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A New Twist
As a principle, shibori is more difficult to
apply than shime. Working from the feet up, the feeling
in the muscles is a wringing or upward spiral of tension.
This contraction describes the path power should flow,
as it rises from the ground and is traffic-copped by
the hips.
If you read some qigong and taiji texts, they suggest
clawing the ground with your foot or twisting it to
activate an important ki cavity in the middle, front
part of the foot, called “yongquan” or “gushing
spring” (on the primary kidney channel) (Yang,
Jwing-Ming). I think this relates to the primary purpose
of shibori.
Shibori is supposed to help activate this acupuncture
point on the bottom of the feet, guide the energy in
a spiral up the legs and lead it to the perineum, where
the huiyin (“sea bottom”). Not only does
the huiyin lead to the tanden, but it is the meeting
place of a number of different ki meridians. The ki
rises through the Governing Vessel going up your back,
splits between shoulder blades and then runs down your
arms (Yang, Jwing-Ming).
In the Sakamoto approach to stepping, the yongquan
plays a major role. As sandan Matthew Mannerow observes
in his “Japan 2004 Training Notes with Okashita-Shihan” (unpublished),
at first the Ryusei karate student is supposed keep
their feet flat on the floor as they step. But as they
rise into the yudansha (black belt) levels and apply
more shibori, the focus moves to the front of the foot,
around the yongquan cavity. Eventually, the heel will
actually begin to float and rise off the ground during
stepping.
In clinics, Sakamoto-Sensei sometimes exhorts students
to “bite and drink” with their toes and
front of their feet, in an effort to coax the rise
of energy through the yongquan. The power should also
be projected down into the ground to work with the
lowering of the body’s centre to create strong
rooting. |
