Posture

Nothing makes you more aware of your posture than tweaking your back.  So while making sure I didn't make it worse, I've been thinking a lot more about posture.

It's not so much just "how do I move without hurting myself", because that's a given, ha.  Instead, it's looking at the alignment of people when they perform, being aware of my own tendencies when I move, etc.

In karate, I know/have been told I often have a forward lean when punching.  I've been trusting my eyes to inform me of my posture, but they only see a tiny bit of me at any given time, mostly my fist in front of me..  And I'm trying to reach my imaginary target, which is causing me to lean forward and/or twist more than I need to in order to accomplish this.  Lately I've been working on feeling my technique instead of relying on what I see.

I can look ahead in the mirror, but that doesn't catch the forward/back alignment I need to work on.  If I turn sideways, I can't do the technique right while looking 90 degrees, either.  Also, at this point, I know what the issue is, so having someone tell me I'm doing it isn't helpful.  I have to start being able to feel what the proper posture is and recognize when I deviate from that.

Looking at posture in taiko is something worth taking time for, as well.  I see a lot of shoulders that hunch forward, butts sticking out, torsos curved/leaning forward, and/or torsos tilted to the side (especially in naname).  In many cases we as taiko players have the *ability* to see ourselves in a mirror (when there are mirrors to be had), but it seems we often have trouble *actually* seeing these things as well as adjust visually.  Just what is your skeleton doing?

How important is posture?  It's often that the posture is a result of something at work you don't want, things like tension, or over-extension, to name a couple.

The solution?  If you don't have any idea how your posture is, ask someone to take a look at it.  Maybe even a couple of people.  Ask them to look for tension, curves, and angles that don't need to be there.  If you don't have people, use a recording device and play something while recording from the front, then side, then back.  Be critical.  Be honest.

If you just try to play normally and adjust, it's going to be really hard.  Because what you're used to will be where you return to.  Instead, start from a position of good posture, relaxed, and play slower, softer.  Make the priority to stay in this "better" position and note how it feels.  From time to time, keep starting in this position and really focus on how different things feel.  It might take time, because if you're not being vigilant, you'll revert without realizing.

Is it worth it?  I can tell you that the better your body is in alignment, the easier everything else is in the long run.  So that's probably a "yes" then...