Month: December 2006

Try this: Walk normally with arms loose at your sides or up pointing at the sky (or earth if you are in orbit) while holding one of those 1.5 litter soft drink bottles full almost to the maximum. See how you can walk with them without giving the bottles any reason to pendulum and when they are up in the air relax as much as you can and hold them with the least touch and activation.

I have just returned from a basketball game with my brother in law that was for his birthday. Having played it last five years ago I had to zero my hand eye coordination but was surprised to account 80% hit from the 2 and 3 lines. Most of it came from adding skill to skill. I used the sword movement I practiced in aikido for many years for the throw. Whatever you have carried with you can be of use some how.

First here is the tool to learn from: Step barefoot using a slow pace so each step comes from the core starting with breath and taking at least twenty breaths to complete. The leg has to be relaxed throughout so if something is in the way (like tripwire, brush) will just be ridden on and not entangled. You place the foot as you are checking if it gives the needed support and only than you move the mass to that foot. (practicing this on it’s own can be a powerful tool for freedom and efficiency.) now the drill: using this method teach yourself to turn a 180` on the spot without leaning or tilting and no tension in the body. Check how you get to your solution and enjoy the proccess.

Shoulder walk: A very easy concept and somewhat harder to put into play. You balance yourself on the shoulders and neck/head and start to shift mass from side to side and move back and forth in this manner. use your legs as cranes and your arms not to support but to form the logical shape for the shoulders to balance and work. Do 20 meters in each direction and put what you gain into your work. 

To learn to move as one and to use both arms at once work with a friend while you are holding a rope or belt using both hands at about a foot distance from each other (and by that I mean the width between your feet when you stand comfortably) Now survive attacks and attack yourself as you are holding the rope. The twists will tell you if you are twisting the body and the width will force you to work with both hands and teach you many possibilities. Another thing is to cope with the rope being grabed and live up to the cartoon “I’ve got you ! On the contrary I’ve got you” Have fun and remember: if you are not enjoying yourself you are doing something wrong. This is of course from a guy who goes to his happy place where he is hit by Misha so take it as you like.

Most people have a prefered angle to do certain drills like the push up and the the like. To better learn yourself change from time to time the angle or footing and so on to see how you can learn and streangthen from it. For example do the slow push up using the four right angles to the body and see how you feel and what the body tells you in each angle.

To better the health and force of the joints and tendons on twists as well as in straight lines we need to work slowly and with a little constant ressistance on these vary movements. For example, Take a towel and soak it in water and slowly twist the water out of it using different angles and holds (good for the fingers and elbows) have a friend twist your shoulder slowly as you breath and relax and ressist using a constant force. Jittering here is not healthy. For the legs you do the same twisting and slow ressistance following to have the joint and tendons work and stay young. You can also pit leg against leg while you are sitting or on the floor and wrestle with yourself which can of course be done with the hands as the thumb wrestle game is known…

Start with one person on the ground and one standing up and kicking him. Your job is to avoid being hurt of course but also to reach a goal like a door or a tree depending on your location.This puts a more realistic face on this drill and gives both of you better awareness of your location in space.

As you do the up and down walk on the wall using your fists push with the fist that stays on as you lift the other one off the wall and see if things become better. Now apply this to your work. Simple control of your advance and chain of tension level in the entire body.

The pick up game: two people have to reach and pick up and cary another person out of the room or to a goal and he has to evade and misguide them and if need be take care of them so they don’t want to pursue…

The heavy game: one person is on the ground and the partner has to pick him up somehow and the prone has to position himself so it will be the most difficult to move and lift. This is a no hitting game but you can learn a lot from it about relaxation and your posture abilities.