The Finger Strength of Emperor Tiberius
"Tiberius was a big, strong man, above average in height. He was broad across the shoulders and chest... His left hand was the more dexterous and stronger one; it had joints so tough that he would drill right through a whole fresh apple with his finger, and a quick flick of it would injure the head of a boy, or even a young man" (Suetonius 68 Trans. Donna W. Hurley).
The above passage was written by an ancient author who was not out to give Tiberius a good name. Unfortunately, we have no idea if the emperor's fingers on his left hand were really this strong. My initial question is: How attainable are both of the finger feats of Tiberius? If this is passage is true, Tiberius was a large man, so genetics would play a role. Also, did he engage in some sort of training which gave him a strength/stability advantage? I will explore more of these questions and look for some answers in this short article.
When I hear about the sort of finger strength that would enable one to "drill right through a whole fresh apple..." and "injure the head of a boy..." I usually find references like these among the recorded feats of Chinese or Okinawan martial artists. In those historical systems, there is the Spear Hand technique or a One Finger Strike, for example. With enough conditioning one could, theoretically, penetrate a hard apple.
The finger flick strike mentioned by Suetonius appears in Kung-Fu movies such as Jet Li's Fist of Legend. In one fight scene, a fighter misses with his punch, but then opens his fist and strikes the opponent on the head with the back of his fingers. I doubt this strike will be integrated into cage fighting anytime soon, but it could serve as a distraction to the opponent as one recovers from a failed punch. Similarly, one sees MMA fighters flick out their open hands to break the rhythm and sight-line of his or her adversary. Sometimes this defensive or set-up technique turns into an illegal eye poke (YouTube search "Jon Jones Eye Poke"). The eye poke, in my opinion, is one of the most practical martial art techniques.
If I were to create a training routine to develop a stronger finger flick, it might look something like this:
Supplementary Progressive Strength Resistance Training
Reverse Wrist Curls
Rubber Band finger extensions
Wide grip stone cylinder: lateral, frontal, and rear Deltoid Flyes
Shoulder Rotator Work
Heavy Rope Whipping Various Angles
Power frontal with barbell or kettlebell
Hand and Grip work to increase the Mass of the hand and wrist
Strikes with & without bands
Limited range finger flick
Limited range wrist flick
Full arm thrust with flick
Rotating back arm strike wrist flick
Transverse core work
Isolation of whipping motions
Small factures and tears of bones and joints through various methods
Progressive Testing
Wrist flick breaking of weak to sturdy wooden sticks
Test improvements with acceleration on a candle flame
The sort of conditioning one would endure for a powerful finger thrust would involve plunging one's hand in various materials in order to strengthen the hand and thicken the skin around the striking surface. One can search on YouTube for footage of people performing spear hand strikes on various things, especially watermelon.
In conclusion, the feat of plunging one's fingers into a piece of hard fruit is uncommon, but certainly attainable. Tiberius was a large and strong man, making this feat more believable. The act of injuring a young man or boy with the flick of the fingers is easily more subjective than plunging the fingers into hard fruit. I do not know if this flick was only performed with a small motion of the wrist, the fingers only, or if Tiberius put his elbow or shoulder into it. To injure a head is a general statement. If Tiberius was leaving a bruise or knocking boys down or unconscious from only a flick of the fingers, this would be both sadistic and impressive. Suetonius does not make it clear. Perhaps he would flick an attendant boys head and the boy would feign injury to avoid a harsher punishment. Tiberius might have employed more of a whipping motion with a slight extension of the arm and the snapping of the wrist. This could certainly wobble a lad. I am curious to find out if Tiberius would perform what I will, for now on call the "Tiberius Flick," out of either cruel sport or as a habitual harsh disciplining tool.
"Tiberius was a big, strong man, above average in height. He was broad across the shoulders and chest... His left hand was the more dexterous and stronger one; it had joints so tough that he would drill right through a whole fresh apple with his finger, and a quick flick of it would injure the head of a boy, or even a young man" (Suetonius 68 Trans. Donna W. Hurley).
The above passage was written by an ancient author who was not out to give Tiberius a good name. Unfortunately, we have no idea if the emperor's fingers on his left hand were really this strong. My initial question is: How attainable are both of the finger feats of Tiberius? If this is passage is true, Tiberius was a large man, so genetics would play a role. Also, did he engage in some sort of training which gave him a strength/stability advantage? I will explore more of these questions and look for some answers in this short article.
When I hear about the sort of finger strength that would enable one to "drill right through a whole fresh apple..." and "injure the head of a boy..." I usually find references like these among the recorded feats of Chinese or Okinawan martial artists. In those historical systems, there is the Spear Hand technique or a One Finger Strike, for example. With enough conditioning one could, theoretically, penetrate a hard apple.
The finger flick strike mentioned by Suetonius appears in Kung-Fu movies such as Jet Li's Fist of Legend. In one fight scene, a fighter misses with his punch, but then opens his fist and strikes the opponent on the head with the back of his fingers. I doubt this strike will be integrated into cage fighting anytime soon, but it could serve as a distraction to the opponent as one recovers from a failed punch. Similarly, one sees MMA fighters flick out their open hands to break the rhythm and sight-line of his or her adversary. Sometimes this defensive or set-up technique turns into an illegal eye poke (YouTube search "Jon Jones Eye Poke"). The eye poke, in my opinion, is one of the most practical martial art techniques.
If I were to create a training routine to develop a stronger finger flick, it might look something like this:
Supplementary Progressive Strength Resistance Training
Reverse Wrist Curls
Rubber Band finger extensions
Wide grip stone cylinder: lateral, frontal, and rear Deltoid Flyes
Shoulder Rotator Work
Heavy Rope Whipping Various Angles
Power frontal with barbell or kettlebell
Hand and Grip work to increase the Mass of the hand and wrist
Strikes with & without bands
Limited range finger flick
Limited range wrist flick
Full arm thrust with flick
Rotating back arm strike wrist flick
Transverse core work
Isolation of whipping motions
Small factures and tears of bones and joints through various methods
Progressive Testing
Wrist flick breaking of weak to sturdy wooden sticks
Test improvements with acceleration on a candle flame
The sort of conditioning one would endure for a powerful finger thrust would involve plunging one's hand in various materials in order to strengthen the hand and thicken the skin around the striking surface. One can search on YouTube for footage of people performing spear hand strikes on various things, especially watermelon.
Fastest time to pierce 4 coconuts with 1 FINGER! - Guinness World Records Classics
In conclusion, the feat of plunging one's fingers into a piece of hard fruit is uncommon, but certainly attainable. Tiberius was a large and strong man, making this feat more believable. The act of injuring a young man or boy with the flick of the fingers is easily more subjective than plunging the fingers into hard fruit. I do not know if this flick was only performed with a small motion of the wrist, the fingers only, or if Tiberius put his elbow or shoulder into it. To injure a head is a general statement. If Tiberius was leaving a bruise or knocking boys down or unconscious from only a flick of the fingers, this would be both sadistic and impressive. Suetonius does not make it clear. Perhaps he would flick an attendant boys head and the boy would feign injury to avoid a harsher punishment. Tiberius might have employed more of a whipping motion with a slight extension of the arm and the snapping of the wrist. This could certainly wobble a lad. I am curious to find out if Tiberius would perform what I will, for now on call the "Tiberius Flick," out of either cruel sport or as a habitual harsh disciplining tool.
If you are interested in information on ancient combat sports, check out this episode of Ancient Light where I compare ancient fighters to modern Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters.
