I have frequently spoken of making appropriate use of our internal structure in our aikido practice.  I will once more explore this idea from another perspective. Similarly when painting a wall or weaving a basket, it takes multiple layers criss-crossing to obtain a good coverage of paint or a strong structure.

Our bones, ligaments, tendons and joints, can redirect, store and release a tremendous amount of energy which enable us to perform those physical feats which continue to amaze and inspire us. While we do unconsciously use this structure in our daily activities, if we wish to be extraordinary we need to take our understanding to a higher level.

I am by no means an expert in the field, and am still enjoying the journey of discovery. I recently came across a few new concepts which I shall share with you and hopefully fuel your own desire for self discovery. Before I touch on these points, I will highlight our structure fits in with the basic aikido forms we practice.

When taking forward ukemi, you will have been taught by your sensei to twist your leading hand to place your thumb downwards. Not only does this extend your elbow to protect your  head, assist with rounding the back but also forms a strong circular structure throughout the body. The more your release this twist, you will find your joints become less supported and the structure will need to be maintained by conscious muscle activity.

Many of the shapes we form in aikido require us to form spirals and arcs which reach the limit of our range of movement. Take the kokyu arm shape which forms a downwards and outwards arc to it maximum range of movement. Apart from being structurally sound, the advantage of attaining this position is that it is readily repeatable, and extremely quick to snap to. If we attempt to quickly form a kokyu shape which is not at our maximum range of movement we are required to actively use our muscles to decelerate the movement to stop at the correct movement.

Living in a society which involves a sedentary lifestyle, with tremendously complex movements each day, we have become very versatile in our ability to use our arms and hands to the detriment of our core structure. It is only through physical activities such as dance and aikido that we can explore the use of our torsos.

A friend recently introduced me to a concept familiar to golfers for some time now. The X-Factor exploits the fascia within our  torsos by twisting our shoulders relative to our hips. This twisting actions loads our bodies with  energy which can be released to enable rapid acceleration. This friend presented me a wonderful analogy with a bow and arrow.

An archer given an arrow cannot throw it very far at all. The archer’s inability to rapidly accelerate the arrow with his body alone explains the poor results However, by putting that same amount of work into a bow, the archer is able to accelerate the arrow much faster and achieve a better result. Likewise, if we use our internal structure to stretch like a bow and rapidly release the energy, we can produce a force beyond the abilities of our opponent to react and absorb.

Within our bodies are a number of structures which can be used to store and release energy, each with slightly different properties. Some are easily stretched a long distance, but can only provide a weak acceleration. Others can only stretch a small amount, but provide an abrupt but massive force. To assist with the creative use of these structures, I shall call upon the concept of Anatomy Trains introduced by Thomas Myers.

In a traditional muscular diagram, the muscles are broken into individual muscle groups which is a fine way for doctors or body builders to view the body, but when it comes to movement scientists or aikido this view is very limited in its use. By looking at the Anatomy Train Lines, we see that the muscles and fascia can actually be viewed as bands around the body, which through their contraction and stretching give us movement.

Imagine using these bands to store and release energy like the strings of a bow, and suddenly it becomes apparent why mobility of the hips is so fundamental to the movements of martial arts like aikido, karate, tai-chi, bagua.