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Combatting Stress
Purely mental relaxation techniques like meditation or attempt to alleviate stress by means of volitional efforts. The irony is that stress occurs as a reflex, as an involuntary fight-or-flight response not subject to our conscious control, and still we endeavour to fight by means of rational, targeted methods. A long time ago I completed a autogenic training course where we were taught to slow our breathing and our heartbeat but it never really worked for me in the long run – yes, my breathing would become calmer and my heart rate went down but as soon as the exercises were finished, I felt just as before; maybe I'm too high-strung and intense for such 'soft' methods. Other people swear by them but I guess I've always needed something stronger. That's where some people turn to drink in order to unwind, I guess… luckily, I found karate first.
I've never believed in the idea that martial arts can help you get rid of pent-up aggression. You'll spend the first few years learning basic skills, which will require discipline, constant self-observation, and vigilance as well as control. You may christen a heavy bag after your supervisor and then go hog-wild on it but chances are you'll only hurt your hand because you don't know how to make a proper fist, or sprain your buckling wrists (one idea though would be placing that heavy bag on the floor, straddle it, and practice downward elbow strikes as seen in MMA, less risk of injury there).
It was Wilhelm Reich who coined the term 'body armouring' to describe unconscious patterns of muscular tension intended to protect people from unwanted feelings like shame, guilt, rage, anxiety, etc. His student Alexander Lowen developed his theories even further in his 1975 book "" and invented designed to free up the energies trapped in his patients' body armouring. Example: when threatened by overwhelming physical force, people will instinctively turn away and present their hunched-over back instead - which makes good sense since it is well-protected by big bones and muscles while vulnerable body parts like the face, abdomen, and genitals are safely shielded; this posture won't stop any blows, of course, but it will make them less painful should they actually occur. However, health problems can arise if this hunched-over posture becomes habitual even if no threat is imminent. It's the typical hangdog look of people who continually expect to be punished for some embarrassing secret wrongdoing.
When crouching over your stationary bike at the gym, your body armour will remain intact; great for cardio but totally worthless as far as bioenergetics are concerned. Karate basic techniques, on the other hand, require an upright torso with pulled-back shoulders at all times, and correcting bad upper-body posture in beginners is the bane of all karate instructors. Facing threats head-on in partner drills is another way of cracking that body armour open, so in a way karate could be seen as psychotherapy where you can often watch excessively tense beginners gradually loosen up over the years. Just look at this kata pose:
There are various explanations for the four manji ukes (double-forearm blocks) in shotokan karate's jion kata but in my opinion, this double block should be rather regarded as the final position of previous techniques and not as a fighting move as such. Being hunched-over is not an option here, your upper body will be forced to open up wide when performing that move.
Bioenergetics-wise, capoeira is even more valuable. When practicing entile sequences of moves or playing in the roda, a capoeirista's back will alternate between being arched during evasive manoeuvres and straight when performing kicks just like in those bioenergetic exercises but in a much more demanding and complex way. What karate and capoeira share though is their vast range of movements not ordinarily encountered during daily life. All limbs will be stretched for maximum reach, and any body armouring won't stand a chance against this physical onslaught, promise.
In line with my approach as well as Wilhelm Reich's and Alexander Lowen's theories, I think there's a connection between how we move and how we think and vice versa. Whenever I encounter old persons with walkers on the streets, I can't help but wondering whether their severely limited mobility impinges on their thinking and the way they experience the world. Then such an old person would get overtaken by a pair of joggers, and I'd wonder about that, too – will being aware of their ability to reach destinations faster and easier than most of the strollers on the street will have a beneficial effect on their way of thinking? Is there literally a pedestrian way of cogitating? Provided you don't work for , everyday routines and chores don't make use of the full range of leg movements the human body is capable of.
However, excessive muscular tension is only one sign of ; it's not the whole story by a long chalk, of course, there's a whole bevy of other physical symptoms like abdominal pain or headaches which Reich's theories don't address directly. It's also why I've expanded the range of my martial arts ambitions from merely combatting stress to actully achieving liberation of both the body and mind.
Mind you, this physical approach to spiritual liberation is just my own path, and my yearning for that goal may be result of my psychological make-up and hang-ups. Moreover, you could ask "Why do you feel constrained and in need of liberation in the first place?" Other spiritual traditions would say that it's our minds clouded by illusions that are the problem. There's some truth in that philosophy as well but in line with the bodymind doctrine, liberating the body will go a long way towards liberating and purifying the mind as well. It's the premise I'm operating on, since purely mental exercises don't cut the ice (or the body armour?) for me. Karate, and even more capoeira, never fail to make me feel freshly energised, and I've seen the same effect in others after classes as well. You gain subtle energies by expending gross ones in conformity with the bodymind principle - it all hangs together.
Here's the legendary Italian world champion kata team demonstrating jion with its four manji ukes - grand, triumphant gestures at the conclusion of a series of successful defences and counterattacks.
Purely mental relaxation techniques like meditation or attempt to alleviate stress by means of volitional efforts. The irony is that stress occurs as a reflex, as an involuntary fight-or-flight response not subject to our conscious control, and still we endeavour to fight by means of rational, targeted methods. A long time ago I completed a autogenic training course where we were taught to slow our breathing and our heartbeat but it never really worked for me in the long run – yes, my breathing would become calmer and my heart rate went down but as soon as the exercises were finished, I felt just as before; maybe I'm too high-strung and intense for such 'soft' methods. Other people swear by them but I guess I've always needed something stronger. That's where some people turn to drink in order to unwind, I guess… luckily, I found karate first.
I've never believed in the idea that martial arts can help you get rid of pent-up aggression. You'll spend the first few years learning basic skills, which will require discipline, constant self-observation, and vigilance as well as control. You may christen a heavy bag after your supervisor and then go hog-wild on it but chances are you'll only hurt your hand because you don't know how to make a proper fist, or sprain your buckling wrists (one idea though would be placing that heavy bag on the floor, straddle it, and practice downward elbow strikes as seen in MMA, less risk of injury there).
It was Wilhelm Reich who coined the term 'body armouring' to describe unconscious patterns of muscular tension intended to protect people from unwanted feelings like shame, guilt, rage, anxiety, etc. His student Alexander Lowen developed his theories even further in his 1975 book "" and invented designed to free up the energies trapped in his patients' body armouring. Example: when threatened by overwhelming physical force, people will instinctively turn away and present their hunched-over back instead - which makes good sense since it is well-protected by big bones and muscles while vulnerable body parts like the face, abdomen, and genitals are safely shielded; this posture won't stop any blows, of course, but it will make them less painful should they actually occur. However, health problems can arise if this hunched-over posture becomes habitual even if no threat is imminent. It's the typical hangdog look of people who continually expect to be punished for some embarrassing secret wrongdoing.
When crouching over your stationary bike at the gym, your body armour will remain intact; great for cardio but totally worthless as far as bioenergetics are concerned. Karate basic techniques, on the other hand, require an upright torso with pulled-back shoulders at all times, and correcting bad upper-body posture in beginners is the bane of all karate instructors. Facing threats head-on in partner drills is another way of cracking that body armour open, so in a way karate could be seen as psychotherapy where you can often watch excessively tense beginners gradually loosen up over the years. Just look at this kata pose:
There are various explanations for the four manji ukes (double-forearm blocks) in shotokan karate's jion kata but in my opinion, this double block should be rather regarded as the final position of previous techniques and not as a fighting move as such. Being hunched-over is not an option here, your upper body will be forced to open up wide when performing that move.
Bioenergetics-wise, capoeira is even more valuable. When practicing entile sequences of moves or playing in the roda, a capoeirista's back will alternate between being arched during evasive manoeuvres and straight when performing kicks just like in those bioenergetic exercises but in a much more demanding and complex way. What karate and capoeira share though is their vast range of movements not ordinarily encountered during daily life. All limbs will be stretched for maximum reach, and any body armouring won't stand a chance against this physical onslaught, promise.
In line with my approach as well as Wilhelm Reich's and Alexander Lowen's theories, I think there's a connection between how we move and how we think and vice versa. Whenever I encounter old persons with walkers on the streets, I can't help but wondering whether their severely limited mobility impinges on their thinking and the way they experience the world. Then such an old person would get overtaken by a pair of joggers, and I'd wonder about that, too – will being aware of their ability to reach destinations faster and easier than most of the strollers on the street will have a beneficial effect on their way of thinking? Is there literally a pedestrian way of cogitating? Provided you don't work for , everyday routines and chores don't make use of the full range of leg movements the human body is capable of.
However, excessive muscular tension is only one sign of ; it's not the whole story by a long chalk, of course, there's a whole bevy of other physical symptoms like abdominal pain or headaches which Reich's theories don't address directly. It's also why I've expanded the range of my martial arts ambitions from merely combatting stress to actully achieving liberation of both the body and mind.
Mind you, this physical approach to spiritual liberation is just my own path, and my yearning for that goal may be result of my psychological make-up and hang-ups. Moreover, you could ask "Why do you feel constrained and in need of liberation in the first place?" Other spiritual traditions would say that it's our minds clouded by illusions that are the problem. There's some truth in that philosophy as well but in line with the bodymind doctrine, liberating the body will go a long way towards liberating and purifying the mind as well. It's the premise I'm operating on, since purely mental exercises don't cut the ice (or the body armour?) for me. Karate, and even more capoeira, never fail to make me feel freshly energised, and I've seen the same effect in others after classes as well. You gain subtle energies by expending gross ones in conformity with the bodymind principle - it all hangs together.
Here's the legendary Italian world champion kata team demonstrating jion with its four manji ukes - grand, triumphant gestures at the conclusion of a series of successful defences and counterattacks.