Posture

Many people are aware of the concept of posture but most don’t fully appreciate its significance. It affects all of the following

• muscle tension – poor posture is a common cause of stiff shoulders and back. Muscle tension causes stiffness that can be used a leverage points for your opponent
• mechanics and therefore power and application – posture changes structural support and affects your ability to drive punches as well as to absorb impact
• mobility – low fancy poses are great for performances but too slow for real combat. (Attention to weight distribution and how your muscle systems work are important too)
• breathing and therefore oxygen intake – tension of the diaphragm and/or chest affects your breathing and therefore endurance
• reflects your emotion state and can also change your emotion state – children curl up when nervous or shy. Changing your posture can change how you feel about yourself…for example, chin up and shoulders back will make you feel as well as look confident.
• other people’s perception of you – standing tall and with confidence makes you less of a target than someone who looks weak

Once you acknowledge the importance of posture, the next challenge is to find out what is correct and then to program that into your body. On the right are pictures of different styles of tai-chi doing the ‘same skill – single whip’, can you see the differences?

Exercise (email or facebook me)

• Describe the differences between the different poses
• Without going into ‘he says, she says’, what is the best impartial way of evaluating a posture?
• What is our normal guard position? Why?