6 Harmonies, an Acupuncturists View
Today in class Sifu Brinker was discussing the use of 6 harmonies in terms of flow in our form. I know for myself that I have an easier time harmonizing my left snd my right, but a more difficult time harmonizing my upper and lower halves.
It's interesting though, because when Sifu Brinker was discussing our punches and harmonizing left and right- how for one shoulder to push ahead the other has to pull back, my training in anatomy was thinking otherwise. Our shoulders aren't directly connected to one another. I can move my right arm and shoulder independently from my left. When it comes to our hips and legs however, they are very much connected circularly. This is why in acupuncture, we can use points on the opposite leg to create change in the other. The same is not true for the arms. Looking at the anatomy of the pelvis and that of the shoulder, you can see that even though both structures can work circularly, the shoulders work unilaterally.
The point I'm trying to arrive to is that it's our core and our hips that ultimately drive the connection between our left and right, and not just our upper and lower. We have myofascial slings that create a sort of tensegrity in our body. Think of gait (walking), its a push-pull between all of our joints. So an act as simple as punching is much more involved with our 6 harmonies because of this tensegrity, or myofascial slings connecting our lower and upper halves diagonally across the body. In layman's terms, in order for one shoulder to move forward and the other to be pulled back, our hips have to move. Left to right, upper to lower. This works regardless of grounding or centring; however to derive power, one must be connected to the ground.
Food for thought.
It's interesting though, because when Sifu Brinker was discussing our punches and harmonizing left and right- how for one shoulder to push ahead the other has to pull back, my training in anatomy was thinking otherwise. Our shoulders aren't directly connected to one another. I can move my right arm and shoulder independently from my left. When it comes to our hips and legs however, they are very much connected circularly. This is why in acupuncture, we can use points on the opposite leg to create change in the other. The same is not true for the arms. Looking at the anatomy of the pelvis and that of the shoulder, you can see that even though both structures can work circularly, the shoulders work unilaterally.
The point I'm trying to arrive to is that it's our core and our hips that ultimately drive the connection between our left and right, and not just our upper and lower. We have myofascial slings that create a sort of tensegrity in our body. Think of gait (walking), its a push-pull between all of our joints. So an act as simple as punching is much more involved with our 6 harmonies because of this tensegrity, or myofascial slings connecting our lower and upper halves diagonally across the body. In layman's terms, in order for one shoulder to move forward and the other to be pulled back, our hips have to move. Left to right, upper to lower. This works regardless of grounding or centring; however to derive power, one must be connected to the ground.
Food for thought.
Comments
Post a Comment