The frame from the ground up Part 2

Ok now we have set up the basic position of the body we can start to go into detail about how we can begin to tie the frame together and start to build a useful and dynamic structure.

Beyond the basic position of the body we also need to begin to work on the structures that connect the body together.  Here we are not talking about building muscles individually, but building the lines of muscle/connective tissue/fascia that connect distant points of the body, for instance the hands and feet or the top of the head and the Perineum.

So onwards with part 2 on building the body frame.

Drawing up the Legs.

The legs are an interesting area of the body to begin to work with, especially as we mean here,  as it is not the most natural structural method we are used to. However i can very easily show you what we mean by drawing up the legs.

1.       Stand feet shoulder width apart Knees bend slightly and aligned with the big toe

2.       Very gently start to pull the feet together on the floor, like your gripping something between your feet.

3.       You should begin to feel the upper inside area of the leg engage as you begin to pull in.

4.       Focus on the resulting direction of power, it should feel as though your pulling up into the area of the perineum and the direction your body wants to go in is up.

This is the drawing up power that we talk about when describing ‘drawing up with the legs’. However there are several points which are of importance when we consider this power.

-          Do not allow the power to put lateral pressure on the knees. This is very important as it can lead to knee injury. The knees should be unaffected by the force travelling up from the earth along the insides of the legs.

-          Do not overdo it. This force should be felt and should be demanding to maintain, but NOT painful! I have seen a few people overdo this training and injure themselves. If your building this part of the frame correctly you will feel it the next day initially but it will not cause any damage to your body.

-          Create this force once the rest of the initial points are set. If you start to action this force when your upper body is misaligned or your not set up correctly you will most likely not start to work the wrong line of tissue.

Arms and Legs like Drills.

Visualise a screw being drilled into some hardwood. This is what i mean when i say drilling the legs and arms. It is a very useful practice to begin to work with especially as one of the core components of IMAs is the idea of Spiral force or power.

I will start with the idea of Drilling the legs as this is the most important to get right. Here we are not looking to see any external movement or rotation in the legs. The spiral power is held inside as the muscle and tissues ‘wrap’ around the frame created by the skeletal structure. Due to the way the legs are constantly under load it is important for work on this idea very softly, with deep concentration and awareness and without tension. If you feel any points of tension as you drill the legs you will need to adjust your posture or force to release the points of pain or tension you feel.  The direction of the spiral can actually change or reverse based on what direction you want to receive or project force in, but for basic training i would suggest that you focus your intent on the leg rotating as if the toes are turning inward and the heels are turning outward. Again, i stress do not allow any external expression of the spiral to show.

The arms are slightly different in that they are not anchored at both ends. This means that the joints are not under load and are more protected when spiralling. In the arms we want to produce counter rotation rather than singular spiralling. You can think of this like a double helix wrapping around both sides of the arms simultaneously.

To start with you can hold your arms out in front palms facing down, now without letting the hand rotate, use the shoulder to rotate the orientation of the elbow joint. This is a good initial basic exercise but can take a little time to become good at. One very useful idea with this is the ability to touch and without changing the touch completely change your line.

Intent driven structure setting

In terms of building useful structure, one of the most vital tools is your ability to feel the body state and use the mind to make micro adjustments to force and lines. I call this intent driven structure setting and at its most fundamental level it applies to the ability to listen to the body and its reaction to load. We need a very deep and clear attention on the body to be able to feel for the main culprits of changing or misaligning the posture.

1)      Points of tension caused by misalignment

2)      Points of tension caused by breath hold

3)      Points of pressure caused by internal collapsing

When you set up your posture, become used to turning your attention inwards focusing on the physical structure of the body. This process of Recognization is the first step. From here we need to resolve the tension with small deliberate changes, either to our breath cycle or to the physical position of our limbs, bones and muscle.

The next step in intent  driven structure setting is to actually use your intent to produce force in the structure. This involves using the mind to affect how the structure maintains its position. When we do this we are trying not to move at all externally.

One good exercise to feel what we mean by this is to set up your structure, Then focus all of your intent from the centre pushing out to the skin of every surface. Everything inside is pushing out strongly, the joints want to inflate opening the arms, the body wants to rise up, the stomach wants to expand, but you hold them all in place. Then relax and repeat. This should be a Physical process, the body should react to the minds intent, it is not visualisation of expansion which is something different all together.

Not this should not affect the breath at all and should not cause any pressure in the body or head. We are using the mind to create the expansion in the body, not Tension!

Other intent driven internal changes can be:

-          Leading to the horizon

-          Condensing to the centre of the bones

-          Coiling the tissues

-          Power to the fingertips

-          Melting into the earth

-          Becoming light

Part 3 will discuss some more points on structure setting and how to build the body for work.

Happy training.