Posture points

Single weighted:

this does not mean standing on one foot. it means to not 'double weight' or resist force. the single foot thing helps to reinforce that principle because you cant resist very well standing on one foot, because you cant create the base necessary for many expansion movements.

another consideration here is the use of the kua or hip joint area. power is generally 'expressed' through one kwa or the other, at a time. compressive force is delivered either by shifting the weight underground or by coiling off one leg. in both cases, the predominance of the 'work' is done on one foot at a time, through its respective kwa.


Foot flat

the feet should be flat, and relaxed. they should feel like they squish into the ground a bit aka 'marshmallow feet'. this is the spreading out of the metatarsals we discussed a few classes back.

watch out for excessive pressure on the outer and inner edges of the foot, as well as the ball of the foot and toes. the arch of the foot should be well supported. you will have a greater amount of pressure in the heel area (slightly forward..'anterior of'?) because that is where the leg bones connect to the feet.

its generally taken for granted, but the source of all movement IS the contact between the sole of the foot and the ground. any tension, or unevenness in the feet will affect the potential of the whole structure. 'feeling your feet' and thus your body alignment is an important aspect of this technique.

'feeling the feet' is eventually extended outward to the opponent through outreaching as you attempt to feel his feet, or connection to the ground. most peoples power projections are made through the opponents upper dimension, or shoulder baseline. this results in a horizontal energy that is pretty easy to evade, slip, or transform. when you move your projection down, to encompass the partner's center, you will have a greater effect on his mass, as the force is angled downward (generally), which makes it more difficult to escape because you have less room and time to adjust the feet. if you can direct you movements into the partner's 'feet', you tend to have the most success in affecting his mass because the vectoring is 'inclusive', or taking into account his entire mass/momentum. since he is dependent upon his to feet to move and adjust, attacking them 'directly' will deprive him of the source of balance, movement, and power.

p.s. I am not talking about sweeps.




Knee presses heel

compressive alignment relates to gravity, which means all force goes DOWN. the knee must press into the heel to maintain gravitational alignment. when you step, you step down, not forward. of course, you will move forward, but you need to forget about that part. you already know how to do that.

this is the HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL keyword. we move horizontally from a vertical force(relationship). the real action is vertical, but we see it as horizontal, for the most part. the focus need to be on the downward and vertical component of movement.

take uproots for example, you don't go forward, you go back and down. the forward elements are relatively passive.

so to start this be sure the KNEE PRESSES THE HEEL when you step. iow, the knee follows the line of the lower leg, down into the foot. it does not follow the line of the thigh...i.e. no lunging motion. lunging forward tends to carry you past the proper lower leg alignment, and you overshoot the point of balance. this is actually the standard for a lot of people, they just have gotten pretty good at handling it, and use the ball of the foot and toes to compensate for being too far forward. ive discussed the 'five points of gold' with a few of you, which is a fancy term for gripping the ground with your toes for extra support. this may be reasonable for other methods, or something that you do if your balance is in jeopardy, but in general it is a no-no. we are working on internal sinking and compression, any tension is an impediment to the method, especially tension in your root.




Knee points with toe

the knee is a hinge, and so it only really bends. if you torque your knee you can damage it, and/or put it in a position in which it can be more easily damaged by another. keeping the knee pointed with the big toe maintains the integrity of the hip to foot connection, of which the knee is a crucial element.

female stances, as an example, are executed from the HIP not the knee. you open and close kua to step female, not torque the knees to move the toes, which unfortunately tends to be the standard.

imagine a roughly right angle triangle drawn from the knee down the leg, across the bottom of the foot and then from the big toe back to the knee. you do not want to warp the hypotenuse by letting the knee go 'out' or 'in'. so no 'bowlegged' or 'knock kneed' stances. not even a little bit. bowlegged stances cause ankle eversion, and knockknees cause inversion.

this is a major point of alignment and compressive strength.


NO 'pointy' knees ( you can see your big toe)

this is the same point as knee presses heel. pointy knees come from lunging to far forward in your stance


Pelvis is relaxed (lumbar, psoas)

the whole body needs to be relaxed, of course. the pelvis being 'relaxed' refers to 'tailbone points at heel'.

in English this means to let the pelvis fall in a natural drop to flatten and extend the lumbar spine. this is mated with 'tucking the chin' and the 'pearls' image to create spinal elongation. spinal elongation is the 'opening' of the cervical and lumbar vertebrae by extending the structures around them, in concert with relaxation.

the benefit of spinal elongation is that organizes the torso and allows various muscle groups to relax....if the body is properly stacked, it can relax, and not be required to maintain posture through antagonistic tension. dropping the tailbone levels out the ribcage, and lets the chest and shoulders relax. we could even say that dropping the pelvis creates the space inside for higher structures to descend.

a key point in compression and effortless power is to be as relaxed as possible, so that that body can be used to bridge force internally. a common phrase for this is 'internal sinking'. spinal elongation with the PEARLS image is a HUGE part of learning this skill.

if we partition the body into 3 sections we have the hand to spine, spine to pelvis(hip), pelvis(hip) to foot distinctions. the pelvis is the center region and the power generated by legs passes through it, as does the opponent's force (same diff). getting a bit into tactical considerations, whats needed is the ability to align so that force passes through the hip area and goes down into the ground. if your pelvis is 'locked' or tight, it will be difficult to get a quality transfer. you can always cheat it, if your slick, but youll get diminishing returns with that approach.


Pelvis kept between feet or centered over standing foot in one legged stances

the hip, knee, and ankle need to be in relative vertical alignment. putting the pelvis out of alignment will put you into an antagonistic state. keep your self lined up to gravity, and don't stick the hips out in any direction. 'no leaning, caving, or tilting'.


Spine is straight

read : spinal elongation



Torso sits on pelvis

the upper body is very relaxed and moves according to lok hap. 'stacking' is having a relaxed vertical alignment, and you should strive for this in you entire body. the torso is singled out here because it must, in contrast to 'normal' usage, be completely relaxed and much more passive in function. its easy to have muscle use in the torso go undetected because its such a big area, and usually we don't really pay that much attention to it.

this instruction is to get you to relax (there's that word again) and stack the upper body, and let the lower body move it around. " the bottom is heavy and the top is light"


Shoulders relaxed (major point)

this one is usually pretty tough for people. shoulders are very moveable and very useful, so we focus on them a lot, unconsciously. pay attention and you will likely see that you lift your shoulders all the time. driving, typing, working, whatever. anytime we try to manipulate, control, or otherwise use force, we tend to raise the shoulders.

so....

the scapulae do not move towards the ears.

which they wont do if they are relaxed. tada.....








Head up with chin slightly tucked so that the nape of the neck is straight

gaze is level or slightly downward. this is the top component of spinal elongation.

this head position provides some degree of knockout protection as it tends to 'connect' the head to the body in a superior fashion. (jaw check). if you get hit, the body moves as one unit. this reduces the chance of the brain bouncing off the inside of your dome and making you take a power nap. some rolling with the punches is suggested to go along with this neck and head alignment.
Nose aligns with navel
Peripheral vision
Mouth closed with teeth 'clicked'

shoulders stay down in girdles
elbows stay in front of ribs
arms are kept 3/4 extended (kuntao 'iron wheel arm')
wrist must be straight/boxed/square
royal fist formation
open hand has 'cupping' shape with slightly curved fingers and thumb