Quote:
Dan Richards wrote:
I made a quick video on the concept of using standing on the toes as an important tool in clearing energy in the body. I show in the video how I can stand on my toes - I think I do it statically for about three minutes, but am up on my toes the entire video. And point out that if you can't stand on your toes for at least a few minutes, then that's an indication of blocked and held energy - especially in the lower body.
Can you stand on your toes for one, two, three or more minutes?
There's a direct relationship between the big toe and the irimi movements in aikido. And it's important that we have clean, fresh energy moving through our bodies.
This, again, is part of some research I'm putting together, and comments are appreciated. Cheers...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrFuf-eKVxA |
Interesting ideas, Dan, thank you for sharing them! I don't have much to contribute beyond the idea that I've perceived a connection between being on the balls/toes of the feet and the ability to spring into action (ie-having a kind of potent and mobile base).
I have duck-flat feet so "blindly" dropping repeated loads of weight into the arch and heel start to hurt my feet and knees after a short while. As a consequence, I tend to stand forward on my feet in most things I do; it's where I feel the most comfortable...and a lot of that comes from playing soccer on astroturf where loads played havoc on my feet knees and hips (I could barely walk up a flight of stairs right after game days and I was an otherwise athletic 18 year old).
On the other hand, I've perceived a need for balancing this tendancy of mine so lately I've been really trying to focus on how my heels are connected, and how they apply to dropping my weight into the ground (even if it's still by way of the balls/toes of the foot.
Whatever the case is, as it relates to internals, I've been finding it very interesting to consider how I'm using my feet and looking for a way of balancing the latent tensions throughout my body. The practice of standing still in some form (such as standing forward on the feet) is an interesting way of seeing how your body settles around the tension. Since I'm trying to feel around in my body I'm using this kind of thing to help me map things out right now. My understanding of internals is essenially nil, but it's interesting to try and play around with it.
Thanks again.
Take care,
Matt