SUPPORT

We say the word "support" every day, we use it to express various things like friendly support (I support your idea), emotional support (I support you, no matter what), etc. We look for support of our ideas by finding the necessary information, we look for support like a step stool or a ladder to step on to reach for a burnt light bulb to change it, we offer our shoulder to cry on to support an upset friend, in search of support in a form of approval, a child shows off his newest cool dance move to a happily clapping mother, etc. Whether we find the support we are looking for or not, changes everything. The type and quality of the support in question plays an important role as well, but that's a whole separate topic.

What is support? The natural reaction to this seemingly broad question is normally the following question - what kind of support are we talking about? While we might be using various meanings in various situations, the essence of "support" remains.

So what is support really? Support is the moment of application of something to another something. In physical terms it is application of one body to another body, in terms of emotions, it's application of one’s emotion to emotion of another. Support is the moment of transformation of energy, it is the moment that changes things and redirects the flow of energy. From that point of support and on, everything can go either this way or that way or stop entirely.

In running, for example, support happens when the ball of your foot (support for your body) lands on the ground (external support). Once you find support you can redirect the force of gravity into movement forward. Without support you'd keep being pulled down by gravity.

In swimming, proper application of your body's support points (hands and hips) to water allows for better movement in water, instead of trying to pull your entire body through and overloading your shoulders and arms, while also trying to rotate for some reason like some would recommend, you can simply learn to find support and move over it (all in a fraction of a second of course, better don't blink). How do you think a human body can float? Water provides support against gravity pulling down. Same with ground, your foot needs to land somewhere to continue movement.

Nothing can happen during the "flight", but during the "support" phase you can either stop or continue the movement, you can redirect it, if needed. Without support there is no movement forward, backward, up or down, not in the environment run by gravity. If there is no gravity in the picture we can't move, unless we push off of something (we use support to move in a certain direction) and we can't stop moving, unless we grab onto something (we find support to stop). As far as movement is concerned, support is most effective, when it happens directly under the GCM.

Article by Dr. Nicholas Romanov
Composed by L. Romanov