how do you set your lower back while in YJKYM

[yellowpikachu]

how do you set your lower back while in YJKYM? and why?

Care to share your thoughts?

[KPM]

Originally posted by yellowpikachu
how do you set your lower back while in YJKYM? and why?

---My low back is set in a "neutral" position. The hips are not rolled forward to flatten the low back, nor is the butt stuck out to increase the arch of the back. This puts the low back and hips in as relaxed a position as possible so that the kua can be used naturally for power generation.

Care to share your thoughts?

---Your turn! :-)

Keith

[Jeff Bussey]

Hi yellowpikachu,
I guess my back flatens out.
My butt is tucked in until I feel my whole foot grip the ground.
With your butt out, you can almost feel your toes come off of the ground and with it to far in I feel like you've lost alot of mobility. So you have to find the in between.
Not sure if that makes sense.

J

[Ernie]

like this

doesn't everybody

[yellowpikachu]

This means holding yourself in a natural upright position with your spine allowed to retain its natural curves (see diagram). This especially applies on horseback, because if you don't retain them your pelvis won't be vertical and you wont be able to sit the trot or canter as if *glued* to the saddle, because you won't have any mobility in the lower back / hips to absorb the movement.


If we don¡¦t take care of our posture off-horse how can we expect to become effective, aesthetically pleasing riders. Start to think about how you go about your daily life. Do yo sit more on one seat bone that the other? Do you habitually slouch when sitting in a chair (chair seat?!). Do you always use the same hand when unlocking your car / house door? Have go at using the ¡§other¡¨ hand. We should not be surprised that our horses exhibit one-sidedness when we are hardly ambidextrous ourselves! I don¡¦t suggest you have to go as far as being able to write legibly with either hand but you do need to even out your body¡¦s main riding /postural musculature.






To find the correct classical position off horse:


Stand sideways on to a large mirror with your feet slightly apart. Stand with your back straight ( i.e. upper back straight, lower back curving in slightly ) with your shoulders back and chest open with a relaxed tummy. Then bend your knees (making no other changes except lifting your forearms slightly as if holding the reins) in an on horse position. This is the self - carriage needed to ride in the Classical seat.

A straight line would connect the points of gravity on the ear, point of shoulder, hip joint & ankle. These remain the same whether standing or riding, the only change being the bend in the knee and elbow.






http://www.classicaldressage.co.uk/A...alignment.html

[KPM]

Originally posted by yellowpikachu
This means holding yourself in a natural upright position with your spine allowed to retain its natural curves

---Yep! Exactly what I was saying. :-) The spine is arranged to absorb shock and support your weight in an upright position. Good posture maximizes this function. By altering the curve of the lumbar spine from its natural "neutral" position, you change its ability to do this in an optimum fashion. Rolling the pelvis forward to "lock in" the hips for "body unity", as some do, works against this. KPM

(see diagram). This especially applies on horseback, because if you don't retain them your pelvis won't be vertical and you wont be able to sit the trot or canter as if *glued* to the saddle, because you won't have any mobility in the lower back / hips to absorb the movement.

---Good analogy! KPM

If we don¡¦t take care of our posture off-horse how can we expect to become effective, aesthetically pleasing riders. Start to think about how you go about your daily life. Do yo sit more on one seat bone that the other? Do you habitually slouch when sitting in a chair (chair seat?!). Do you always use the same hand when unlocking your car / house door? Have go at using the ¡§other¡¨ hand. We should not be surprised that our horses exhibit one-sidedness when we are hardly ambidextrous

---True! The human body is not symmetrical. You can take the mirror image of half of your face and substitute it for the alternate half it the picture would look like a completely different person. KPM

ourselves! I don¡¦t suggest you have to go as far as being able to write legibly with either hand but you do need to even out your body¡¦s main riding /postural musculature.

---True! But someone that practices martial arts regularly can't help but be ambidextrous! KPM


Keith