Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
Improper posture results in a significant loss of a percentage of power because they don’t create proper alignment in their own bodies.
Structural integrity not only facilitates power, it also facilitates speed because we need not (1) release tension from some part of out body in order to move it, and/or (2) fight against tension in one body part in the process of moving another. In addition, we also will enjoy a greater range of motion as a relaxed musculature is a more flexible one. I refer to this state as, “Positive Relaxation.” Positive relaxation is that state of the body where our muscular structure is relaxed enough but tensed just enough to hold the body in its proper structural state at any given moment.
Proper posture permits tremendous increases in the speed of our footwork. The true nature of walking, as an example, consists of “Falling forward” and catching ourselves in a controlled fashion. This is likened to the drop-step punch used with such power and success in the boxing arena. Natural walking processes along with structure and posture all contribute to power in applications. The movement of the body mass along with structure, posture, balance, etc., achieve power and force through maximized energy use.
Breathing, our last sub-principle as well as other principles, becomes connected with posture, i.e., failure to breath properly from the lower abdomen raises the center of gravity to the chest and this creates artificial tension in the torso, making us all too much like Frankenstein. Walking should be about moving from the center. We establish proper posture, we move the entire body - everything above the center - all at once. This brings about greater efficiency and reduces muscle tension creating a greater ability at positive relaxation thus less body and musculature and skeletal tension wasting energy that can better be applied to an adversary. Remember, as will be discussed in detail elsewhere, tension is a energy bleed off as is bad posture and structure, i.e., proper alignment tends to result in bleed off as well.
Posture involves things like the proper alignment of the spine, i.e., the spine actually curves - it moves best as an intact unit, which means upright. When the “stack” of bones tilts forward, the body has to exert muscular force to stop it from collapsing, which not only wastes energy but also proves inefficient for fighting.
By not tilting or dropping our weight, we are more efficient in our lateral movement as it does not disperse energy unnecessarily. Proper posture is maintained through proper breathing. If you feel tension or discomfort in any part of your body you are not properly aligned. The most excellent kata to practice and feel this is, “Sanchin kata,” along with the “Sanchin shime or testing.”
The better your posture/structure, the less energy - muscle tension - our body better supports and maintains itself, the more energy we can apply to an adversary. Our bodies act in structural unity. If we have resistance, our acts will be to compensate using arms and shoulders, muscling it, and we will expend a great deal of energy in our bodies vs. applying it toward an adversary. Our bodies consume more of that finite energy level lessening the energy applied externally to the adversary.
Structure and posture provide the means to use the weight of our whole body - Heaviness - rather than the strength of our arms, etc.
Obviously, skill level is still a necessity, not to mention the application of other principles, will determine the final outcome of an attack.
When properly employing posture, our structure can support the force we exert and simultaneously exploit the weaknesses in the adversary. Without proper structure, we must rely on strength, which only attacks strength. When there is proper posture, we can rely on structure, which in turn attacks structure.
Posture impacts the visual and psychological power of presence. This power comes across when attackers, adversary’s and predators scope out a possible victim. This provides us the ability to project a presence, a tell, that dissuades attackers simply by looking powerful, by carrying ourselves in such a way that any attacker, adversary, and/or predator discerns our training and ability. Problematic posture/structure projects weakness, fragmented, and even uncoordinated presence - in other words, a possible victim.
Bibliography (Click the link)
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