Being Rooted And Standing Post

[Kenny]

Hey guys, couple of things...

Before I practice my form in the mornings I like to start off with the Post Standing, to develop being 'rooted' as you know. So, I've heard that, when we stand post, and do various other things, the particular area of the foot that we ought to be standing on (I guess is how you'd put it) should be an area called "The Bubbling Well", which, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is just behind the ball of your foot. Is that right? I notice that when I do the post standing, unless I'm really careful, my weight almost 'rocks' back and forth between my heel and the ball of my foot, and when that happens, I don't feel 'rooted' at all; and so I have to try to bring myself back to that Bubbling Well area again, which feels a lot better and more stable.

Another thing, and I never noticed this before ... I have a curvy spine. A really curvy spine. I noticed that in the small of my back my spine curves inward pretty deep, before curving outward and up as it ascends towards my skull, making kind of an exaggerated 'S' shape. I noticed that I really have to be mindful of where my lower back is, and tuck in my coccyx or order to straighten it out to where its close to being proper. My mom says this is happening because I've gained so much weight that my ever-expanding belly is inadvertently pulling the lower part of my spine inward a little bit. I figured it was just because my body is working through being all tight and misaligned from my being stuck in a chair in front of a computer of on the couch in front of the television for so long.

I'm assuming here, that if my spine isn't where it needs to be, it will affect my 'rooting'. So I'm working on that now, and so far it's going alright, just like I say, I have to pay a lot of attention to what I'm doing when I'm standing, to keep from getting lazy and letting it curve it whilst my coccyx moves back out of alignment. So far as the weight goes though, I'd like to shed a few pounds, for the sake of my practice and blood pressure. Which leads me to my last question, would cardio, like rowing or exercise bike riding interfere at all with the practice? Or, would Taiji, along with the vegetarian eating plan that I'm on now be enough for gradual weight loss?

As always, thanks for your time.

[Linda Heenan]

Hello Kenny,

I'd like to address the weightloss part of your question, since I've had the same problem. Despite the common thinking that all people gain weight by eating too much and exercising too little, that is not always the truth. It would be wise to discern the reason for your weight gain before applying a strategy to reverse the trend. If you are fighting genetic propensity, a virus, food intolerances or hormonal imbalances, the things others do to successfully lose weight may frustrate you. You can do it, but understand it will take years and years of persistance and trying things to find out which one works. I've dropped 5 clothing sizes over 20 years of never giving up. The original weight gain was from hormonal changes, not overeating. I still have 2 sizes to go. One of the best benefits seems to be that during times of intense training, when I eat like everyone else, the extra food gives me better than average energy .

Vegetarian might or might not be the answer. You have to find out what your own body is like. Mine is almost allergic to carbohydrates, so high protein is better. We are all different. Over the last two weeks I was training in America. Many days I trained for 6 hours and walked for another 2-3. I ate everything others did during that time, and came home a few kilos lighter.

I don't think cardio exercise can interfere with taijiquan. After all, that is exactly what we are doing when we run and turn, lunge, dodge and swing swords in our swordsmanship training. The most important thing is that losing weight will make the training easier on your joints. It's wise to have your heart checked as well so you know what you can safely do.

[Kenny]

Hey Linda,

I've been checked out, and I was assured by my physician that my weight gain is the result of my previous sedentary lifestyle No viruses or anything like that, just laziness LOL

My heart's in good shape, BP is a little high, but I've been trying to quit smoking and my doc believes that along with exercise it should come back down to normal once I quit permanently. I went almost 2 months, then re-lapsed for a week but I've not been smoking now since Monday, and I'm doing my best to stay on the wagon this time. Anyway, cadio shouldn't be an issue for me so far as working out goes, and I reckon it won't interfere with the taiji so long as I remember to stay relaxed whilst pedaling ...