Alexander Technique For Martial Arts:
Developing Skill And Intention
Grandmaster Dino Salvatera
"To stand straight takes more than bones." -David Carradine in 'The Son of the Dragon'
Are you a student of martial arts? Are you interested in learning how the Alexander Technique can help you in your training?
All good Martial Arts training offers countless discoveries about our psycho-physical potential. Uniquely suited to be added to your studies, Alexander's teachings support the development of your balance, natural flexibility and an acute awareness and appreciation of your individual movement style.
The technique supports you in understanding and implementing how to integrate and coordinate your movements, making them more centered, poised, lighter and freer. It will optimize your chi flow, endurance and muscle tone.
Through a series of private lessons, you can learn how to be in and move your body for maximum energy. You will learn how to distribute your body weight in a more efficient way in order to avoid undue stress on bones, tissues and internal organs.
Alexander's principles guide you towards prevention and/or recovery from injury, as well as increase your performance skills. Advanced study will enable you to remain balanced even under increasing amounts of pressure.
The Alexander Technique offers a direct path toward calmness and composure even in the face of adversity. Cultivation of stillness in action is achieved through a stabilized center of gravity, where your arms and legs can be used from a new integrated awareness.
As your awareness and understanding of natural movement principles grows, so will the beauty and power in the execution of your techniques.
All martial artists, no matter what style or form is practiced, can enhance their techniques using Alexander's teachings.
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Alignment and Effortless Power based Tai Chi Instruction with a strong rooting in Alexander principles.
A minimum of 6 private Alexander lessons with Flora is required to join the class. Focus: proper body alignment and direction of energy as taught in Alexander Technique Format: small group class with individual attention to detail When: ongoing, by appointment only Where: SF Golden Gate Park, or downtown San Francisco Contact: click here "Qigong asks us to lighten our grip on how we perceive the world and how we approach our lives. To get into the Qi enhancement state means that you will have to relax when formerly you have become tense. You will be electing to breathe deeply when formerly you have held or constrained your breath. |
Developing Mastery in Activity
When you find yourself passionate about a new activity and want to get better at it, but find yourself stuck at a certain point, you might find that more instruction in the specific activity often does not help you improve. Even more practice does not seem to help. Something is blocking you progress, but what is it?
When you have “tried everything”, moving to the next level of mastery often requires you to stop all the doing, to free up your body and clear your mind from unconscious habits of moving and thinking.
In addition, clearing out the “baggage” or “clutter” left from self-criticism and frustrating experiences frees up energy for renewed creativity and improvement in sometimes amazing ways.
When stuck at a particular level of mastery, we often think that we only need more of something – more talent or more strength – when what we really need is less of something – less getting in our own way through old habits of thinking and moving. Learning to stop getting in our own way means clearing the path to the next level of mastery.
