Balance isn't something...

...you achieve "someday"

Balance isn't something you achieve "someday" ~ Nick Vujicic

All too often, when training in karate we hear the term, stance. It seems to be move to this stance and execute xyz or get into that stance before doing ABC… Too often, though, so many people forget about correct posture.

Dr. Ron Chapel of SL4 Kenpo talks about Positive and Negative Posture. As I understand it, we need to hold our Positive Posture whilst moving our opponent via what ever means necessary to his or her Negative Posture, thereby allowing us to maintain the upper hand.

My good friend and teacher, Jim Armstrong of RAW talks about what he calls the “Active Neutral” position. He says, “It gives us a structure that allows us to move in any direction without having to first prepare for the movement. It is also a balanced position that most people will take naturally when action needs to be taken.“

I have found that when I use these ideas in practice whilst looking to use the philosophy that is Kuzushi (See my previous post Principles Of Motion) my abilities seem to increase. All of a sudden, people are off balance when I block. They fall down a lot easier when I punch, and I don’t have to punch so hard, and when we’re training up close and personal, people seem to find the ground a lot easier… :-D

Training stances is vitally important to good “Karate” but not always so when training for self defence. At best, in a real fight, stances are transitional, more likely almost non existent. When we train stances we always train with room to move, but real fights rarely allow distance, and never let you settle where you are. More important in these times is finding balance.

One of the best lessons I ever learned, that covered Stance, Posture and Balance at the one time, was learning to strike as a completion of the motion, rather than the completion of the stance. I’ve had an instructor tell me to move away from my opponent/partner, before striking, so that I’d have enough room to strike effectively. Unfortunately he wasn’t prepared to see beyond the sporting style he was grounded in, and couldn’t understand how it could be possible to create the space you need, by either moving my opponent to make the room, or hitting my opponent in such a way that the room would be created as needed... 

I remember, at one school where I trained many MANY years ago, I was taught to "find your stance" when learning to defend against "unexpected attacks". It was something I found really difficult because I was trying to find the stance that was right for what ever situation, and that required conscious thought and analysis in a split second of time. I think I was about 19 years old or so, when the Karate Kid movie was released. I remember Mr. Miyagi telling Daniel to "find your balance" and it struck a chord with me. These days I still occasionally get stuck looking for my stance, but more often than not, I do find my balance.

Part of this is keeping my feet firmly on the ground. I have no interest in learning or doing the bounce thing that sports karate practitioners do when they spar. My Kata teach me to slide my feet when I move them, keeping contact between the ground and most of my foot. A more important part of this is maintaining good posture. It's taken me a long time to find the "right" posture as I do have mild scoliosis and where I feel most comfortable and strong, I actually develop a slight backwards lean, which gives me a negative posture. I also find myself moving my feet a fair bit more than I need to, rather than holding my position.

Learn your stances, learn them well. Then, forget about them as you move to find your balance. 

As Mr. Miyagi said, "Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home!" 

I am a huge fan of questioning everything.

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