the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Nice short clip on posture from my friend Matt Hill who runs Systema Academy in Wilstshire, UK. I like the point he makes about animals in nature:



https://youtu.be/RS44DUYM0AM

IMO the interesting thing is not a "feeling" or how an animal can stand, but more how mammals tend to move. They really use much more of their bodies, much more muscles when they move and walk. Humans use the body in a much more isolated manner, and much less of it. If we can bring more of those animal type of movements into our daily lives we would probably live healthier and longer, or at least have much less problems with our bodies as we get older. But this has to do with "doing" and not with "feeling".

Btw, the knife work... nothing nice to say so I won't comment on it.

Bao wrote:Humans use the body in a much more isolated manner, and much less of it.

Only if they've acquired dysfunction in their movement. One of the big reasons humans became the dominant species on the planet is because we move so well.

Bhassler wrote:

Bao wrote:Humans use the body in a much more isolated manner, and much less of it.

Only if they've acquired dysfunction in their movement. One of the big reasons humans became the dominant species on the planet is because we move so well.

Different things.

Humans have the most sophisticated coordination of movement. We can can coordinate many small movements and many movements together with other movements. This is the very reason for the development of our large brains according to some scientists. Information can be stored in very little space, it's the coordination and sophistication of movement that demands our larger brains.

But still we don't use our gift to full extent and we prefer to not move very much. If you don't understand how humans use less of some parts of their bodies you should take a look at lions or apes. How they move and use their scapula for instance. When they move and walk on four legs, the scapula is constantly in movement, big movements that originate from close to the spine. Humans tend to keep this area very passive. They might raise their shoulders but the shoulder blades remain locked in the same position. For older people this area tend to become very stiff and unmovable.

Many people complain over pain and stiffness in lower and higher back and in the neck. The problem is in our society and how we tend to act and behave in our daily lives. Lions are not forced to sit still in chairs behind desks half of the day and they are not forced to control any physical impulses.

Some random thoughts:

If humans couldn't climb trees really well we'd never have evolved as far as we have.

Lions have to control their impulses (to some extent) - they are social creatures living in a social structure.

Gorillas spend a lot of time sitting down. Just saying.

Bao wrote:But still we don't use our gift to full extent and we prefer to not move very much. If you don't understand how humans use less of some parts of their bodies you should take a look at lions or apes. How they move and use their scapula for instance. When they move and walk on four legs, the scapula is constantly in movement, big movements that originate from close to the spine. Humans tend to keep this area very passive. They might raise their shoulders but the shoulder blades remain locked in the same position. For older people this area tend to become very stiff and unmovable.

The size of a movement does not necessarily indicate it's quality or value (and I'm not just saying that because of my really small penis). Ordinary walking engages almost every joint in the body through every plane of available movement-- it's a remarkably complex and efficient process.

You can talk about societal trends, or the horrors of sitting in front of a computer, etc., but those are all cultural issues, and not inherent in natural human movement.

Bhassler wrote:You can talk about societal trends, or the horrors of sitting in front of a computer, etc., but those are all cultural issues, and not inherent in natural human movement.

It is all about the society I talk about when I say that humans don't use their bodies very much. Children do. They jump, they play, they have a tremendous energy and seem to never get tired. But we lose all of this when we grow up. We use and treat our bodies in a way that doesn't match what they are designed for, or at least in a destructive way. It was the same in old Chinese society, they knew it and they created exercises from this knowledge - Neidan.

Hiking, free climbing, all kinds of field athletics from sprinting to marathons, from high jump to javelin, weightlifting, parcours, ballet, breakdance, contact-improvisation dance, competitive gymnastics, swimming, diving. Oh yes, martial arts too, from capoeira to taekwondo, from boxing to BJJ to tai chi. To get really good at most of these you have to specialize to some extent, and hence be much less good at some others, but all these activities are within the normal recognized field of human physical achievement. That’s an amazing diversity for one body plan, and I assume most normal people would be able to do well in any discipline if they started training early enough (although obviously some body types are more suited to some activities).

What “modern living” (perhaps ever since the agricultural revolution) has done to most of us is something else again.

GrahamB wrote:Some random thoughts:

If humans couldn't climb trees really well we'd never have evolved as far as we have.

Lions have to control their impulses (to some extent) - they are social creatures living in a social structure.

Gorillas spend a lot of time sitting down. Just saying.

We are a member of the “great ape” group, maybe in between the orangutan and the gorilla ?

Science.

Bhassler wrote:

Bao wrote:But still we don't use our gift to full extent and we prefer to not move very much. If you don't understand how humans use less of some parts of their bodies you should take a look at lions or apes. How they move and use their scapula for instance. When they move and walk on four legs, the scapula is constantly in movement, big movements that originate from close to the spine. Humans tend to keep this area very passive. They might raise their shoulders but the shoulder blades remain locked in the same position. For older people this area tend to become very stiff and unmovable.

The size of a movement does not necessarily indicate it's quality or value (and I'm not just saying that because of my really small penis). Ordinary walking engages almost every joint in the body through every plane of available movement-- it's a remarkably complex and efficient process.

You can talk about societal trends, or the horrors of sitting in front of a computer, etc., but those are all cultural issues, and not inherent in natural human movement.

Our natural walking is just getting efficient for “smooth” surfaces such as we move on in the modern society. And by using shoes we’re getting efficient at shoe walking...Our surface awareness gettin lesser.....Are we walking away from our “natural human movement”