A New Video on Bracing & Squatting
Last week I wrote a post about the secrets to looking after you knees and back. The essence of which was “move correctly!” Now to give a bit more guidance in this area I’ve put together a new video that gives instruction on creating proper alignment.
In this video I cover the following:
- The bracing sequence. In a previous post I included a link to a video by Kelly Starret who goes into this sequence, unfortunately, the video is difficult to follow. This video will hopefully be much clearer. The sequence will give you a fast and efficient way to align your spine.
- How to squat. Martial arts (and in fact most movements in life) are essentially a variation on squatting. Learning how to bend your knees properly to bear your weight is essential to healthy practice.
- Applying bracing and squatting mechanics to wide/square postures, ie those used for longsword and wrestling.
- Applying bracing and squatting mechanics to narrow/linear postures, ie those used for rapier and spear.
I hope you enjoy the video. Feel free to share it with others. Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions.
Happy squatting!
Whenever I sit down, I make sure that I good posture by squeezing my butt. If I’m hunched forward, I squeeze my butt and all the sudden my body swings backward saying “Annual Posture Check!”. This goes the same thing if I’m laid back.
I never thought about doing it sitting down. Good idea. I often find myself a little hunched forward at the computer. Helps to look up from the screen now and then, or even get out of the chair and walk around.
If you cannot avoid hunching over because you have to look down at something on the desk like a document, make sure that the head is not at an angle against the neck. This angle is the worse way to have a horrible posture.
Another example of the head going against the neck is looking down to the iPhone. Either bring the iPhone or device to eye level by using the arms or sit down and align the neck and body with the head.