We are very pleased to have officially booked Grand Master George Xu to come back to Asheville this year! He will be joining us on July 24th and 25th, for two full days of training in the arts of Chen Tai Chi as well as 10 Animal Hsin Yi. Most importantly attendees will be learning to apply his undefeatable secrets. Space is limited, so reserve your spot quickly. Go to www.GeorgeXuAsheville.com.
Liquid Unit Force is when your entire body has a fluid, liquid quality, works in harmony as a complete unit, and uses this to generate force. This is a very important skill to acquire for several different reasons. Mostly as this is the foundation to achieving higher levels of power and the other aspects of martial arts skill such as gravity, space, expand and contract, and up and down.
Liquid Unit Force begins with Structure. Structure means that you are using your skeleton to hold your body up and your muscles to move it. Most people have a tendency to use their muscles to hold their body up. This is not good as it leads to head and neck tension, back problems, knee problems, etc. Anytime a muscle group is doing the job of the skeleton there is a chance for joints to wear and torque improperly, leading to injury. Most of the runners, triathletes, and Adventure races that I train have issues with this. Most of them are so mentally tough that they just fight their way through the pain. However, the kind of pain generated from improper use of the body needs to be corrected, not fought through. Other people that have trouble with this are, well, everybody else. I don’t recall having ever met an untrained person who didn’t have too much tension in their neck and shoulders and their hip structure held incorrectly.
Therefore, step one is to line the skeleton up correctly. First, stand sideways in the mirror. Try to position your body so that there is a straight line from the middle of your foot to the middle of your hip, to the middle of your shoulder. If you are like most people, your hips are pushed forward and your shoulders are hunched up.
Step two is to unclench and relax the trapezoid muscles on top of your shoulders, the erectus spinae muscles on the side of your spine in your lower back, the hip flexors on the front of your hips, and the quadriceps on the front of your legs. To relax these muscles you will have to set your shoulders down and in, lift your head, straighten your back, and set your rear end like you are about to sit in a chair.
You should use the lat muscles that are next to the shoulder blade, the leg biceps on the back of your leg, and the calf muscles. Do not hold these muscles in a state of tension, but use them when you wish to move. It is important to use the correct musculature. The muscles in the back are all connected, therefore allowing you to use your entire body from head to foot as one unit and not a series of parts. It is also important to relax the correct muscles as using the wrong muscles will just get in the way of correct movement.
The absolute key to liquid unit force is to be melted, or relaxed. The Chinese call this quality “song.” The old masters are always saying “fa song! Fa song!” Relax more! Relax more! The more that you are able to relax and unclench the muscles in your body the better you will use your skeleton and then the correct muscles for movement. Not only that, but you will find that when you release this unnecessary tension in your body everything will work more smoothly. You will feel less stressed, more clear and focused, and you will find that many of your joint related pains will improve of not go away. You can never be too melted.
Last evening wrapped up a series of seminars on internal martial arts with the University of North Carolina Asheville for the semester. Here is one of the listings:
Demonstration on Martial Arts by Derek Croley
Martial Artist Derek Croley will give a demonstration on martial arts and it’s relation to various philosophical themes including mind-body dynamics to the students in HON 179: Philosophical Questions: East and West.
Next semester I have been asked to do a class at UNCA on Internal Martial Arts.
Class on Internal Martial Arts
Focusing on the principles of high level internal Chinese Martial Arts, this class will teach beginner, intermediate, and advanced students how to properly align their physical structure, chi body, and mental intent as well as how to apply these principles into the movements of Tai Chi and other similar arts. The information presented in this class is consistent with the teachings of the Worldwide Association of Chinese Internal Martial Arts (WACIMA) and will be taught by WACIMA VP Derek Croley.
New ASTM International Subcommittee to Focus on Martial Arts Providing for the safety of children taking martial arts classes is the purpose of new ASTM Subcommittee F08.29 on Martial Arts, part of ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities. According to Derek Croley, a Master Instructor, and James Green, PE, also a martial arts instructor and a longtime member of Committee F08, standards for both safety of equipment and the credentials of personnel will be developed by F08.29.
“The concern of reputable school owners in the martial arts industry has always been that no standards exist to protect the general public,” says Croley. “This will have far reaching implications on the martial arts industry in that a level of safety will be defined and practiced by those schools choosing to follow the ASTM standards. Without any standards, individual states cannot regulate these schools.” Green notes that standards developed by F08.29 will be “an enormous positive first step in terms of safety and instruction. Currently a child daycare facility has more safety standards than the martial arts industry. The martial arts industry instructs thousands of children per year without having any operating safety standards in place.” The final objective of the standards will be operating criteria for individual schools regardless of the martial art being practiced. This operating criterion will include standards for the level of expertise for the personnel, including mandatory criminal background checks, training at a level defined by the individual art and adherence to safety standards for all equipment in the training hall. When a martial arts school adheres to F08.29 standards, the public will know that the best safety standards available in equipment and personnel are present in that school. Both Croley and Green say that owners and operators of martial arts schools, as well as other interested parties, are welcome to join in the standards developing activities of F08.29.
For technical Information, contact Derek Croley, Croley’s Martial Arts Center (phone: 828-713-0765; DCTAI@bellsouth.net); or James Green, PE, The White Oak Institute Inc., Asheville, N.C. (phone: 828-216-0518; green3176@bellsouth.net). Committee F08 meets Nov. 19-21 during the November committee week in St. Louis, Mo. For meeting or membership information, contact Christine Sierk (phone: 610-832-9728; csierk@astm.org). Release #8041/August08 Providing for the safety of children taking martial arts classes is the purpose of new ASTM Subcommittee F08.29 on Martial Arts, part of ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities. According to Derek Croley, a Master Instructor, and James Green, PE, also a martial arts instructor and a longtime member of Committee F08, standards for both safety of equipment and the credentials of personnel will be developed by F08.29. “The concern of reputable school owners in the martial arts industry has always been that no standards exist to protect the general public,” says Croley. “This will have far reaching implications on the martial arts industry in that a level of safety will be defined and practiced by those schools choosing to follow the ASTM standards. Without any standards, individual states cannot regulate these schools.” Green notes that standards developed by F08.29 will be “an enormous positive first step in terms of safety and instruction. Currently a child daycare facility has more safety standards than the martial arts industry. The martial arts industry instructs thousands of children per year without having any operating safety standards in place.” The final objective of the standards will be operating criteria for individual schools regardless of the martial art being practiced.
This operating criterion will include standards for the level of expertise for the personnel, including mandatory criminal background checks, training at a level defined by the individual art and adherence to safety standards for all equipment in the training hall. When a martial arts school adheres to F08.29 standards, the public will know that the best safety standards available in equipment and personnel are present in that school. Both Croley and Green say that owners and operators of martial arts schools, as well as other interested parties, are welcome to join in the standards developing activities of F08.29. For technical Information, contact Derek Croley, Croley’s Martial Arts Center (phone: 828-713-0765; DCTAI@bellsouth.net); or James Green, PE, The White Oak Institute Inc., Asheville, N.C. (phone: 828-216-0518; green3176@bellsouth.net). Committee F08 meets Nov. 19-21 during the November committee week in St. Louis, Mo. For meeting or membership information, contact Christine Sierk (phone: 610-832-9728; csierk@astm.org).
Welcome to my new blog! You may wish to go to http://derekcroley.blogspot.com/ to look at entries from my previous martial arts blog. There you will find various informational articles as well as what has been going on in the martial arts!
