Turning With My Hips Led To Lifting My Feet

Aloha Tribe,

So, in yesterday's session, I was really focusing on using my hips. Up until now, I more or less would weight my  board with my toes or heels, in a general sort of way. But yesterday, after watching a truly wildly fun movie about Occy called Occymentary, I watched him move in slow motion and also frame by frame, studying his feet and how  light he was on them, and also, his hips.

Naturally, that gave me all kinds of fun training ideas to try. So, I spent my outing yesterday for several hours working on being light on my feet and also moving my hips before my shoulders when I turned. Watching the dvd in stop motion, I noticed how Occy would use just the ball of his foot or just the heel of his foot as he'd turn, so that is what I was trying to do. It was truly fun to try to be so light-footed.

And, oh my gosh!!! Like, totally major the difference :)

I was stunned. And, it felt good to move like that too.

I know that in boxing, to punch with knockout power, you start at your feet, move up your legs, bring your hips into it, then your body, then your shoulder, and finally, your arm. So, that's kind of what I was focusing on. Fully body movement with an awareness of each part moving. It totally blew my mind, it was great.

I know the idea here is something  that all of you know and all of you do, and so it's not anything new, but, it was to me. You know, that's the great thing about being at the bottom, everything is so new and exciting and fun. And, the simplest things or ideas, like, be light on your feet or move your hips, just can so way change the whole way something is looked at. Now, of course, the next step is to "not" move the feet or hips like that but to do it with chi, and thus, to simply weight the body with the body's own energy. This is where it really starts to get fun for me. You see, once you experience something, say, physically, then, you can replicate that feeling. At first, of course, one simply repeats the movements themselves. But, beyond that, one can learn to simply tighten the muscles involved in the movement, but, without the actual movement taking place. And, the next step is the one I just mentioned, where you send chi or energy (blood, body fluids, oxygen, and so on) into the area without the muscle tensions nor literal physcial movements.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley