fingers, vectors and movement

[ransuru]

My Aikido teacher tells us all the time that our force generated at the core and the limbs (the head is there too) is always moving at the direction of our fingers both in the legs and the arms. I've noticed that it works well with my center balances as I visualize the planes of movement and adjustments I make as I learn.
I read Sonnon article "Threading Scorpion Bridge: a THP Progression" which made me think like all good things and employing tensegrity it makes sense that the direction of the extremities will cause a shift or wave that will help move the body through the scorpion bridge and maybe add more fun to it.
I use a more articulated version of the first body flow "exercise" from the book where I transfer the torque to the wrist and fingers before the energy returns and do so in the back bridge. I started from a static one hand on the floor and one back hand on the floor and played with the transition as I became comfortable and the stress disappeared from my lower back and shoulders. After that I started to use that small movement to generate a chain (original choice of words I know) that literally wooshed me through the scorpion bridge.

Thanks for the inspiration and the place to word it, Sharon.

[Scott Sonnon]

Sharon,

I'm glad you're enjoying learning the Threading Scorpion Bridge. Please post a video or photo of your variation described above. It doesn't seem to be clear in my head what you're trying differently.

[Aaron Mcgrath]

Sharon,

First off big ups for learning the threading scorpion bridge so quickly. :twisted: Could you please explain in a bit more detail. :?
I use a more articulated version of the first Body-Flow™ "exercise" from the book where I transfer the torque to the wrist and fingers before the energy returns

Are you reffering to the Arm Screw? Maybe you could explain it in more detail. What are the smaller individual motions involved? I feel like I need to understand and you're on to something interesting...and I'm a bit confused. :?

P.S. The idea is facinating that
our force generated at the core and the limbs (the head is there too) is always moving at the direction of our fingers both in the legs and the arms. Any theories as to why that happens?

[ransuru]

Thanks for the replies first :)

I will post pics or a vid as soon as I can. I enjoy playing with the arm screw as it heightens my understanding of the pressure and form shifts as they happen in the body. There are a lot of joint manipulations in Korindo Aikido so I do them on myself and go where the constraint is the lowest to continue the chain. As the regular arm screw becomes second nature I started to create larger waves using my entire body from the feet to the hips to the core to the shoulders to the arms and to the fingers. Instead of passing the tension in the arm and rotating it, I pass it wholly to the hand and it takes shape in the wrist and fingers fanning and projecting the energy in a mini articulation of the screw. you can reverse engineer this by placing the wrist on the floor and twisting it around without changing the amount of energy you deploy. At some point you will feel the whole upper body or the entire body recieve a slight wave and you can trace the vector of the wave if you take a reverse vector from the fingers as it begins. The same can be done in lesser ROM using the leg centered bodyflow chains and to me that is natural because the geometrical shape we create with our feet is a direct indication of our strength (to what direction we can pull/push with balance) and in the hands: the direction our fingers point is the end of the chain wrapped in silk, so it makes sense that there is the power and hence the vector of our most stable energy manifestation.
The Scorpion bridge is a fun trick and I got to it in small comprehensible steps. First I squatted and shifted the weight balance to the rear allowing me to create a tripod with one arm on the floor behind me. Then I arch backwards (inhaling) with the other hand pointing away and over my head to complete the arch. Once I am aware of the tensions and weaknesses of my arch and there are plenty of those I can use them to my mobility.
In a way I am playing joint manipulation and the Uke (the receiver of the technique) is me.
I place the back of one hand on the floor and shift the weight in about 60/40 to it via a shift in the hip angle. Next I allow the body to loosen up (exhaling) and solve the tension as it sees fit. Since I am the orchestrator of it, I know it will drive like all physical systems to the lowest energy point of balance and as the hand rotates on the floor the rest of the body follows gently in the scorpion bridge.

I hope this makes sense, Sharon.

[Cilian McHugh]

Just wanted to mention I deleted a double post.