(no subject)

[morsla]

Delving deep in muscle memories, I found some things I thought I'd lost. There's the ghost of a person down there - if I strain my eyes I can see what I used to do, but if I close my eyes, I can feel it. Last night's class was much better than the previous week - I have started to take back the things I had forgotten.

I still need prompting for many parts of the forms, but I have an advantage on my side - I understand what these movements are designed for, instead of just their appearance. Everyone has a different build - the different ratios between wrist and elbow or elbow and shoulder will make two people look very different when they both perform a technique "properly." This is the reason why I love these arts. There is no expectation that you will copy a movement like a mirror image - instead, you have to find how you can do it.

Old understandings crept back last night, and I discovered that I can still anticipate how a movement works - on myself, and on someone else. Knowing how to pivot and step lets me apply more force than I otherwise could; knowing where limbs are and aren't supposed to go helps me to unbalance someone, or hit from angles that their anatomy isn't designed to sustain. With context, l can learn more clearly.

Seven years of training climbed back into my head, brushed off some cobwebs, and moved back in. The old cranium is a little worse for wear - it needs plenty more work, but it feels like home. I'm fairly sore from training, but nothing that some stretching won't fix. It's such a good feeling to reach out and find that things aren't permanently lost. It'll take a long time to properly get it back, but it's much easier to do when I seem to be making some visible progress.

In other news:

Golgotha is happening again on Sunday 12th of June. For those who have met Dan and Yaz (the other 2/3 of the combined 75th birthday last September...), this may be their last public appearance before they leave for England - their bags are (mostly) packed, and there's no return date planned. Come and join us! I need to dance.

VNV Nation should be touring in September! (Melbourne, September 3rd) Tickets are rumoured to be around the $50-ish mark. aeliel and I are going, despite ticket prices/final details/venue/the entire tour not being confirmed yet - we'll find a way :-)

See my shadow changing
stretching up and over me
soften this old armour
hoping I can clear the way by

stepping through my shadow
coming out the other side
step into my shadow
forty six and two are just ahead of me

Comments

[mousebane.livejournal.com]

So, who are VNV Nation and what can you tell me about their music?

[morsla.livejournal.com]

I'll have some CDs for you tomorrow night :)

[mousebane.livejournal.com]

Groovy then!

[delphaeus.livejournal.com]

i've got a few on mp3 if you can't survive the day

[delphaeus.livejournal.com]

still have to find out if new job is open on public holidays. if not, count me in.

[sols-light.livejournal.com]

This is a silly question, but have you got any stretches that can stretch out the muscles between the shoulder blades or the muscles that stretch from below the rib cage down beside the spine?

I've had constant pain in them for a little too long now and I'd just like some ideas on how to make it relinquish a bit of its hold.

[morsla.livejournal.com]

For the shoulder blades: you want to get more movement in the shoulders themselves. Try limbering up the muscles by rolling your shoulders forwards and backward (x10 each direction, repeat a few times).

Then, you need to get the shoulderblades apart. I tend to hold on to something like a doorframe or stair handrail... stand with the support directly in front of you, hold it with both hands at the same height, and lean backwards to use your body weight to stretch it out.

Also, you can get a lot of pain there from your neck (it's a synergy thing - both contribute to each other). Excercises that loosen up your neck will help the middle of your back.

For the back: I assume that you mean the row of muscle to each side of the spine, in the lower back? It's mainly caused by bad posture, but it exacerbates problems from posture once it starts...

I stretch that part of my back by twisting from side to side - lots of gentle stretches, instead of the traditional "back crack" twist. Tai Chi's "cloud hands" movement is good for this one - ask me about it in person, and I can show you.