This week I received a question from a student about the possibility of studying an additional art or form in order to obtain a skill set that the art offers. The skill set, or as I like to refer to it, the body state he was looking for is greater root or the ability to make the body relaxed and heavy.
To me, root is a universal principle meaning that regardless of the system or the art, root can be trained. Yes, you can study an entire art in order to learn this state of the body, but you can also apply the study to a form, art, or technique that you already know.
If you imagine a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the body in a fully tense state and 1 being completely relaxed, root can be defined as an ability to relax the body and make it heavy. Your average person operates in the range between 4 and 7. Through training, students can obtain the ability to reach a greater level of relaxation making them heavier and more difficult to move. This relaxed state will also give the student greater power in their various movements.
My advice is to take the form/art you are currently training and apply root training to that form. Doing this, you will not have to start the study of a new art form but you can still gain the skill.
As always thank you for your support! Train Hard and Finish Strong!
