"MY LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS..." Ari Kandel's personal training blog. #32

MOTION INITIATION FROM THE FEET

The following training advice is my interpretation and compilation of a variety of tips and ideas I've gotten from John, Tim, Al and others. I've been working on it a lot lately, and teaching elements of it to other students in class. A lot of this will sound esoteric. It is simply my attempt to convey internal feelings through the written word. (This is how a lot of the mystic jargon that surrounds the Chinese internal arts probably came about.) As many students in Guided Chaos classes will testify, this is a lot easier to understand when you can feel it in person (although "easy" is a relative term in this case!).

This is a brief summary. A much more extensive explanation may appear in a future edition of the book "Attack Proof". . . .

All active motion should be initiated by a change in how the feet interact with the ground.

The looser your body is, the better it will carry through all the energy generated by each change of pressure of the feet against the ground. Any stiffness will stifle the energy transfer and the flow of movement.

All active intention should come from the feet, pushing against the ground. No intention should come from anywhere else.

Key to intention from the feet is staying low and rooted throughout all movement and stepping, letting all your vitality and strength sink into your feet so that your feet are full and heavy while the rest of your body is empty, loose and pliable.

If you move with intention solely from the feet while remaining rooted, it is practically impossible for the enemy to control your balance unless he controls your center directly.

Remember that a person can stop your motion, jam you up and off-balance you only if he has a direct line with his pressure to your center, no matter where he's pushing from.

Now, bear in mind that as far as I know, this is only a first step. Once you gain the proprioception and relaxation to move exclusively from your root, which results in body unity, you can start to "break the rules" and isolate movements of your limbs and body apart from your root.

Confused yet? Good. Come to class and it will all be made clear. ;)

P.S. Don't forget to hit him and escape.