Here
we seem to come across a defect in the human machine, for the _greater
straight_ muscles in the front of the neck, which serve as opposing
muscles, are not only much smaller but at a further disadvantage by
being yoked to the pre-fulcral end of the lever, very close to the cup
on which the head rocks. However, if the _greater straight_ muscles lose
power by working on a very short lever, they gain, in speed; we set them
quickly and easily into action when we give a nod of recognition. All
the strength or power is yoked to the post-fulcral end of the head; the
pre-fulcral end of its lever is poorly guarded. Japanese wrestlers know
this fact very well, and seek to gain victory by pressing up the poorly
guarded pre-fulcral lever of the head, thus producing a deadly lock at
the fulcral joint. Indeed, it will be found that those who use the
jiu-jitsu method of fighting have discovered a great deal about the
construction and weaknesses of the levers of the human body.
Merely to poise the head on the atlas may seem to you as easy a matter
as balancing the beam of a pair of scales on an upright support.
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