Old days, new times...

OK so it’s not exactly the Kung Fu crane stance I’m visualising every time I adapt it into a workout, but for me working from all resources is important. If that means moulding an exercise or improving the pattern of muscle recruitment to achieve my outcome then I will.

In 1984 when I first saw Miyagi in the crane stance standing on a piece of wood sticking up through low tide in the movie Karate Kid I marveled at his physical mastery. It could be argued it was that very image burned into the back of my mind which drove me to become a competitive kick boxer.

The pose in its natural state isn't exactly a devastating technique; in fact it provides merely an element of mystery as to your next attack which could be a quick stance switch mid air (as indeed Daniel did to deliver the winning front kick to his opponents chin) or simply a well defended rest bite for you. What I have found it most useful for is teaching balance, poise and timing.

I practice this pose on flat ground, can execute it in the ring if the judges have their glasses on and I’m looking for some flash points, on rollerskates, balance beams, bosu balls, etc etc.... There is often a constant in exercise, in this instance it is some variation on a one legged static pose. Everything around me can change, but I will execute a perfect pose.

Over 20 years have passed since I first started moving like this and I still value these basic movement patterns. It’s how I learnt and continue to remind myself of my musculoskeletal structure, its limitations and how far I could push to make them less and less and less limiting.

Balance is not a tool that is employed often enough in our macho world of strength building and aerobic capacity in my opinion. It’s easy to see why when you look at how stability training (ie pilates) and breathing through poses (ie yoga) are marketed. But if you were to consider movement to be a form of play or a function we should all expect from our bodies would you look at it differently? Our bodies have yet to catch up with the urbanisation of our world, why expect anything different than to walk around shaped like the chair we sit in all day?