Foot Work and Flow

We have heard this many times before from Sifu Brinker, the importance of foot work. Basically, putting you in the right place at the right time.

  Footwork…we practice this in our forms and our applications relentlessly but sometimes we overlook how critical our base is and the location of our base. I am guilty of getting caught up with the flashy hand application of the form or technique and forget where my feet are. Is my base assisting me or resisting me?

If our base is off (our stances) then we find ourselves disconnected from the hand application, this can translate into not being in the right place to attack our opponent or a balance issue in our forms.

If we are off balance , out of range or unable to execute the first technique efficiently our flow becomes non-existent.

Enter Tai Chi – the perfect tool to slow it down, observe your body alignment, work on 6 harmonies and allow yourself to move as one continuous body of water.

Now that’s Flow…and as Sifu Dennis says “Relaxed Flow”.

This is in the forefront of my focus now, as I have realized with the help of my Instructors how badly my body alignment (speaking from a skeletal perspective) is interfering with flow and harmonization in forms and application.

The good news is..once you discover a fault, an oversight, a problem  you have now  identified the problem and can challenge yourself to resolve the issue.

On the path to improvement and mastery…(words that grow more meaningful to me as time passes)