Chapter four of the Haithcock text focused on balancing the body. He emphasized that balancing is active, and in order to be truly balanced, all joints must be ready and available for motion. Balancing is fluid, not static. He further discussed that all motion begins with a shift in weight, which is either followed through or counterbalanced. This shift in weight revolves around the center of gravity, your pelvic bowl. In order to further understand these concepts, the author outlined several exercises to develop awareness. The first is called “Do the twist,” and it focused on feeling the rotation of your pelvis from side to side. Next, the “Pendelum” focused on moving the right and left sides of the pelvis up and down by bending the opposite knee. “Rocka-Rocka” asked the reader to practice moving the pelvis backwards and forwards in order to release tension in the lower back. Finally, the author concluded the chapter by suggesting the reader should practice rotating their knees, moving their shoulders independently, and moving the pelvis in a combination of the above exercises. All of these were designed to increase awareness and release tension.
Chapter five begins by introducing the kinesphere, which can be defined as both the space in which a person moves and how a person moves through space. Understanding the kinesphere is essential to understanding how the body moves, and the exercises in this chapter help to illustrate that. In the “Feet as tripods” exercises, one is instructed to shift weight between the ball of the big toe, the ball of the little toe, and the heel, all the time observing how this effects the range of motion of the entire body. “The Knees as transformers” instructs readers to attempt to do the “Torso Twist” with and without locked knees. One can observe the locked knees inhibiting the body’s range of motion and breathing. The “Pelvis as a MixMaster” exercise teaches one to release tension in the lower back and abdomen by practicing tilting the tailbone and hipbones in opposing directions. The chapter continues to teach one how to “Find the conducting stance” by lifting and lowering the arms while being conscious of tension. The author further clarifies that vertical motion is up and down, horizontal is side to side, and sagittal is forwards and backwards. He defines the natural progression of arm hinges as the “delivery system,” and uses the “Paint the wall” exercise to develop awareness. To develop an even flow of time, one must refine the delivery system through various exercises to explore the vertical, horizontal, and sagittal planes.
Chapter six focuses on the variables of movement, beginning with speed, space, and weight. The pace of motion toward and away from an action point is the definition of speed. The distance traveled to and from an action point is space, and weight an illusion created using speed and space. Through the “Same speed, alter space, change weight” exercises, one learns to properly use the delivery system and EFT without and tension or force. This exercise can then be altered to practice “different speeds, same space, and changing weight.” The chapter goes on to explore how imagery can impact movement, and the “Games of Catch” help one to practice the action point and aural imagery.
After reading chapter four of the Haithcock text my perception of what balancing truly means has changed. In your blog on chapter four you mention the balancing is fluid, not static and I agree with that statement. In order to be in balance, our muscles must give a unified effort to stay fluid and remain equally balanced. It can be so easy to shift our weight to one side while standing and this causes bad habits and poor poster that allows tension to creep up. This is a minuscule example of how easy it is to let tension into our bodies if we are not vigilant.
I really found the exercises in chapter five interesting and very effective in showing how tension in individual muscles can influence how we conduct. I’m glad you summarized these exercises because they are a very important part of this chapter.
I appreciate that your summaries were just that – summaries. They were concise and to the point. It’s great that you brought up proper use of the “delivery system” and EFT without tension. One key factor in ALL of Haithcock’s examples and exercises is the absence of tension. It can prove to be extremely hard to remember to be relaxed, fluid and breathing calmly when one has to clench their toes and “paint the wall”, but we have to learn to always be “balancing” and not static.
You paint a very good mental picture of weight, in the way that you emphasize the fact that it is an active process. A lot of people tend to think of conducting as a very two-dimension process, when in actuality there is a lot more depth to it.