# Relaxing the shoulders and the body...



## dungeonworks (Sep 17, 2008)

This is one thing that holds me back and is the stain of previous Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and MMA/Grappling training I have done in the past.  Even in Siu Lim Tao, I still have a slight habbit of wanting to tense up and be rigid in form.  It really happens during Poon Sau and Chi Sau, even when I think I am relaxed the senior students and instructors can see and feel I am not.  I don't see it untill it is pointed out.

What ways do you use to achieve a relaxed state?

Thanks


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## mook jong man (Sep 17, 2008)

There are a couple of things you can do for the shoulders , one is what we used to call the chicken wing exercise . 

What you do is touch your upper chest with both hands , only fingers touching and do big circles with your elbows , say 20 reps forward and 20 reps back (great training for elbow strikes as well ). 

Another one is while keeping your arms bent let your elbows hang down and make little circles with your elbows clockwise and anti clockwise , its important to stay relaxed and not force the movement just let the momentum do the work .

 Also with your hands hanging down by your sides , arms roughly in the same angle that you use for chi sao swing them up above your head and let them fall down by them selves again not forcing the motion , concentrate on trying to get a dead weight sort of feeling in your arms. 

For your thighs do a lot of moving around in your stance in all directions aiming for a springy type of feeling in your legs , and when practising chi sau do it moving forwards and back , the constant moving helps to relax the thighs.

 I have taught karate people before and they are very tense , but as long as they practise the form and apply themselves they get there in the end they just take a little bit longer thats all .


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## profesormental (Sep 18, 2008)

Greetings.

You could train poon sao for a long time until you are tired... thus your motivation for conservation of energy will increase...

You can use progressive relaxation to become aware of your muscular control and consciously soften...

You don't notice because you're not aware... thank your Si Fu and senior students for pointing it out so that you can develop the awareness.

You can practice SLT in such a way that you can concentrate on letting your structure guide the movements, instead of using it as a dynamic tension exercise. Again, this is done with the help and correction of you Si Fu and senior students.

There is a lot more to this. Hoep this helps.

Sincerely,

Juan M. Mercado


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## skinters (Sep 18, 2008)

i think part of you problem could be mental ,if the mind is relaxed the body should follow.chisao asks for us to be relaxed and even if you are a lay backed kinda person you still need to find that relaxation in chisao .

so yes although you there is a point of looking at the physical reasons why you not relaxing,i find a big part of it is mental tension ,release the mental tension and your body relaxes .

also the very fact you are connected by the arms to your training partner and you are square on can bring on defensive feelings,its no particular thing .


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## kaizasosei (Sep 18, 2008)

relaxing is just relaxing.  simple as that when it comes to being in a state of mind. 
however, when it comes to body parts such as shoulders,neck hips or even feet,  the concept of relaxation and tension takes a very crazy turn.
  the body is made of muscles and tendons that envelop,support and even shape the natural skeletal structure.  our posture and our actions are thereby shaping our entire being starting from the physical reality.

i would like to mention that muscles opperate on the principles of tension and relaxation, so that when one side is tense, the other is relaxed. 
 i personally, work very hard to achieve relaxed shoulders that sortof hang down on an open chest that exudes good posture vibes.
however, since a young age i took a closer look at the shoulders and their function, i compared with iaiwaza movements and analyzed the sequences minutely.  i came to the conclusion that the ability to tense the shoulders-specifically only one shoulder- was a strength much too valuable and natural to discard.  i also discovered such postures in ninjutsu, wrestling and brazilian jujutsu.   

so what i am getting at is not that one should tense the shoulders, because i do not mean that that alone is the way, but furthermore, through a lifetime of bad posture in a shoulder or neck or hip, it may not be that easy to stop tensing, because the shape is set.  without serious training, stretching and mindful observation of posture, it will not be easy to achieve the relaxation of said areas- it may even require extreme tension in other areas just to hold or attain the position desired.

so relaxation may well be easier for the mind than the body.

j


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