Ground movement for Spine health and relaxation

Ground movement for Spine health and relaxation

Often in class we use the ground as a tool to massage ourselves and release tension in the body through rolling and moving around. This idea can be seen in martial arts from all over the world including Japanese Ukemi, some Chinese systems, Indonesian Silat and Russian Systema, who have taken this idea of ground mobility to a very high level. Its interesting and useful work if you have any tension in the back or hips and is not often covered so I thought it may be of use to some

This work is not the combative side of ground mobility and training like that of silat, but is focused towards the health, specifically regarding the musculature and structures around the spine and back. This work is also directly beneficial to the hip flexors and learning to release tension from this area.

The video shows the methods and exercises as well as the quality and speed of the work needed. It also shows free work at the end which constitutes part of my morning routine to relax and work out any stiff areas of the body.

Some points of practice.

• Be very careful not to hold your breath at any point in the work. Holding the breath causes a pressure in the body which does not allow it to fold or move smoothly, rather than an inflated ball as per some Ukemi, this work aims to work out tension through relaxing down through the earth.
• Start slowly and gently, do not attempt movements that you are unable to achieve due to tension. Most commonly holding the breath and holding tension in the hips is the cause of you not being able to achieve a movement pattern.
• the initial work should simply be for you to connect with the earth, the exercises are very simple in nature but should not be overlooked. They establish your connection with the ground ready for the work.
• Be strict in your method. Do not work at a freeform level immediately or you will not get the benefit of the correct lines of movement. It is important in the early stages that we work in a way that allows us to move on the ground in any direction with extreme softness
• Listen to your body and the noises it makes. When training on a hard floor its important that there are no ‘knocks’ or ‘bumps’ produced when you contact the floor. This is a sign of angular points and tension. Even if the elbow does down the body should be in such a state of movement that the contact doesn’t make noise.

These general points are true of all the methods shown in the following video.

Exercise 1: Simple squatting & squatted swaying

• This is not an exercise in structure but in release. So the aim here is to relax and drop the spine and drop into the hips. Do not worry about the normal requirements of straight spine, heels down, shin bones vertical.
• Make sure when you sink and stand it is from opening and closing the inguinal fold (kua) in the main
• Listen to the feet and bring your attension down to the earth. You need to start to feel the earth under your feet with a greater awareness in this exercise.
• When standing up make sure that you do so with a relaxed spine and without excess speed.

Exercise 2 – Crawl out.

• This exercise brings you closer to the ground and helps you to begin to get used to feeling the transition from standing to ground.
• Although very simple this is a vital exercise for the mind. You need to allow the mind to slowly overcome its natural aversion to going to ground.
• Relax the spine first and then the hips and then walk the hands out sequentially.
• Expand the practice by dropping the hips to relax the hip flexors.

Exercise 3 – Kick out to the side

• The aim here is to get use to relaxing onto the side of the body, releasing the body softly onto the side.
• This transition is more difficult and should be taken slowly. We need to lower ourselves as far to the ground as possible before we lay back onto the ground.
• It is fine to use the hands at first.
• Make sure that when straightening the feet and legs do not lift of the ground, this is a sign of tension in your hip flexors.
• When standing back up make it smooth and relaxed with no jerky or momentum based movement.

Exercise 4 – Kick out to the front

• Here is the same exercise again but this time to the front.
• Front foot should feel like it slips on ice and you softly transition to the floor.
• Make sure you take a couple of steps before you transition. This creates some momentum and a degree of change in the situation, which will help the mind to relax.
• Initially use the hands when going to the ground then transition to no using the hand when falling or getting up.
• Stretch the arms out over the head when fully down to stretch and relax the body from the feet to the fingers
• To aid the relaxation make a steady out breath for the entire movement as you transition the ground.
• Once on the ground begin to move the shoulders against the earth to relax and soften then. You can ‘walk with the shoulders’ letting the body trail behind softly.

Exercise 5 – Circle then kick out.

• This time we walk in a circle and spin inwards with we kick out and transition.
• Try to connect with the turning and spinning motion created by walking in a circle, this will help you when you begin to work on rolling.
• pay careful attention not to hold any tension in the knee as you turn into the fall.
• You can expand this by following the circular force to allow yourself to roll onto your front. This should not be forced but a result of you following the force.

Exercise 6 – Rolling

• As this is not combative ukemi where we are trying to dissipate another’s force but a health practice to dissipate force trapped in our body there is no need to work from a standing position initially. Start on all fours and begin to work from there.
• Make sure that the body DOES NOT form a ball for this work. This is contrary somewhat to the combative ukemi but we are trying to work out tension. The ‘ball’ idea forms tension in the body so we are aiming to do something different.
• At each point in the roll you should be fully able to stop and go back the other way. This is a sure sign that you have good relaxation in the body.
• Work very slowly so that you can appreciate the –
• - Point of balance
• - The body stacked above this point
• - If the breath is stopped
• - Any build up of pressure
• - That you are following the correct line.
• The line should be from shoulder to opposite hip
• Roll in both directions
• When completing the roll (unless changing mid roll) ensure that the legs extend fully so that you are not holding any tension in the hip flexors.
• Feel the earth massage the muscles of the back as you roll over them.
• In the initial movement feel that the neck and shoulders are being opened up.

Exercise 7 – Massage the upper back tissue.

• Start with the head and arms down for the lowest amount of pressure.
• Raise the arms for medium pressure
• Raise the head and arms for deepest pressure
• If your spine is prominent then work on each side of the body individually
• power for the movement comes from the legs.

Summary.

I hope that you will try some of these simple movement methods. I have found them to be very useful for relaxing the back and hips in the morning and evening. They also can form the basis of initial training in combative falling and groundwork skills as they build a good foundation in familiarity with the ground as well as softness in the body.