Loosen Up

My main focus in my training as of late has been taking the tension out of my shoulders.  We're always told to soften, and not lift our shoulders up during techniques.  Easier said than done.  I'm finding it a balancing act between disengaging "softening" my shoulders, and not engaging them at all/too much.

For example, the catching and throwing the ball in Lao Gar 3, I started off by letting my arms noodle to get the feeling I was looking for, then slowly began to have some muscular activation.  I've carried this over into my sparring drills, especially with my punches, and have now started to utilize this in broadsword form.

I was noticing last night in broadsword that I was having difficulty with a certain technique, the part where we are bringing the sword back once, and then stepping back into an open x and slicing through upwards.  Again this issue was between not enough and too much shoulder activation.  The former I was finding that if I softened my shoulders and stayed true to my stance, then the sword wasn't quite getting the height I needed.  On the other hand, if I really activated that shoulder, or even altered my stance, then I could get the sword to the height I wanted it to be, perhaps even going too far the other way.

Balancing these aspects has been challenging, and I'm really just learning/getting in-tuned with that fine line of muscular activation in the shoulder.  This is something that of course can be carried in other areas of my training too, but as for now, will be focused with the upper body.

If you see me shaking my head from ear to ear, rolling my shoulders, or taking some deep breaths, that is my way of releasing the tension out of my upper body and "softening".  I find it is a good reset, especially when working combinations like we were last week on the gloves, because it is easy for the shoulders to gradually come up as your adrenaline spikes and you're throwing punch after punch.  By having this little mindful reset, I can relax, stay calm, and typically my technique improves because of it.  More speed.  More power.  Funny how that works.  Like we've been told that multiple times before....

Nigel Bauer