How to fully make the shift into IMA body mechanics?

[Alexander]

Just curious if you guys have any recommendations on how to fully make the shift to begin understanding the body mechanics of IMA. I'm not talking about theory -- I'm trying to physically feel the difference as I train.

E.g. I went outside after my training today and took out the weight bag. I then did a backfist to the bag, and then tried feeling my core muscles, (I clenched my core) and twisted it to hit the bag, while minimally using the individual arm muscles. this was to feel what it would be like using my body as a whole.

So do you guys have any drills, exercises, or methods to practice to get a better kinesiological feel of whole body power?

Cheers, Have a sweet weekend

[Bhassler]

Feldenkrais.

[newtype]

As a beginner, I've just been focusing on the basics...mostly zhan zhuang and this simple exercise which is a great way to start feeling the connections, whole body power and kua movement. Practice of jibengong under an informed eye will get you places if practiced diligently....however this is all talk from a beginner so don't take my word for it!

[Bao]

Whatever you do, never forget to

-sink
-relax the chest and jaws
-try to feel your feet (roots)
-use the body as a whole
-Don't lean backwards as you strike or push, and rotate the movements from the center line (this is establishing the zhongding)

But there are no secrets, no absolute methods, just practice and dedication. It will take time to, so just try to feel what you do, feel your body from the inside. You must find out for yourself.

[Ron Panunto]

Zhang zuan.

[Chris McKinley]

I recommend single malt scotch.

[I am...]

Lagavulin, Glenfiddich or Oban? Which has the best lineage?

[Bhassler]

Here's a hint: The body doesn't move as a single unit. If that were the ideal, we wouldn't have all those cool joints all over the place. The body moves proportionally and sequentially section by section. It's more a matter of unlearning bad habits and tension patterns than of learning a bunch of new stuff.

[snafu]

Whole body power doesn't have to feel "different". It can just feel "more", assuming you are not using everything you can yet,. As pointed out above, you have all these cool joints all over the place. So why take power out of the arms? Are you even sure you're using everything your arm can really do? You've got a few joints in your fingers, hands, and wrists, you've got elbows that bend, forearms that can rotate, and shoulders that can flex/extend/rotate the upper arm in several directions. And not only that, but clenching these muscles is not the same as doing work with them. You can clench/pose the biceps, but if the elbow joint is not actually curling, it's not doing physical work and not contributing to power. Just getting the arm to work as hard as it truly can is extremely difficult, let alone adding in the legs and torso and getting them all to contribute equally. No piece is unimportant.

Zhan zhuang can be a starting point for getting all those intents working synergistically, because it is easier to work it all at one point. Not as a relaxed exercise, but using muscular tension backed by specific movement intents that you're trying to drill in. Once the intents aren't all confuzzling your brain and you don't have to think about them, you can bridge that into actual movement with all those intents going with specific movements, forms, or whatever, and then eventually expand it to encompass all movements.

[Interloper]

Some guys who train internally outside the traditional CIMA model -- such as Minoru Akuzawa -- have a regimen of solo- and paired-training exercises designed to instill the different aspects of "internal" structure and power generation. One of the structure-building exercises Akuzawa does is called tenchijin, and you can find videos of him doing it on YouTube (not that it will help you figure out how to do it; you really need someone to teach it). It covers stretching the spine, creating groundpath, feeling the cross-connections of the body's diagonals, exercising intent, etc.
He also does the old samurai training exercise, shiko, which -done correctly- develops cross-body alignment and the ability to not commit weight to one side of the body.

There are a number of drills and practices that, done constantly and consistently, will instill the skills. Most need to be done alone, with occasional paired work with a partner for feedback.

[everything]

play golf.

[johnwang]

do you guys have any drills, exercises, or methods to practice to get a better kinesiological feel of whole body power?

Lock your shoulder (keep the relationship between your upper arm and chest unchanged),

1. raise your body up,
2. drop your body down,
3. swing your body left,
4. swing your body right,

so your body pull your arm, and your arm pull your hand. 1,2,3,4 will make your hand to draw a "cross" (twice).

IMA body mechanics? This is just the intermediate level of prey mantis training - see your body move but don't see your arms move.

[Bao]

IMA body mechanics? This is just the intermediate level of prey mantis training - see your body move but don't see your arms move.

Should I consider this statement a personal opinion or facts?...

[Bhassler]

IMA body mechanics? This is just the intermediate level of prey mantis training - see your body move but don't see your arms move.

Should I consider this statement a personal opinion or facts?...

Misinformation, I think...

[H2O]

Alexander,
You need to realize that there is a lot going on when we refer to 'body mechanics', and everything tends to build on everything else. I'll try to explain how I learned it, but understand it's not the only way. This is coming from a Tai ji perspective and we use all kinds of drills to learn this stuff.

We begin by focusing on the kua, which is just the joint where the leg inserts into the hip. The main idea is open and close that joint to create rotational power. We spend a lot of time on this mechanic because it builds the 'gong fu' of the lower body. This is where we're learning about root, balance, sinking, et al. A driving idea here is that no matter where you are in movement, you should be able to easily pick your non-weight bearing leg off the floor. Now, your weight bearing leg becomes a 'post' that your body swivels around. A good drill here is to stand on one leg and open and close the kua.

Once you've built this mechanic, you need to 'thread' the power through your whole body. You start by 'squeezing' your stomach muscle to open and close the kua. What this does is connect the upper and lower body. When people talk about moving from the 'Dan Tien', this is what they're talking about. This is the mechanic that we call the ball in the belly, because you really do feel something like a ball moving in your lower gut.

The next idea is that the shoulders must stay in line with the hips, while still moving from the dan tien. This makes the hips and shoulders move together, Liu He and all that jazz. I think this is what Master Wang was rederring to with the drill he posted.

Most of the work below the shoulder is to relax the arm enough to lwt the power of the body flow through.

That's the main rotational mechanic. There's also the 'hydraulic mechanic' which is more of an up-down type power. It's based on the idea of using the body like spring, or a shock absorber, or a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic and the rotational forces the get woven together. There's a lot more, but you get the idea of the basic process from this.