Regulars to the Thursday class (1-2.30 pm
at BNHC) know that Laurie and I have been playing around with the idea that the
jellyfish is the purest fascial movement based organism that we can think of.
Of course the jelly like substance of the
jellyfish and our collagen-based fascia is not identical but they share many
properties, which leads us to postulate that it affects movement in a similar
way.
Jellyfish are an ancient life form on the
evolutionary ladder, which raises several questions as to when our fascia
formed in the timescale of human evolution.
This blog update is about another interesting
aspect of the jellyfish and it’s movement.
We have all seen the graceful way a
jellyfish propels itself through the water, it is hypnotic, so much so that in
Japan they observe tanks of jellyfish as a way to reduce stress.
In a recent article in the Sunday Times
(20th October 2013) researchers in the U.S. have named the Moon
Jellyfish (the most common type) ‘the most efficient swimmers on the planet’.
Brad J Gemmell of the Marine Biological
Lab in Massachusetts has analysed the movement of the Moon jellyfish.
Brad, like Laurie and I has had trouble
describing this movement in conventional language, there just are not the words
available to us. So like us (we invented the word Myolastic), he has invented
some new terms to describe the way the Jellyfish moves.
He invented a new way of describing and
calculating the energy used in Jellyfish (fascial!!) movement calling it the
“the cost of transport”
i.e. how much energy used to move.
He observed a 2 phase swimming motion:
Phase 1- jellyfish contracts it’s open
bell and pulses water behind it, propelling itself forward.
Phase 2 – Jellyfish returns to its
original bell shape as the bell refills with water.
Traditionally Phase 1 is the active
phase, the contractile stage and Phase 2 is the passive or recovery stage.
However it has been shown that the second
phase is also creating a push of it’s own, accounting for 30% of the distance
travelled without actually doing any work! This is because the elastic tissue
(their description not mine) of the bell, acts like an elastic band, reforming
the bell and it is this action that produces a water action under the jellyfish
called a vortex, which pushes it forward. This recovery stage and the kick it
produces is, they believe, purely mechanical and VERY energy efficient.
The question is can our fascia be as
efficient?
Our fascia is made up of two substances,
collagen and elastin. We know that the location and use determine the exact
quantities of the two substances. We also know that use or load placed upon the
fascia can lead to changes in the ratio of collagen and elastin in a tissue at
a specific site.
The fascial tissue or connective tissue
in our body has an elastic quality. We know it stores energy and releases it, with
huge efficiency such as can be seen when a kangaroo jumps.
(All of the above can be read about in
previous blogs on the MMP site and www.Traceymellorpilates.co.uk blog site.)
The speed/strength of the return to
original size and shape is what determines the elastic capability of a tissue
or substance. Stainless steel has a high elastic capability for instance. The
elastic of a jellyfish also has a highly elastic capability, giving it a low
“cost of transport”.
It is possible to feel the restoration of
shape in our tissue in the quiet stillness of non-movement, we have been
exploring how this feels in our classes and workshops.
So what is our “cost of transport”? Can
we improve it with training or is it there already just waiting for us to
recognise it’s existence?
Tracey Mellor
© December 2013
