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Sacrum

Submitted by michael young on 2020-06-23 20:30

As I train, I am becoming more aware of the sacrum. It feels like a wedge. When I make the back stop and feel the "L" stretch it produces a line all the way up the back of the legs to the sacrum. It's as if the wedge of the sacrum and the feet are directly communicating. When I roll the hip to point the tail bone down and the wedge appears it lifts the arches of my feet and produces the back stop. What I do with the sacrum affects the whole body. It's as if I'm standing with the sacrum. It's like a keystone. I can relax so much more of my muscle witht this awarness.

One part moves, all parts move

Submitted by michael young on 2020-06-23 20:20

A mechanism that I have observed is that when I move in this way the body is already coordinated. In the bending exercise, if I maintain the sensations prescribed, when I move one cavity the others respond with their apporpriate movement for what I am trying to do. I can pick any reference point such as the spine, the knees, or the feet and simly maintain the feeling from the feet up to the sacrum and from the sacrum up to the neck and if I move the reference the other bits move in concert. There is no sequence to it. They all go at the same time.

The U

Submitted by michael young on 2020-06-15 20:01

To be completely honest, feeling the U is not always the easy for me. I can feel four points at the "corners" of it more readily. I can clearly feel the back stop and the toes going out and away from the heel. I can feel relationship between my sacrum and my heel and the unification through the legs. I can feel the shoulders being supported and the sternum lift up. For all of that the U still eludes me and I still find it difficult to release my diaphragm. I guess that those things will come along when my body is ready.

Clumsy

Submitted by michael young on 2020-06-15 19:43

A strange thing that I've noticed is that I feel more clumsy in day to day movement. Am I actually more clumsy because my body is in the process of learning a new way to be or am I just aware of how clumsy I've always been but was too dull to perceive it?

Itching?

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-30 10:21

Something I've noticed is that I will itch after a training session, especially with moving training and breath work. Is this normal? The itching is transient and is often only in certain regions of the body like the front of the arms but sometimes it can be fairly strong, but passes quickly. I wanted to ask about this since it seems to be happening regularly. Thanks in advance, sifu!

Pressure

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-24 18:57

Sifu, you said in one of the classes that the pressure from the glottal stop to the perineum should not change as we breathe. What does it mean if the pressure is changing?

Pulsing in the perineum

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-24 18:53

Sometimes while standing very tall and as to get the center of the quads to stretch, I can feel a pulsing in the perineum. I heard you talking about a pulsing vibration in reference to the changes the body makes to maintain balance. Are these pulses I'm feeling related?

Cascading

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-24 18:40

As a distance learning student listening to the radio audio I get to hear everything but have no visual context. Sifu, could you give me more clarity of what you mean by the "cascading" feeling? Thanks!

Coupled power vs differentials

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-18 07:28

Sifu, can you discuss the differences/similarities between the coupling you have described and differentials as they pertain to internal arts?

Big toe

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-14 19:10

When I make the back stop and the toes go away from the heel my four small toes are very stretching away from the heel but the big toe does not have nearly as much stretch in it. is thee anything in particular i need to adjust to even it out?

"Set backs"

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-14 18:54

I know that this process is life long and that a few days are no indication of my trajectory. I did some yard work over the last weekend and afterwards I was tight and sore. I expected that. What I did not expect was that the tightness in my back inhibited my abilty to release and feel what is going on inside. I have "less room" inside and my breath isnot as free as it had been. I now this is not permanent and the same training that opened me up in the first place will do so again. It's just a little frustrating and disappointing.

Trouble sleeping

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-06 20:05

I don't know if it is related to the training but lately I have had some trouble sleeping. It's not every night but some nights I wake up nearly hour. What can I do to reduce this, whehter or not it is related to the training?

Core pressure/filling

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-06 19:55

I have found that the cylinder in the center of the torso that maintains internal pressure really changes the way I move. Maintaining that awareness and feel while bending and twisting requires me to have more range of motion. 

More Standing

Submitted by michael young on 2020-05-06 19:44

This curiculum is FANTASTIC!!! So many things are coming along that my entire experience of any traning is dramatically different. I've been working everyday on the Standing. Getting the back stop is getting easier and esier. Getting the U is becoming more natural, but still not easy. Apparently, my hips were way off and the inner core conditioning was not what it could have been to find that awareness. But, everything is changing. Strangely, with newer, deeper sensations the training is even more vigorous and difficult.