Cooperating with Force
Learning outcomes • To understand the importance of postural alignment in relation to efficient movement and injury prevention • To be able to body sense and demonstrate cooperation with force to help create controlled, fluid forward momentum • To understand basic biomechanics of walking and running gait Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
The Five-Element Theory • Earth – physical support and stability • Water – provides fluidity to motion • Fire – strength and power, work and transformation • Air – breath, inspiration, mind-body connection • Space/Ether – a container for the other elements, creates space for things to happen Ref: Chi Marathon p174 Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Gathering and Issuing Visualise gathering (storing or collecting) energy in the dantien then feel this energy issuing from there through the body to create fluid, efficient, movement. This is working from the centre or core “In the chi practice of Needle in Cotton you gather energy to your centre by drawing it away from your periphery. That gathered energy adds strength and alignment to your support stance” Ref: Chi Marathon p94 Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Alignment & Relaxation Ensuring the body is optimally aligned in every postural position to allow the maximal muscular relaxation Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
“If you don't know how to relax... you don't know how to make power” Shifu Heng Wei Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Myofascial Meridians The body is composed of myofascial meridians with all systems intertwined • Superficial back line • Superficial front line • Lateral line • Spiral line • Arm lines • Functional lines • Deep front line Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
The Spiral Line • Helps maintain balance across all planes • Overall movement function is to create spirals and rotations in the body and to steady the truck and leg to keep it from folding into rotational collapse Thomas Myers – Anatomy Trains Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
The Functional Lines • Can be considered as appendicular supplements to the spiral line • Appear as spirals on the body • Work as helical patterns • Example of use is contralateral counterbalance between shoulder and hip when walking and running Thomas Myers – Anatomy Trains Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Cooperating with Force Newton’s first law of motion states that an object at rest tends to remain at rest unless acted upon by an external force. • Work with the force of gravity to help create forward momentum Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Cooperating with Force Newton's third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction • Use the force of the oncoming road to create energy to maintain or increase momentum Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Balance & Control Find balance between the amount of alignment and relaxation required at any given moment to create controlled , fluid movement Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Lean Earth & Water Find a window of balance within a controlled forward fall Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
• Build an aligned column • Relax lower legs, shoulders and arms • Feel contact with the ground at tripod • Focus at the dantien (body’s approximate centre of mass – COM) • COM moves ahead of the contact with ground • Release ankles, roll over front two points of the tripod and pick up the heel Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
How can you regain COM height? Options the body might use to regain height: • Actively pushing off with toes/lower legs • Passive arch and achilles recoil • Straightening the knee with the big muscles of the upper leg, hip and core before peel off “I would much rather regain a little COM height passively or by using big muscles than propel myself forward and upward with the small muscles of the lower leg”. Adapted from The Physics of Chi Running, Lean Analysis – David Stretanski echifitness.com Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Arm Swing • Optimal upper body alignment is essential to the mechanics of a fluid arm swing • The emphasis of the arm swing is back-relax (load- recoil) • The TLJ (Thoracolumbar Junction) is our pivot point since ~65º of rotation primarily comes from mid/upper thoracic vertebrae* Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Thoracic spine • ~65º of rotation primarily coming from mid/upper thoracic vertebrae • Compare with Lumbar spine that has only ~12º of rotation – limited in this plane (*Figures adapted from Hamill and Knutsen, 1995) Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
When we have optimal upper body alignment at any given time and outer core muscles are ‘ unglued ’ from inner core muscles, arms will swing rearwards from a stable shoulder girdle Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
A rearward arm swing counter-balances your forward fall, helping you to find your window of balance and control the forward fall Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Begin Running Earth & Water • KISS – Keep it short and simple • Keep aligned and relaxed • Lead with the dantien • Find the window of balance and focus on smooth transition into running with hardly any increase in breath rate • Control the forward fall keeping a short stride out front allowing the ankles to lift behind Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
• As you run think of it as practising a series of one- legged posture stances, balancing on the support leg and releasing and relaxing the empty leg • Where possible use a very gradual downhill • Try total nasal breathing Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Gears & Stride Length Earth, Water & Fire • Allow stride length to increase behind the dantien (COM) • Create ‘space’ and relax at the hip • Feel subtle rotation of the thoracic spine (from pivot point) • Let the road take your leg rearward • Find window of balance in each gear • Use lean as your accelerator, keep needle in place as you lead with the dantien Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Fig 1a: Aerial view of pelvis and foot position in static stance Fig 1b: Aerial view at point where the right foot leaves the ground over the front tripod points. If the foot remains parallel, the hip will extend and internally rotate. The pelvic girdle will make a subtle rotate clockwise and to a lesser extent the shoulder girdle will rotate counter clockwise to balance the rotation. Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
• Stride length is achieved by hip extension plus internal rotation, creating subtle transverse rotation of the pelvis from our pivot point • For this to happen , it is essential that alignment, relaxation, balance and control are intuitive • The student should have sufficient ROM / mobility in the hip and spine combined with pelvic and core stability. (Needle in Cotton) • Visualise the outer core moving around the inner core • Transverse rotation is minimal and should not be forced but be controlled and balanced • Body sense and find balance in this transverse plane just as you find your window of balance for your lean in the sagittal plane Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
• In a controlled forward fall we are cooperating with the force of the oncoming road and storing elastic potential energy during the rearward leg and contralateral arm swing • We then use this energy to maintain and/or increase forward momentum Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Energy • Potential energy is stored energy in regards to an object’s position - Gravitational potential energy - Elastic potential energy • Kinetic energy is the energy of motion Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Potential energy Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
Cooperation with Force www.chirunning.uk #chirunninguk @chirunninguk
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