Kung Fu mobility and balance: the upper limbs

Master Kongling All, 6DKF techniques, Fighting strategy, Mind / body control basic techniques, combat instinct, core concepts and principles, footwork, martial arts skills, muscle chain, muscle memory, upper mobility 0

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Exploit the upper part of the body as a “source” of movement

After introducing our main sources of movement (read Mobility, balance and direction change), let’s dive into the details of what we define as “upper mobility”: the one that starts from the upper half of our body (head included).

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

In upper mobility, the “towing” points of our movements can substantially be:

Shoulders
Elbows
Hands
Wrists
Head
Neck
Back
…
A combination of more of these parts (more or less adjacent)

A note by Master Kongling – In the last case we talk about a more or less complete muscle chain (read Use the body power: the muscle chain).

How the upper mobility works

Substantially the core ideas are 2:

The parts we mentioned become points from which we are imaginatively pulled (actively or passively, voluntarily or not)
As a consequence of this motion (activated more or less voluntarily) we combine an alignment and a level of tension of the elements of our body suitable for achieving a specific purpose (reaching a position, recovering balance, launching an attack, executing a dodge, etc.)

A note by Master Kongling – We have to imagine an irresistible force that drags us towards where we instinctively or tactically choose to go. To understand let’s think of an incredibly powerful hand that pulls us, or to a disastrous fall: we are talking about something incredibly fast and powerful but that is completely under our control (the legs and the entire body follow harmonically the motion). The point is that the force in play (from whatever source it comes from, internal or external) drags us but does not make us stumble, does not make us lose balance or control of our struggle pattern.

Basically, to move we must use:

The (explosive) momentum of body elements in the direction we want to take (or from where we want to get away)
The inertia generated by our soft force (read The path to the soft movements) that drags the rest of our body (without wasting precious energy)
The dynamic balance (read The concept of Dynamic Equilibrium) that keeps our center of gravity in trim (read How to improve balance: tricks and exercises)
The partial or total change of state of our limbs (solid, liquid, etc., read The secrets of tactical combat interactions)
Wight distribution
…

Having said this it must be underlined that all this is conceptual, it cannot always work with the same body mechanics and the reason is that it must be possible in all directions or even in conjunction with complex mobility patterns:

Upwards (jumping)
Downward (as a controlled fall, read The falling techniques (breakfalls) [MINI-GUIDE])
Rewinding a movement, advancing frontally, etc.
Diping on the side, rotating in place, etc.
…

How to train and master upper mobility

A note by Master Kongling – In the economy of 6 Dragons Kung Fu, upper mobility is one of those skills (read also All the skills of 6 Dragons Kung Fu) that once acquired has to be forgotten, because it must become part of our instinct (memorized in our muscle memory).

Initially, this type of movements may seem absurd or impossible (especially in the absence of dynamic contexts training), however, with the right practice, step by step, we will acquire this new:

Way to move
Way to see the movement
Balance conditioning
Speed conditioning
…

A first simple exercise

A simple exercise to start getting comfortable with upper mobility is to avoid a moving target (eg. a hanging elastic rope, read Basic tools: the Hanging Speedball) moving us in different directions only with the momentum of the arms (almost as if we wanted to let ourselves fall but without falling).

A note by Master Kongling – In future we will see more advanced exercises but these are fundamental (especially in terms of understanding).

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

With time, when our soft strength (read How to combine softness and power) starts to increase, it will drag our whole body with an inertia always bigger, let’s follow it without resistance
This type of mobility is very good in many cases (eg. if we have to dodge an attack) and is instead deleterious in others (eg. if we have to keep an active guard to resist an inevitable strike); it is for this reason that we have multiple sources of movement suitable for (almost) any eventuality
…

In the next article of this series, we will see the (more intuitive) lower mobility.

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – The basic technical conditioning of our body for combat
Combat mobility: how to – The 6 Dragons Kung Fu methods for spatial movement
Body manipulation for combat – How to exploit body mechanics and structure to move us and the opponents
Upper limbs training for combat – A specific path toward the development of the upper limbs
Static and dynamic balance: how to – How to master the skill that differentiated combat beginners with experts
Muscle chain for martial arts: how to – A detailed video course about muscle chain use and development
Structures for combat: liquid, solid, fluid – Manage the level of tension of the body how and why

In-depth articles

Defensive footwork, move smart and stay safe – A few footwork techniques that could be accompanied or helped by upper motion
5 exercises to develop a good footwork (for beginners) – How to train our lower limbs to become able to follow the upper motion accordingly

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Are you able to let, for example, your arms pull you?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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