Went to the ballet the other day.

Some famous Japanese ballet dancer said 'Ballet wa kakutougi' ('Ballet is fighting technique'). It's obvious he was a ballet dancer, not a boxer! They're phenomenal athletes but they show more of an inclination to wear paper bags, rather than to break out of one.

One thing struck me however... their posture is marvellous. My friend who's a pro tells me that they have this visualisation of having a line tied to the top of their heads and connected to 'up there', pulling their posture straight.

This reminded me very much of some of my teaching in aikido and taichi...

Q1: does your style involve such a concept? If not, is your principal posture S-back, hollow chest, or what? Does your style school you in changes of pricipal spinal alignment, and how does this affect your power transmission?

Q2: how do you find it helps/changes during sparring/stand-up in competition?