| From the moment we are born, our feet are | | | | aikido training with rock-climbing to increase lower |
| covered by socks, bound by shoes and generally | | | | limb agility and perform yoga and weapons |
| desensitised. Furthermore, we walk on unnaturally | | | | practice outdoors on uneven surfaces. |
| flat hard featureless surfaces with relatively | | | | If we compare ourselves to a car, wheels and |
| obstacle-free paths to get from A to B. On the | | | | engine are equivalent to our legs and hips, and the |
| other hand we are using our hands and fingers | | | | bodywork is our upper torso and arms. |
| more and more with jobs involving pens, | | | | Performing aikido without legs and hips engaged is |
| keyboards and data entry terminals. | | | | like trying to drive a car by pushing it from the |
| With this in mind, I shouldn't be surprised that we | | | | outside instead of getting in, turning the key and |
| navigate our world as if we have blocks of wood | | | | giving it some gas! |
| for feet. The stifling of our feet affects our legs | | | | The benefits from activating our lower limbs are |
| and hips, and as a result much of our vertical | | | | huge to our Aikido practice. In fact they are |
| movement is derived from our spine. Compare | | | | similar in scale to pushing a car versus driving it. |
| the major joints in our legs and hips with the | | | | Forces applied to the upper limbs can be properly |
| vertebrae in our spine. These joints are sturdy | | | | redirected through flexible joints. Throwing power |
| ball-and-sockets which are designed to provide a | | | | generated from the ground will increase our own |
| large range of motion. Our spinal vertebrae | | | | stability and undermine that of our opponent. |
| however are made for bearing weight in a single | | | | Leading the forces of an attack becomes light |
| direction and providing some shock absorption and | | | | and effortless. The difference is really ground |
| limited movement. | | | | breaking. |
| It is time then to wake up our lower bodies. I | | | | To make these changes require extraordinary |
| myself do not wear shoes in the office whenever | | | | thinking. Essentially, a 180 degree shift to what we |
| I can get away with it. I eagerly adopted the | | | | do currently. Explains why we train tai-no-henka |
| 5-fingers shoes by Vibram, and usually wear light | | | | (turning practice) at the start of each class! |
| footwear when going bush. I supplement my | | | | |