Research page:Body exercises

Ball - practice round movements

Use balls of different sizes and weights. Practice to move the ball in round movements.

Variation: Move around the ball with one hand, an elbow, one finger, foot, knee, shoulder. You can put the ball on a standard or on the floor. The ball should not move but you should continuously touch it. The movements are preparations for kicks, punches and defenses. They train your body to always make smooth round movements. It's also a good way to get rid of stiffness in your body.

Learn to kick or punch with energy from your gravity chakra

1. Stand in squatting position for a few minutes, concentrating on the energy of the center of the earth.
2. In standing position, move your hands down to the earth as if you want to grasp the energy of the center of the earth and then bring your hands slowly up with your hand palms facing upward. Bring the energy of the earth into your gravity chakra. It is located in your belly with the center behind your belly button.
3. In standing position, concentrate on the gravity chakra and align it with the turning center of the earth. When you do it correctly, you can feel that the energy in your gravity chakra will orbit around the center as well.
4. Make punches or kicks and make sure that your arms or legs follow the energy that you send from your gravity chakra. The movement starts in your belly and always the flowing energy directs the movement. Keep your arms and shoulders or legs and hips as relaxed as possible.
5. When you can manage to kick or punch in this way while keeping your concentration on your gravity chakra and the center of the earth simultaneously, energy can flow directly from the earth into your belly into your kicks or punches.

Normal knee kick

Standing in stable position, kick your knee out in front. Make sure that you add extra push from your standing leg. Let the energy flow from the earth through your standing leg into your kicking knee. Connect to the earth through your legs and feet. Feel the energy of the earth. Concentrate! Repeat 10s of times for each leg. Don't ever do one rep without concentration. Each time that you exercise in concentration adds to your ability. Advance in this simple exercise by improving each aspect of it, fluency, energy flow, concentration, etc. Move your leg as in a flow. Energy only flows through a current. It's your thoughts that determine how much impact you're going to have. Keep perfecting this movement by concentrating on energy flow, body posture, speed of movement, having the right thoughts, etc.

Stand-ups side to side

Spread your legs to about 1 1/2 shoulder width. Make sure your feet are parallel to each other with the toes pointing forward. Sink down, going down through one knee until your knee is bent and your body's weight is above that leg. Raise your body coming to a standing position with the weight between the two legs and then sink down through the other knee. Make 8-shaped movements with your hips and O-shaped movements with your knees.

Strength in your legs and flexibility in knees and ankles is basic for all martial arts.

Making circular movements (instead of just going up and down) enhances the effect of the exercise and keeps the energy flowing.

The rhythm of energy

Practice the rhythm of energy. All energy flows rhythmically. Each energy has its own rhythm. Compare sowing seeds for grass land. Learn to find the rhythmic flow of each energy. Bring your own body's functioning and moving in alignment with the rhythm of an energy you want to use. Bring harmony between the many energy rhythms that influence you simultaneously, air, sun, earth, blood flow, breathing, rhythm of your arm movements, leg movements etc. Compare African tribes doing land work while singing together. The rhythms are like a music composition, for example one beat goes ten times quicker than another. They have to come in unison to bring about harmony, in a constant relationship between the two, one to 10, or one to 3 etc.

I practiced this when i was a farmer, for example sowing seeds while walking and moving the arms throwing out the seeds, or working the soil with tools and trying to bring your body in harmony within itself and with the environment and the movements of the tool.

Up toes

Standing on one leg, rise up as high as you can on your toes. Keep that position for some time. This exercise is good for the muscles of your feet. It also improves your balance. You can increase the difficulty of the exercise by making movements with the leg that you lifted up.

Walk like a cat

Go on your hands and feet and walk like a cat. Think that you become a cat and draw the cat's energy into you and feel how a cat is entirely living and moving on the energy of the earth. Make this energy flow through your entire body. Don't just try to move as a cat, but try to get the cat's energy into yourself and express this energy and then you will feel and move as a cat and also acquire abilities of the cat.