J. R. Roy Martial Arts Studio Blog: September 2021

*This is an excerpt from Anatomy of Drumming by John Lamb

"Tensegrity

One of the key concepts in understanding how the body moves is how forces are delivered through the body. To understand this, you need to understand tensegrity. Tensegrity structures are formed of hard, compressible parts held together by constant tension. In the body, the bones are the compressible parts and the muscles and connective tissue (white tissue) are the elastic bands providing the tension.

It is important to note the difference between tensegrity structures and compression structures. The classic example of a compression is a brick wall. In a brick wall, the weight of the top brick is delivered directly into the bricks below. Each element in a compression structure is designed to be compressed. When comparing tensegrity and compression structures there are multiple advantages of tensegrity structures: mobility, strength, lightness and interdependence.