This may come as a shock, but I believe many people training in the martial arts today are doing shizen no kamae (natural posture) wrong. How can this be? After all, aren’t you supposed to be just standing there naturally? Well, yes and no.
The problem stems from the fact that even though this is a “natural” posture, there are not that many people who stand naturally, naturally. We need to be taught how to be natural; or perhaps it’s better to say we need to unlearn and strip away from our bearing all that is NOT natural to find a true shizen no kamae.
TenChiJin
In order for the body to be supported with minimal effort and tension, 2 forces that act on us all the time must be understood and mastered. The 2 forces I am referring to are Ten (heaven) and Chi (earth). Ten and Chi are controlled by Jin (man) standing in the middle of the 2 – TenChiJin. Ten, the force of heaven, is gravity pulling the whole body down towards the earth. Chi, or the force of earth, is support pushing the body up opposing the force of gravity.
The body itself though must be conditioned to manipulate these 2 forces (there is a kuden). When the body is properly conditioned it then acts like a tensegrity structure – bones act like compressive struts pushing out while connective tissue pulls in. This combined with an understanding of how the forces of heaven and earth work create a profound neutral within the body, or zero state.
How Do We Stand?
In practical terms though, how should we stand? Let’s start with the head and work our way down…
Lift upwards slightly with the crown of the head allowing the chin to lower.
This straightens the vertebrae at the back of the neck. Shoulders are back and down sitting on the spine.
The back should be flat.
Do not tuck the pelvis.
The spine should be suspended from above like a skeleton hanging in a Science classroom.
Do not have the arms lay flush against the body.
There should be a golfball sized space under the armpits.
The bottom of the spine pulls straight down from the tail bone.
Feel like you are sitting on a high stool.
Allow the knees to bend slightly.
Feet should be shoulder width apart and pointed straight forward as if on railroad tracks.
Legs should feel like they are squeezing a beach ball.
Remember though, the ball puts outward pressure on the legs as they squeeze in.
Both directions, not just one.
The weight is carried in the hollow behind the balls of the feet. In Chinese Medicine, this is known as the yongquan or bubbling well point.
All of the above points must be maintained to have a truly “natural” shizen no kamae. Oh yeah, last point – RELAX! 🙂
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