POSTURE = MIND

My son, Taj, played a tennis tournament on the weekend.  He knew what he wanted to work on, but what I had previously noticed, was his posture.  When he was down a point or made an unforced error, his posture would display the inner reprimands and frustration.  I suggested, that if he straightened his spine between points and kept his gaze and his head up, rather than looking at the ground or slouching his shoulders, he would not only signal a lack of worry or being frustrated at the score to his opponent, he would, more importantly, draw a positive mindset out of his own posture.

Posture affects our mental state tremendously and vice versa.  It’s why a lot of meditation traditions advise you to straighten the spine when you sit.  It’s not out of a need to be formal.  It’s to assist focusing the mind.  When our posture slouches, our mind slouches.  Once our eyes cast downwards, our head naturally and unconsciously tilts forward, and our spine follows.  The overall physical state produces a mental response and it’s never positive or alert.

In life, people treat us the way we present ourselves.  The criminal mind or predator will pick out the victims in the crowd, the weak.  To overcome this you don't need to over-exaggerate and strut about like a peacock, but if you have a confident posture, you feel and look confident, ie: you're not an easy target.  A smile helps to stop you looking like you're up for a fight also.

I once defeated a crazed, knife wielding, guy in Melbourne with nothing but posture.  Short version of this story...initially, I took a defensive posture, so not to provoke him further, but when I sized him up and the situation I realised I was faced with no other alternative, I changed my body language into one of, "Ok. Let's Go!" and told him, very calmly, but assertively to, "Back up!"  He looked me up and down a moment, turned and ran once he saw my posture change from defence to offence.  I don't remember consciously deciding to do this.  My body remembered what to do all on it's own and my sub-conscious brain took over, as if to say, "Ok conscious brain, move aside.  We'll take it from here!"

In the dojo, our body holds a collective memory, I believe.  It has been scientifically proven that muscles, however, do not hold any memory, but the term, ‘muscle memory’, shouldn’t be discarded.  Unsui Sensei, always says, “Again, again, until your body remembers.”  After endless repetitions, he says with a grin, "Hmmm, yes.  I think now your body remembers."  He knows, after 60 years of training, that the body does have a collective consciousness.  Yes, it is stored in the brain, not the muscles, but hey…nuance, right?

So, Taj, remembered the posture advice.  He lost two matches and won one.  No matter where he was on the score board, he never showed any physical manifestation of his inner disappointment at the losses.  As a result, his opponents had no idea if they had the upper hand at any point.  To the casual observer, he was winning, if not now, then at any moment he could come back and break serve.  More importantly, he played so much better and with more composure due to his physical state aiding his mental attitude.  Regardless of the score, he'd won and he walked away knowing he'd gained, not lost.

When we lose our cool with ourselves, or give in to self-abusing inner dialogue, we display it in our body language.  This is why it's important to maintain good posture, in and out of the dojo.  No matter what's just happened, an erect spine with shoulders back and rolled down, gaze lifted, chin level and slightly back which aligns the ears over the shoulders; you will not only feel better physically, but mentally not be prone to discouragement or negativity.  The world notices too and treats you accordingly.

We have a focus on posture and alignment in our art.  This is for the efficiency of movement but also for the mental states it aids during times of adrenal stress.  When we're under pressure, we become tight, tense and hunched.  Shoulders come up, legs straighten, muscles tense which slows our movement.  In tennis, my son's ball toss for the serve, becomes short, then it's hard for him to hit it over the net.

In the dojo, I keep telling my students to get lower, why?  Not because "as low as you can go", is the best way to fight.  It's because under pressure, you'll naturally end up on your toes without proper training to remain grounded.  You'll lean forward or back and hunch your shoulders.  Train a little lower than you need to in combat and in a fight you'll be sufficiently low enough and centred.  Staying grounded and balanced is your best chance.  Why do we use a bent elbow with our punches?  Because under stress, you're going to over reach and lock out or hyper-extend your arm which leaves you prone to a counter such as an arm lock.

General posture and the angle of the spine and alignment of the limbs is essential in your attitude as well as your broader mental state.  As I said earlier, they feed off each other.  If you can't control your mind, focus on the body.  For the most part, we can always correct the body quicker than our mental state, don't you agree? 

Travis de Clifford - Katsuyoshi
Dojo cho, Kensho Dojo Australia