01 September 2005

Walking

Whenever we walk (or run) we have the chance to practice yielding because every time a foot hits the ground we effectively are being struck by the ground, which after all is a source of immense power.
If the feet clump ignorantly as you move forwards then firstly your sacrum will tend to tense up and poke out behind you, and secondly your mind will gradually become numbed by the constant impacts and will cut off from the reality of the energetic interaction you have with the ground (and everything else) and will retreat into its own fantasy world (the incessant mind-chatter). Yang style Tai Chi softens these impacts by keeping the centre of gravity over the supporting leg until the stepping foot is completely on the ground, and then transferring weight across by pushing from the supporting leg. We were always taught to round the knee of the stepping leg out as the weight is transferred to encourage the weight to move predominantly into the outside edge of the foot, and bring the energy of the ground up the instep and the inside of the leg to fill the round space between the legs. This is the first stage to bringing life and activity into the feet.

The second stage is to start working the feet to encourage them to develop a little of the pliability and dexterity of the hands. A simple exercise is to stand in a comfortable short posture with one foot forwards, and move the weight from foot to foot by working the feet rather than the legs. The empty foot spreads out as much as it can, each toe stretching forwards, and then the toes are curled into the ground and towards the heel. This action pulls the weight into the foot and should strengthen the instep. There are two waist turns for each stretch/curl action: towards the stretching foot (to the left as the left foot stretches) and away from the curling foot (to the right as the left foot curls and grips). The feeling should be that the feet are responsible for turning the waist, and that whilst the left foot is active the left side of the waist turns, and whilst the right foot is active the right side of the waist turns. If you work both feet simultaneously then you'll feel the two sides of the waist turning away from each other as the feet stretch, and then towards each other as the feet curl to grip the ground. An alternating action - left foot followed by the right - effectively draws the weight in a figure of eight around the feet. If the feet really are responsible for turning the waist and pulling the body then the weight will tend to move forwards around the outside of each foot, i.e. clockwise around the left foot and anticlockwise around the right. This stretch/curl breathing action is fundamental to everything we do in heartwork and is our basic building block. The feet become two lungs or hearts, activating and breathing in the energy/blood of the ground.

We then use this same action in our walking (or stepping in the Form). As a foot steps out it stretches and as it descends to the ground the foot curls to suck the ground up into it. The curling action, which is responsible for both pulling your energy forwards and plucking the other foot off the ground, starts just before the foot impacts the ground: you effectively yield to the ground by sucking it up into the leg (the calf to be precise). To be effective the relationship between the two feet needs to remain strong at all times which means you cannot afford to step too long or wide. If you find deep stances useful then reserve the stepping I've described for walking and for fast, lively Forms.

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