The IKEA principle - “Flat Packed Karate”!
The IKEA principle - “Flat Packed Karate”!
The first thing we do when we buy our piece of flat packed furniture is make sure that all the bits are there. We do this before we attempt to put it together. As we assemble each part we connect it loosely and it is only when all the parts are assembled in the correct place that we start to tighten the bolts and screws, providing stability and strength to the piece.
In Karate, for something to work well we have to have all the parts, the components that go to make up the whole. Then we have to make sure that they all fit together in the correct order. Loosely at first, it is only when we are sure everything is in place that we can start to tighten everything up, refining, condensing and firming up each technique.
In its loose form, we are looking to understand and reaffirm structure. At this point we are not ready to pressure test, we are instead just “greasing the groove”, rehearsing and familiarising ourselves with the gross motor patterns. There is no heavy loading of the movements at this stage but we can see and identify the shapes.
As we rehearse the movements, we can start the tightening process. We connect the muscles, the tendons, the ligaments, the fascia, the skeleton. Tightening is not about creating excessive muscular tension but about integration, the body acting as a functional whole!
As we start to firm up our structure, we can begin to consider the introduction of pressure testing, which can help us to further strengthen the structures under loading. Think of sitting on a sprung mattress, and how the springs support, resist and move with you. Too little resistance and everything collapses, too much and there is no feedback., no synergy!
You wouldn’t want to sit on a self assembled flat packed chair before tightening the nuts and bolts would you?
