BUT I'M TRYING TO RELAX!!!

 by Phillip Starr

We've all heard it...”You have to relax” or “just relax and you'll get it.” Unfortunately, most instructors don't realize that this type of advice is actually counter-productive to genuine relaxation. I can see the guy in the back row furrowing his brows and wondering, “how's that?” Well, pay attention...

The main reason that most people can't relax is because they don't stand correctly. You may stand ramrod straight, balance teacups on your head...and you think you're standing correctly. But no, that's not it at all. Learning to stand correctly actually requires a lot of practice...as much as 2 years or more. Even most contemporary masters don't know how to do it or how to achieve it. It begins with pushing your ears away from your shoulders (what I call “tatonka”). But there's so much more to it than meets the eye.

Once you can stand correctly, you'll FEEL your body relaxing...naturally. Correct posture (truly correct) naturally relaxes the entire body. Gravity always pulls straight down; just stand and let everything “hang” naturally.

If you think, “I must relax my elbow (or any other body part)”, you'll unknowingly cause some very slight tension in that spot and/or others. Focus your mind to the top of your head (pushing the ears away from the shoulders) instead of other body parts. The harder you TRY to relax, the more tension you create. It's rather zen-like.

Once you've learned to stand correctly and true relaxation sets in, you must do it in a variety of (martial) postures. It's like starting all over again – tension finds its way in, but have faith. Using the same principles for standing correctly, your postures will become correct and relaxed.

Of course, the next step is to maintain correct posture and relaxation while moving. You're going to have to start at Taijiquan speed...and over time, speed will increase as your movement(s) become smoother (which is due to true relaxation).

This process requires maturity, devotion to DAILY practice, and time. It's going to take a while to be able to do it. Years. But that mustn't discourage you; time is part and parcel of developing real skill and that's what gong-fu is, right?

There are special exercise routines that are used to teach this. Most martial arts teachers, even the highest-ranked, don't know them. They must be taught hands-on. And they must be practiced EVERY DAY. Otherwise, they'll never “take.” Once you begin doing that, you'll soon notice changes in your posture and in your entire body. Standing feels very different. Moving feels very different. But you must keep up daily practice so that these “corrections” in your posture become habitual and you no longer have to think about them. And that takes time.

You'll also notice that your blows are much stronger; your movements are faster (without TRYING to make them faster). The way you practice your particular art is much stronger and different than it once was. This is a great secret that very few know.