Keeping a relaxed neck during practice of strikes

[fa_jing]

Hi, you all may remember my concussion problem. I wrote an e-mail to Dr. Yang asking about a Chinese Medical approach to treating concussion. He had an interesting response:

"It is not normal to have concussion in Chinese martial arts
training. One of possible occurrences is due to the wrong leading of Jing (martial power). If you wish to learn Jing, you must have a qualified and experienced teacher.
Wrong doing may damage the brain. I sincerely believe that you should stop your training until you really know how. Allow your brain relax and recovered. Do Not tense up your neck and shake your head or away from side to side. All of these are the possible causes of concussion. Please take it seriously so you will not harm your own health."

Well, I doubt the first statement is true. Also, my concussions were suffered as the result of being hit, not improper training. But, contemplating my return to MA practice, I've tried punching in the air. I've found that it is very difficult to keep my neck from tensing up, and a shock or vibration from travelling up to my skull. Also, looking at tape of me hitting the heavy bag, I can see that my head vibrates with every shot. Part of it is I think a bad habit that I have always had without realizing it. Part of it too, is due to a practice of tensing up my whole body with each hit. By concentrating, I am able to relax more, but one of the hardest things to relax is my neck. Any pointers?

[Thor317]

You just need to concentrate on where your hitting, and getting your foot or fist there. Strength is not something you should think about. Speed is, it's all about the motion and not strength. Only use mucles needed to perform the strike. If you don't understand say so. I'll try harder to explain it.
Remember to keep things simple so you can learn. Making things complicated make you think.

[Budokan]

You should be able to punch, even air, without your neck muscles tensing up too much. Okay, there are some muscles running from your shoulder to your neck that are used when you move your arm. I can place fingers on the side of my neck and feel them move slightly when I punch. But your entire neck shouldn't be tensed, at least not like what's coming through your explanation of what it feels like.

And you're right: The first statement by the doctor is complete bunk.

[Merryprankster]

Think about forcing your shoulders down. You can't really do it while you're punching but it helped me keep from tensing. Once you've got that ok, start paying attention to how it feels when you hit the bag. My best hooks and crosses were always just laid in there.

[Sleemie]

First off, are you COMPLETELY healed from the consussion? As you may know, and not to scare you, but with each concussion you have, the more susceptible you are to getting another one, so be careful.

[TaoBoy]

I always think of having 'heavy' elbows. Just heavy enough to ensure my shoulders don't rise and tense up. This stops tension in the neck also. Therefore, my strikes are faster. I train for fast strikes not strong strikes so this works very well for me.

[fa_jing]

NO, I'm not completely healed, and I haven't returned to MA practice or physical activity for that matter.

Next month (December) I am going to take up Tai Chi with a local expert.

I think it's a difficult thing to do, as well as a difficult change in mentality. I've always been taught to tense up for a split second at the end of a strike. What I'm realizing is that it is not necessary to tense the whole body, just the muscles involved. Some internal stylists will tell you that it's not necessary to tense up anything. But particularly the neck is difficult to relax, as it is connected to the shoulder. I don't know if it's possible to completely relax the neck during striking, but it is possible to do a better job than I have been doing. One reason may by my chronically high and tight shoulders (Traps and rhomboids). I'm sure Tai Chi will help some.