‘Feet to Core to Four led by the Head travelling on the Breath.’ - Part 6

Having talked a little about ‘feet to core’, it’s time to move on to ‘the four’.

Actually there are two sets of four. We have the big four and the little four. Today I’m going to address the big four.

They are our knees and elbows.

In Silat Fitrah we train to ensure they are working in unison. Of course, the knees and elbows can deliver powerful, often devastating, blows, however we also need to be aware of them – and understand the relationship they share – throughout every aspect of the syllabus. Whether we are stepping or moving on the ground, performing the kicking form or the Salutation, the jurus, or the elbow form, we have to coordinate the ‘big four’.

There are several, interconnected reasons for this. They are:

1. To create physical and emotional alignment.

2. To ensure whole body movement.

3. To develop whole body awareness.

We develop physical alignment by focussing on, and developing, the interaction between knees and elbows. We regard them as lower triangle and upper triangle versions of each other. The knees are to the legs what the elbows are to the arms.

By giving deliberate attention to the knees and elbows we create a psychological shift, away from our usual busy mind and into parts of ourself (and how these parts interact) we might not usually address. In this way increased physical, whole body, awareness can be used to encourage the development of mental/emotional appropriate for martial training.

More about the ‘big four’ next time.