The crouch | ||
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No hips
Asian martial artists often believe that Western people have no hips.
This is because many UK adults cannot squat comfortably and have no groin
flexibility.
The inability to use the hips appropriately leads to poor usage of the
knees and lower back.
Crouch
'The crouch' is featured in tai chi.
It is an unusual skill that involves using the hips more and the back less.
Flexibility in the legs and groin is essential.
Mechanical advantage
The Alexander Technique has adopted the crouch.
They call it 'monkey' or the 'position of mechanical advantage'.
It is more or less the same thing as in tai chi.
What it is not
The crouch does not involve:
Stooping
Hunching
Leaning
These 3 mistakes will
adversely affect your fitness and rob you of
power.
Our aim is to be square on the inside and round on the outside.
Square on the inside
This means that the internal framework and
network of body parts must be aligned and moving in linear paths of force.
Consider this vertical/spine power.
If you skip this stage of your training, your tai chi will be devoid of
power.
Squat
There are several different types of squatting in our syllabus. These
squats will significantly open the groin.
The training is done carefully, gently - in a
controlled manner - without
exertion or strain.
Relax the knees
Make space behind the knee joint, as if the knee were moving forward.
Do not bend deeply, simply relax.
Done correctly, the legs will free-up considerably and the lower back will
feel looser.
This is not a squat.
You are simply relaxing the knees.
Bending the knees
If you do a frog squat, your knees bend.
In typical usage, bending the knees means
breaking your connection and root.
Relax rather than bend.
Lengthen the front
Lengthen the
front of the body by
thinking upright.
When your body is used
mindfully, the muscles of the torso will lengthen naturally.
You will develop a 'corset' of muscles below the rib cage and this will
help to support the weight of your upper body.
Monkey butt
Avoid lifting the chin.
This will shorten the back of the neck and put stress
on the shoulder muscles.
The back of the neck and head must remain in line with the spine.
Interviewer: "You've said many
times that what you do in the workshops is not high-level material, but more
at the level of fundamentals. If that's true, why can't everybody do it
already?"
Mike Sigman: "It is fundamental material, but it involves changing
the way the body moves. The tai chi form is done slowly to retrain the way
the body moves. At the workshops you see people realise, on a functional
level, how to do that - and then they go home and they realise that this
means they've got to change everything they were doing: and they can't do
that, or they can only do it at best partially. It's very difficult to make
a radical change like that: and yet, there are always the small few who
catch it, take the time, devote themselves and work it out, and they become
our next generation of good people."
(Internal Strength)
Exaggeration
Exaggerate the crouch and you are leaning. Central equilibrium must be maintained at all
times.
Perspective
In normal usage, stay upright; as if
suspended from above.
This is vital for strength.
The crouch is only for times when you are going downwards.
Bow stance
In a bow stance, the crouch is used to store and release
energy.
It precedes 5 bows. The crouch is necessary if the 5
bows are to work successfully for storing and releasing kinetic
power.
When striking downwards the crouch can be used.
Deep horse stance
A deep horse stance is only used in two instances:
'Over the thigh' applications in shuai jiao
Taking the opponent to the floor with control
To work successfully
in conjunction with the crouch, the horse stance requires the groin to
roll backwards.
Going lower
By rolling the groin backwards - without a deeper knee bend - allows
the tai chi exponent to apply leverage easily and comfortably.
There is no loss of balance or strain.
Take care not to lean.
Everyday
There are countless everyday situations in which the crouch can be
practiced e.g.:
Lifting something off the floor
Brushing your teeth
Washing the dishes
Opening the oven door
Carrying shopping
Dusting
Mopping the floor
Vacuuming
Gardening
The more you use it, the easier and more natural it will become.
Page created
18 April 1995
Last updated
1 June 2001
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