The Physical Center of the Human Body

[bushido_man96]

Don't you think that by wiggling from the hips, that it is moving the dantien?

Sure; I just think that people tend to focus too much on "moving from the dantien" and not enough on actually being able to MOVE the dantien.

Ah, I understand now. Thanks.

[JusticeZero]

I think that what JusticeZero is referring to may actually be a matter of habit, ingrained from hundreds, even thousands, of movements that were performed along with MA drills, and now that the person wants to move "right" or "the best way,".. the habitual movement pops right back in there.

Good observation! Definitely a good thing to point out.. But actually that wasn't what I was referring to. =)

There's all sorts of articulation and mobility all up and down and around the torso that people seem to ignore; the result is that they don't have much ability to express movement in the part of the body that they want to start their movements from. They move as a block with their entire torso 'from the dantien', but end up sacrificing a lot of power and mobility because they're using just their leg muscles for tasks that could have been done with the aid of the abdominal and trunk muscles. Instead, they're using all those wonderful muscles just to keep their trunk rigid and level.

[cathal]

This is a great thread. One thing I'd like to say is that if the centre is the centre, assuming that it doesn't shift depending upon our position; relative distance to the earth (say while jumping) and the gravitational concern (gravity strength, rotation of the earth, location along the orbital path, relative proximity of the moon, etc.) we'd have a constant location.

If, however, there is a shifting loci for the center of the body the task is to discern where the centre of the body actually *is* any given second in time.

Let's assume that the centre cannot physically move far. Because of the locations of internal organs, muscles, etc. there really isn't much room for movement. What we'd need to do is spend some time studying this phenomenon in greater scientific detail. Let's say a kinesiologist places electrodes on the skin and perhaps some in the centre of the body to study this.

What do you think would be the results? Would this soft-ball shape move around? Would you think this could be affected by the movement of internal energy?

Food for thought...

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[Patrick]

Great to see you back and around, Shawn (cathal)!

[cathal]

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[mudansha]

Sanchin kata really showed me the value of moving from your center.

Even the sanchin stance will work the core when done correctly. Its not just about foot placement... a lot of core flexing is involved too.