Study co-author Ed Roberts of Imperial College London's medicine department explained the discovery in a statement.
Scientists believe that through the process of learning a skill, patterns of brain activity adapt as performance improves.
Now they believe they have also found proof of changes to the brain structure itself.
This makes perfect sense to me.
The human mind is a very powerful thing. Mental discipline and health is just as important, if not more than, physical strength, although both aid the other.
Let's get focused and break some bricks!
via New York Daily News
I don't think I've ever broken bricks bare-handed, but would love the ability to.
Researchers in Britain compared the short-range punches of a dozen karate masters to those of a dozen physically fit beginners and found the black belts' secret is not found in muscular power but an ability to coordinate the peak velocity of their shoulder and wrist.
This allowed higher acceleration and a larger impact force, according to scientists.
The scientists then scanned the two groups' brains, and found that those who threw the more effective punch had changes in the structure of their white matter, which transmits signals between the brain's processing regions.
The longer they had been training, the more changes were observed in the brain.
Study co-author Ed Roberts of Imperial College London's medicine department explained the discovery in a statement.
"The karate black belts were able to repeatedly coordinate their punching action with a level of coordination that novices can't produce. We think that ability might be related to fine tuning of neural connections in the cerebellum (the part of the brain that governs motor control), allowing them to synchronise their arm and trunk movements very accurately."
Scientists believe that through the process of learning a skill, patterns of brain activity adapt as performance improves.
Now they believe they have also found proof of changes to the brain structure itself.
This makes perfect sense to me.
The human mind is a very powerful thing. Mental discipline and health is just as important, if not more than, physical strength, although both aid the other.
Let's get focused and break some bricks!
via New York Daily News
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