FORCE DEFLECTION VS. HORIZONTAL PUSH
Instead of striking an opponent on the same plane, where the winner is often determined by who is bigger, stronger and faster, force deflection offers success through mechanical advantage.
Force deflection works on the premise that force can be generated and control can be established without momentum and helmet-to-helmet contact. This is achieved by striking opponents with the hands on a low to high plane using the hips as the sole driving force for power as opposed to sequentially driving the feet.
Contact is delivered by the hands, but it’s the player’s hips that drive the engine.
Players do not need to take a big initial step to initiate contact. When players take big steps or drive their feet, they disable the greatest source of power in their bodies – the hips – and eliminate the ability to uncoil. Taking a big step not only works against them by compromising the base, but it now puts the helmet and head closer to the contact zone.
Instead, energy is transferred from the uncoiling of the hips into the arms and focused out through the hypothenar into the contact surface of the opponent.