The example is that of the lowly mosquito and the mighty raindrop.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/st ... 33970.html
In a new study, Dr. Hu and his team of researchers studied how mosquitoes survive the impact of raindrops that are more than 50 times their body mass.
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At first, researchers tried to determine how mosquitoes managed to avoid the countless raindrops that fall in any given storm. Instead, they discovered that the mosquitoes don't avoid the rain at all. When a drop lands on a mosquito, the insect literally rides the wave of moisture, with his powerful exoskeleton making the impact no more powerful than the equivalent of a human brushing their own arm with a feather. The water then glides off the mosquito's body, allowing it to continue its flight unencumbered.
Imagine that you weight a mere 100lbs and are hit by a moving body that weighs 5000lbs... and you simply ride that force like a wave, neutralizing the ability of that force to destroy you and not absorbing any of it, this is what mosquitoes are doing.
Another thing to consider is this: the water drops are not moving slowly.
"Drops are coming down 10 times faster than mosquitoes can fly," Hu said.
This ability is due to the insubstantial manner of the mosquito, their softness allowing them to overcome the force. When they are unable to respond in this manner the result is very different:
However, if the mosquito is resting on a tree branch or flying close to the ground, the results can be much more deadly. That same feather-like impact could instead impact with as much force as 10,000 times the insect's body weight.
Essentially when the mosquito does not yield, it is destroyed.
Many who practice taijiquan are aware of these principals, now there is yet another excellent example of these principals in action.