Keeping heels down in Bagua

[gerard]

What is the best trick that allows you to keep the foot flat when performing the mud wading step in Bagua circle walking?

My teacher keeps on telling me that but yet I am unable to keep them flat. I know, I should slow down and put my mind into it, but still my ankles are very stubborn.

Thanks in advance.

[bailewen]

Walk really really really really slow.

[Bodywork]

Try working on a feeling in standing -that your back mid lower back is lifting your legs by drawing through the kua. That can give you an empty and lifting feel to your feet. While doing that try to "send" up / out through your hands and down / out through your feet both at the same time. It will give you a full feeling from the center and help you to move from there and not have to launch by the typical heel /side/ across ball /to big toe walk.
There is a lot to be said about the use of the feet. A use that transcends the simplistic heel-to-toe grappling moves- which are also must haves.While the heel may lift- there are different aspects of how a body is being used to get to that point. Many if not most martial artists are stuck in the wrestler / judo jujutsu,/ SJ modes of heel up to throw. For people who don't know any other way its a pointless discussion that turns into argument.
There are entire threads on it here.
Dan

[Ian]

Try working on a feeling in standing -that your back mid lower back is lifting your legs by drawing through the kua. That can give you an empty and lifting feel to your feet.

I understand this bit, but...

While doing that try to "send" up / out through your hands and down / out through your feet both at the same time.

What does this mean? Would you mind elaborating?

[GrahamB]

Extend Ki!

[klonk]

Ace bandages?

[JusticeZero]

We use a very heel up sort of modality, but that's because we're trying to store momentum, and the achilles tendon and calf are nice and springy and rebound energy well. CMA seem to prefer the modality of building a solid structure to ground, so that when energy rebounds from the target, it hits a solid striking tool and reflects back into the target. Lifting the heel creates some give to let motion return to the body after impact, and if you are working with a grounded-structure strategy, you want to minimize that in order to put it into the target. Throwers are working over a longer timeframe, so that doesn't much matter to them, but they want the extension and strength from the calves.

[DeusTrismegistus]

erhaps you are simply not flexible enough in your ankles and feet yet? I know that has been a big hurdle that I have been working on lately with deepening my san ti stance is that my ankles aren't flexible enough. There are some stretches that help and going really slow like Omar said should help too if that is the case.

[Areios]

didn't read the advices, but try to strech the achilles the way you like to strech, and with the walking training it's going to be fine I think.

[I-mon]

it has nothing to do with your ankle flexibility and everything to do with the strength of your back and core, as bodywork said.

[ParryPerson]

I am far from having it down, but when I first started it was pretty bad. Still is, actually but after a while it will get better, put my foot up on a wall with the heel down and then leaning forward to stretch the tendon helped a little, but I think the constant mud step, pain goes away, do it again, routine will eventually get your ankles up to stuff.

[velalavela]

Bodywork wrote

While doing that try to "send" up / out through your hands and down / out through your feet both at the same time.

I think this is important. Like Graham replied above "Extend the Ki" But he could elaborate.

In any TCM I've done this was/is stressed a lot by my teachers. You have to 'think' this and also you have to physically start to do this. It relates to the Internal striking threads going on this forum, it relates to just about any thread talking about striking and/or 'rooting'. It relates to practice of your forms and Hei Gung. It relates to pretty much everything.

I agree improving your flexibility and just getting your body stronger will also help.

regards

[shawnsegler]

it has nothing to do with your ankle flexibility and everything to do with the strength of your back and core, as bodywork said.

Yup. Then achilles does not need to be stretched but rather the quality of awareness throughout the entire body allows you to not have tension there and feel the whole stretch of the the entire body mass from the ground to all the extremities

[gerard]

OK I see, there are many opinions about this issue. Does grappling the ground with the toes (shi shi shua di) help to keep the heels down? Or maybe overtime and with walking itself ankles will loosen up. I feel the mind has got a lot to do with this and the fact that not everyone is the same energetically (year of birth and 5 elements).

Thanks.

[Miro]

First try to find a reason why you do this. The reason is because you walk incorrectly. You use your legs to walk which is of course wrong. Sit for example into the chair and raise your foot above the ground (so that is flat). Watch how you did it - you just used to move muscles in kua (inguinal crease). So you can try to walk with both your legs still sitting on the chair (so that you can grasp the movement well) and then try to walk circle still using the same principle (the movement comes from kua). If you can move with kua, there is no need to raise the heels.

Regards
Miro