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Old 07-30-2012, 09:48 AM   #109
Gary David
 
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Location: Long Beach, CA
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 332
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Re: hips and shoulders

Quote:
Nathan Mishler wrote: View Post
But not so much hips! Recently when training with Gleason Sensei in DC, he said

"One of the biggest problems Aikidoka have is that they still think that they move with their hips! NO. You move from hara."

That was almost an aside in a one hour training session, so I've been trying to figure out what that means. However, by moving my center of thought from my hips to this point above them, and moving that (with a tightening of the abs, too) I seem to be getting some interesting movements happening.

Now as to weather or not those are correct movements or not, time and training will tell.
It is my understanding that hips can't move themselves, rather have to move as part of a chain of movement that starts with the legs or somewhere else. The appearance is that that hips move as the most visible aspect of larger circles....the larger hip movement that is generally called turning from the hips. To me smaller circles are initiated somewhere else with the legs joining in to some degree and possibly little or no movement visible through the hips...

As for moving from points above the hips, I would rather sink down into my core and turn from there...with the hips following at some point. Raising the center is one of the ways that you destablize others so why take that chance with yourself?

just my thoughts
Gary
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