Can’t we just imagine it as a really strong wind that knocks you off your feet?
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Think of it more as a pulse of wind rather than a constant stream. A shockwave is the energy of the explosion dissipating into the environment. If there is only air to move to dissipate the energy, than the shockwave travels for a long time at a high rate of speed, because the air doesn’t absorb much of the energy. Then it hits your body, with its liquids and solids and soft tissues and membranes, and that absords LOTS of energy. Unfortunately the way your body absorbs this energy is the same way your car absorbs the energy of a traffic accident: by breaking.
If it helps, think of a Shockwave as more like a pulse of wind traveling VERY quickly. Like hundreds of miles an hour (I believe it’s actually right about the speed of sound but I may be wrong). However, the wind analogy doesn’t really illustrate what’s happening, so think of it this way: a large amount of kinetic energy dissipating across the front of your body (assuming you were facing the explosion) is directly analogous to falling and landing on your face.
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