Articles Tagged Posture
§ Steven Smith’s Wisdom in a Nutshell
One posture point depends on another. You could Knee, Knee without Cat Feet, but you’d miss the subtlety of Cat Feet—the sinking. Likewise, with other posture points. So work your way down this list. Find each point’s point from the ground, up.
01 Cat Feet
Gently draw your feet up into cat paws. Lightly curl your toes; squeeze the ground, lightly gripping. The tips of your toes grasp softly. Sink your weight straight through your tibia (your big, sharp shin bone) through your foot, into the front of your heels, deep down in the ground.
02 Knee, Knee
Bend your knees until over your toes, you sink. Weight through heels, relax. Sink. The detail: sink into the front part of your heels, not the center of your foot, just behind the center.
While we’re on the subject: your knees are transfer joints, not weight bearing instruments. Wha-what?! That’s right: your knees transfer weight from your hips into your ankles into the ground, gently. Any knee pain you experience is not because the knee is the source of problems—the trouble resides in the hips and/or ankles (usually hips). Your knee may feel the pain, but movement distortions in the hips cause the distortions, dysfunctions, and the pain; it’s not the knee. The knee is a victim of anal-retentive hips—let go! Really, seriously…never get knee surgery for knee pain…it’s your hips.
For people with knee pain, this concept is a hard sell…oh, well. Do some research with your body, use your intellect’s internet research to support your body, not the other way. Go see a Soft-Tissue Expert, like a Massage Therapist before a Surgeon and get some Structural Integration or Cranial-sacral work before seeing a Common Medical Practitioner. Note that this advice is about knees, and I disclaim any responsibility for your pain. Get some Bodywork, and do real Qigong.
Read 10 Potent Posture Points Produce Practical Power »
Reflecting on Yang Chen Fu’s Ten Important Points of Tai Chi Chuan
Tai Chi Utah organized its foundation around Yang Chen Fu’s Early Form. Check out Yang Chen Fu’s words in Yang Family Secret Transmissions or in The Essence and Applications of Taijiquan to glimpse the source of the following reflections on the oral instructions from Yang Chen Fu.
1. Lighten Up!
Stop thinking, scheming, believing, strategizing so much. Stop it. Chen Fu’s bit about “the energy at the top of the head should be light and sensitive” recommends lightening up. So relax; lighten up. Your head is built with highly sophisticated sensory equipment. Too much thinking, scheming, believing, strategizing is like filtering, filtering, filtering all such sensory information. Enjoy sight, sound, smell, taste. Lighten up.
