Posture is Power

二枚腰
Nimaigoshi
Sumo term which means to have a posture in which the legs are firmly planted

A good martial artist always has good posture. Posture is defined as either “the position in which someone holds their body” or “an approach or attitude.” One correction that Furuya Sensei would often give us was “back straight.” Poor posture usually means that we are pushing or using our upper bodies too much or that our minds have become disengaged. In meditation, when we lose our posture, it usually means that our minds have fallen asleep. Poor posture then disables us from using our centers properly and generating our power to our fullest potential. In swordsmanship, it is thought that posture is important because proper posture and proper grip usually indicate a balanced center and an engaged mind. The proper posture or stance for a martial artist is shizentai (自然体) or “the natural body” stance. In Shizentai, we stand up straight and extend our spines which allow our shoulders to sit naturally. Therefore, good posture activates our power and enables us to use the energy from our centers. In Aikido, our center is referred to as the “one-point” or the chushin (中心) or hara (腹). When our centers are activated then our minds are calm but also engaged. In Japanese, many of the words like migamae, taisei, and goshi mean “posture” but like in English, posture can also mean “attitude.” Furuya Sensei used to say, “You can tell everything you need to know about a person by the way they do Aikido.” Thus, what he is saying is that our physical posture is an indication of our inner attitude. Leadership guru, Brian Tracy said, “You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.” When we stand nimaigoshi or “firmly with good posture,” we are saying to the world, “I am calmly ready for.” In Aikido and life, being “calmly ready” might be a physical posture but posture is power because it shows our attitude and our level of engagement. That is why a good martial artist always has good posture.

Today’s goal: Mind your posture because others are trying to figure out just how powerful you really are.