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Old 01-13-2013, 11:12 PM   #1
Conrad Gus
 
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Dojo: Eclipse Budo
Location: Victoria, BC
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 274
Canada
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Increasing Ground Awareness for Internal Strength

I couldn't resist grabbing the first post in the new ghetto -- ahem -- forum. This is a serious post.

For fun, I managed to get some lessons with a respected bagua teacher over the last two Sundays. What is really surprising me is how sophisticated the ground awareness is in even the most basic practice taught to beginners. I have always tried to maintain an awareness of my feet connected to the ground in aikido, but the details that I was challenged to perceive and control were on another level.

As a newbie to bagua, I can't really predict what it will do with my aikido practice, but it would impossible to not bring the feeling into the way I do aikido techniques and exercises. The assertion from bagua is that by concentrating on and steadfastly developing the lower part of your body (knees on down) it is possible to develop significant improvement in internal strength. To be clear, it's not just developing an awareness, but an ability.

Some detail on the basic practice is available here.

Are there any other aikido people that have experimented with this kind of internal training? I would love to hear your experiences.
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