Short excerpt from a YouTube video by Connor Beaton introducing and demonstrating "pummeling," a 5-minute embodied exercise for men that emphasizes nonverbal connection, playfulness, and testing physical edges. The clip combines experiential commentary (why the practice is connective/liberating) with concise, practical instructions for a chest-to-chest partner drill aiming to achieve double-underhooks and dominant position.
Practice is called pummeling. There's something about men sharing a nonverbal space with each other that's extremely connective. And this is a direct way to practice more of that. And.
Something about grappling like this that just reminds us of play. You know, being in relationship with another man, testing the limits, testing our edge, testing our bodies, and doing that with another guy can just be liberating.
So basically, we're just going to be chest to chest like this, hand on his back, hand on his elbow right here. And the goal is for me to try to get both hands up under where I could give a takedown here. And so we're fighting for that dominant position. And the way that we do that is we're going to try to swim our hands in, you know, do at the same time. We'll end up back in a neutral position. And I'm trying to defend while he's doing that by holding my arm close to his chest and putting my other arm, my right arm, down underneath. So I'm trying to get double underhooks, and he's trying to do the same thing.
Human beings are wired for touch. Men get touched and have touched so little because of social constructs and mores and norms. And it deeply does something to us to not have that. And when we have an outlet where it's acceptable, it's relational, it's playful, it opens us back up to flow, vitality, ease.
