Two way stretch

[bailewen]

I don't really understand how the question applies to that pose.

If I can talk my wife into cooperating I'll make a clip of this one and one other exercise for contrast although I'm not fantastic at it myself. In terms of keeping my balance, I can't really do any better than Graham did. I was just thinking that there is another one leg pose on the ball of the foot that I find a lot easier where the free foot is out front.


This one is much easier than the other one because the limbs are out farther (horizontally) from the body.

I guess I just wouldn't think much about the hips. The focus in the first one is on the upwards stretch which is why I thought it was pertinent to this thread. Done right, it absolutely is a "two way stretch". It also helps develop that cross body connection that I think bodywork is always on about. Remember you are stretching right hand to left foot and vice versa. I'm probably saying too much already.

[ppscat]

Guess I didn't understand the pose then. I just twist my hips so that the center of mass were aligned to the standing leg, so that's why it was much easier, I meant be able to keep up there for those 5-6 seconds you mention. Didn't try to say it was an easy pose. I could barely stand 2 seconds with eyes closed. Thanks for your help and sharing the exercise, won't bother you with further questions, that clip of yours would help a lot.

[bailewen]

Seriously dude, if you can only hold it for 5 or 6 seconds, just do whatever's easiest for you.

When I said that 5 or 6 seconds was pretty good, I was thinking in the context that most folks, on their first attempt, can simply not hold the posture at all. 5 or 6 seconds means that you did find the balance point. I only added all that detail because Graham managed 30 or 40 seconds on his first time out.

My experience is that most folks can not get into a proper horse stance...period. It takes a little training. How about a low twist stance like in the Xing Yi dragon form? Even trained folks generally have trouble going all the way down with it. Shoot for a single minute. If you can get that far, then it's time to add difficulty. My guess is that just getting from 6 seconds on up to 10 will result in some serious leg swinging and arm waving.

Think about it this way: What other MA posture can you only hold for about 5 or 6 seconds before you fall over? If that's your limit, that's pretty good but it's also really not very much. I might even compare it to a pistol. Most people can't even do one. Occasionally a dude with some serious training can do a couple. 5 or 6 deserves praise but there's at least one or two guys on this board who can do 20.