Today, I learned a bit about the power of Foundation level movement. What I learned was truly amazing, and one of the more exciting experiences I have had to date at Oom Yung Doe.
I recently signed up for a course specifically designed to address my mid-body strength and flexibility. As part of this course, I have the opportunity to learn a Foundation level movement passed down from the International Teaching Team. This movement is supposed to target my ability to move my hips and mid body.
I was definitely curious what to expect from a Foundation movement. To be honest, the movement itself does not seem particularly remarkable to me. It is challenging, yes. But so are many of the movements I practice. Nothing about the movement was particularly striking.
But when I went into practice today, I noticed a few things that really shocked me.
First, unlike usual, I did not need a 10-15 minute warm up before I felt like I could begin to move correctly. Despite the fact that it had been 4 days since my last practice, my first few kicks snapped from my hip so strong and high that I thought I was going to fall over backwards.
The next shock was when I reached down to do some stretching. Despite my years of practice, I have a problem with my mid body flexibility, and normally, when I get to school, I can stretch down somewhere halfway between my knees and my toes. Once I'm warmed up, I can usually reach my toes.
But today, still not warmed up at all, I reached right down, past my toes, until my fingers were entirely under my foot! Without the slightest trace of a bend in my knee! And it actually felt good! Never in my life have I done that before today.
By now, I'm looking around the room to see if anybody else is seeing what I'm seeing. (Of course they're not... I'm just stretching.) I start moving around, trying to see what else is going on with my body today, and I realized one more remarkable improvement.
For the past 3 months, I have been nursing a hip injury. It was a bad sprain at first, but I was able to practice on it, and within a few weeks it settled into mostly a tightness and an ache. But it had hung around for the past few months, requiring that 10-15 minutes of slowly working into my practice to really get warmed up.
But today, for the first time, there was really no sign of it. No sign that it was ever there.
There were a few other moments during the practice, along the same lines. But it's basically summed up in those stories. The fact is, my flexibility had changed pretty significantly, and in a very short time.
But the most remarkable part of my experience is exactly how short a time it was. The benefits I'm describing will be experienced by anyone who practices traditional Moo Doe movements consistently. But I saw these benefits as the result of a single practice. One 30 minute session practicing this Foundation movement, and the next time I go into school I can wrap my fingers under my foot, and I can move in and out of T position in a way that has never quite felt comfortable before.
To me, that is a bit difficult to believe, and hard to explain. I wanted to share the experience to show how powerful the right movement can be. This movement, for me, at this point in my training, with all the work I have done to allow me to practice it more correctly, seems to be just what I need. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to learn, and all I can say is, keep practicing hard; you never know which movement will be the key to unlock the next step on your path.
Brendon B.
Brendon B. Moo Doe Conditioning Program Testimonial (PDF)
Pacific Northwest Schools of Oom Yung Doe
Southern California Schools of Oom Yung Doe
