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Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Anyone have specific suggestions, tips or tricks for keeping the shoulders loose while practicing any technique, but especially Ikkyo Irimi from any starting point. I have come to believe that tight shoulders are truly the anti aiki..
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Elbows! Shoot your ki lasers through your elbows.
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Begin by intentionally relaxing the shoulders (there's that word - relax) by letting them drop down naturally and try to keep them that relaxed throughout the technique. It eventually works, so don't become discouraged when you find tension in your shoulders in the middle of a technique.
That assumes that you don't have an injury or flexibility issue that keeps your shoulders tight. Good luck. |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Also, if you get stuck in the middle of a technique, there's a good chance it's because your shoulders (or other involved body part) are tense. Quite often, just relaxing them is enough to cause uke to drop like a rock.
Katherine |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
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dps |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Good Stuff :-) Thanks for your input Aiki Webers. The laser beams through the elbows actually make a huge difference. Speaking of huge differences , it always surprises me when you drop those shoulders, how much a difference that makes in performing a technique. It goes from not working to working extremely well. From the shove and jerk to smooth flowing and powerful. That is why I call tight shoulders the Anti Aiki.Thanks again for your input.
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
tight rear-end also messed up your ki... i meant aiki too
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Just did a shoulder clinic.
Learn to relax and rotate the shoulder. Not front or back, up or down. Isolate before apply. |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
1.) research what aiki age is
2.) do a lot of suwari waza kokyuho 3.) focus on transferring the work to the elbows and wrist via wrist rotations. 4.) keep your forearms as near to your body/center before moving. the farther it is from center, the more strength (shoulder power) you will need to apply. |
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Try using your shoulder blades and the muscles that move them to communicate movement from your lower back and hips to your shoulders. Works well for me. Also, being very cognizant of the difference in feeling between tight and relaxed shoulders is beneficial, too. Think in your feet, not your chest and shoulders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMpT7bFzH3g |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Lats can also be engaged to help with going up - part of Pilates "go down to go up" - once you figure it out you can all in one movement isolate shoulders downward, engage lats, and let hands float up as shoulders go down.
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
"Down to go up". Wow, that is also a Tai Chi principle .Great stuff. Thanks for the input.
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
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dps |
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Katherine |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
When learning any sport, you can't easily relax while in the process of learning. You have to do it hundreds if not thousands of times until you get used to it. You can't just tell someone to relax their shoulders and expect it to work. When you go home, practice the movement by yourself a hundred times a day left and right.
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Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
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In fact, this is pretty much a requirement, IMO, for any true skill acquisition. This means that the first thing people should be learning is how to move appropriately and efficiently while maintaining posture and being as "relaxed" as possible. "Relaxed" here meaning that they use ONLY the muscles necessary to perform the movements demonstrated. For some people, that takes a lot of exploration and self-discovery. This is what solo and paired movements that are not techniques are designed to accomplish, but this is often not recognized or paid attention to by many. Quote:
What I don't expect to work very well, is to see people do a full technique at full speed, with tension, thousands of times until the get too tired to do it with tension and suddenly start doing it relaxed. That happens, certainly, but it's random, and often the result is that the posture and footwork used to be strong and try to make the techniques work are entirely different than the posture and footwork that work when being "relaxed" and the wrong movements are now patterned in. |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
Keep the scapula in close to the spine, like you are holding a silver dollar between them. They should be relaxed into that position, not forced/ pinned back. This means they will drop in and back rather than floating.
You can then keep them in there by keeping the elbows inwards. You will find that if they point outwards the shoulders float up and out and get used in isolation. A good yoga teacher will tell you the same thing. |
Re: Tight Shoulders (the anti aiki)
If my scapulae are down and back via the small muscles inferior to them, there is no need to worry about elbows, I can move them freely without affecting my shoulders. Which is exactly what I want.
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