One thing we fail to oberve when stretching and exercising is having your pelvis aligned in a proper natural position is important for balance, correct posture, proper operation of the body, and efficiency of movement. Many people do not have this correct alignment. They may have one leg slightly longer than the other, curvature of the spine, or something as simple as a sore spot in their lower back that causes them to compensate by favoring one side or the other and taking the hips out of proper position. One thing every martial artist must work on is to train each side equally! (we all tend to favor either our right or left!) A mis-aligned pelvis also may lead to poor blood circulation and put pressure on the central nervous system. As your body interprets the discomfort of the mis aligned pelvis, it sends messages to your brain that affect your mental outlook. You are more likely to be nervous about pain or injuries. This is also an underlying factor that Tom Kurz mentions in his book "Stretching Scientifically"... that precludes many of us from doing 'perfect' splits.... (it's all in your mind, believe it or not...well, besides the physical too!) Fortunately, pelvic alignment can be corrected. If the mind is tense, it is impossible to relax the muscles, joints and ligaments. So start with breathing exercises to ease any stress. Breathe out slowly until all the air is squeezed out of your body, starting this breath in the chest and working down into the abdomen to squeeze out the last of the exhale. Then inhale in the reverse order, starting with the abdomen and filling the chest last. Imagine you are breathing in through the bottoms of your feet, the air is working its way through your body then exiting back out through the bottoms of your feet as you exhale. Once you have reached a higher state of relaxation, you can move to a series of stretches and exercises that will help loosen and strengthen the muscles, joints and ligaments of the pelvis and in turn bring it to a more natural position. Some pelvic stretches: Sit on the floor with your feet extended. Secure an elastic band (resistance tubing), or something similar around a heavy object or have a partner hold the other end. Set the band so its tension helps pull your chest down toward your legs as you push your heels forward at the same time. Relax. Don't try to pull yourself down. Let the band do the work for you. While you are stretching use the breathing I mentioned. Next use the elastic band in a similar manner while bringing your feet together and in close to your pelvis in the butterfly position. Then try the same to stretch with both legs spread in the splits. Some pelvic exercises: Lay on your back with your hands tucked below your hips and your knees bent. Roll the knees from one side to the other. Keep your shoulders relaxed in order to begin every movement with the hips. Take the elastic band and wrap it around yourself just below the top of the hips. Make the band snug. This will help focus your mental attention to the muscle action in this area. Now stand with your feet about shoulder width. Cross your arms and relax your shoulders. Make slight tension in your lower abdominal muscles and pull your hips forward, flattening the lumbar curve in your lower back and straightening the spine. Grip the floor with your big toes, planting your heels firmly in place. Making this connection with the floor will send nerve impulses up the legs to the pelvic region you are trying to strengthen. Now rotate the hips from side to side making sure to keep your body center as the axis of this rotation. Your head should remain still as the body rotates beneath it. Start out with about 10 minutes of this exercise and try to slowly build your endurance. As this rotation becomes easier, you can adapt it to a short front stance, working one side then the other. Also use this 'contraction' while you are doing your push ups. Make the muscular connection with your lower abdomen with each count. The pelvis is rolled forward and the buttock muscles are squeezed tight. Don't just use the arms and shoulders. In this way you will get the most out of each push up. These stretches and exercises are designed to adjust your pelvis into proper position. Please try them. With poor pelvic positioning, movements are often forced and ineffective. Making this adjustment will give you a more solid foundation and help your movements become fluid and natural ... more than steps, blocks, punches and kicks. The point I am making here is that our bodies are very important. If our muscles, ligaments and joints are strong, they will help everything we do in our training.
Another great post from KC. I seem to remember that there is some major difference between male and female leg alignment with the pelvis. - May be wrong though.
Nice post with some good information Kickchick. On a side note, you mentioned Thomas Kurz. I've just done my dissertation on the cellular basis of flexibility training, and even though I used a fair bit of his information, I noticed that some of his theory was a little off/out of date. Doesn't really dismiss many of the actual training principles, but sometimes he explains things as though they are fact, when they are simply theories that are now proven to be a bit different.
I've been trying to align my pelvis right so I can kick right for a while now, and I still can't do it. PL
I get a heck of a lot of pain in my hips when trying to do the splits, or similar stretches that means the legs go in opposite directions! It almost feels as though my leg is going to snap where it meets the hip, it can be agonising. Infact, when i get to the point where it hurts so much I end up jolting and flinching. I'm assured that this pain in supposed to be like this, but I'm terrified that if I do just put up with it, my leg will actually break.
I know what you mean Joober, when I slide out into splits, or maybe attempt a high side kick, I have a pain in my hip. I've been wondering lately, if I keep stretching, will it go away, but I don't know.
I heard my master go over different authorities on stretching. The whole idea of rotating the pelvis to do the split with toes down, is not the best thing. The "forced lordosis" as my master refered to it, is not natural for most people. It is often better to do a side split with toes up. But the back misalingment is not something people can just spot and correct. There are many reasons for it. One leg shorter, cold causing inflamation, infection, kidney problem, tight hip flexors, weak abs on one side, etc. To detect and correct, it's difficult to do by yourself.
Many womens pelvis's are out of alignment after childbirth. The symphasis pubis, the space at the bottom of the pelvis becomes torn or stretched after delivery and heals improperly. In some cases the pelvis is moved as much as 4-5 cms which can cause a leg shortening and misalignment of the hips. That can be a big issue when it comes to even trying to walk w/o pain let alone compete in martial arts.
I went to see a chiropractor, last year, turns out my hips were out of, the right side was about 2 inches higher than then left ! i must have been walking around like that for months, any way she soon put them back into place, and things are much better now
Many people (including me!) also have an anteriorly tilted pelvis which means bad posture. Mine is getting better now, especially with more deep squats, deads and olympic lifts and I'm trying to work on more stretching at the moment too. Does wonders for your lifts, general mobility and explosiveness.
Thanks blessed.... that was a fairly old post of mine (back in the day when I contributed frequently to the H&F forum) This was one of the posts that I really spent time researching as many of my students just failed to understand this condition and I wanted to somehow explain this to them and how to work towards "correcting" it .. glad to see this post is also helping some MAPers as well To this day I incorporate pelvic exercises at the end of class and focus on the pelvic 'contraction' when doing push ups
I was actually looking to pick up that book. If you feel that some of his theories are out of date, can you recommend a better book?
I must agree, poor pelvic alignment decreases the potency in a thrust or technique, really very shocking.
excellent info KC, cheers... my pelvis is a mess, the symphis pubis is split vertically as is the coccyx, sacrum and bottom vertebrae...the symphis pubis now has a metal brace and bone-graft holding it together...as the bone graft was intended to fuse the pelvis at the front (as opposed to the back...the surgeon felt it would be a more 'comfortable' repair than trying to graft the back and the metal had to go at the front) i now have a pelvis that is fixed at the front and flexes at the back (the exact opposite of natures design plan!!)... you are soo right about the effect of a badly aligned pelvis on the mental state...esp. w.r.t. the fear of injury/pain etc...the pelvis is about the most important bone in the body...esp. for MAists...think about it...it is effectively the centre...all movement relies upon it. i have a constant battle with the refered cramps and spasms in my lower and upper back...(spasms in this sense meaning a group of muscles which contract and the fail to release)...when my middle back spasms on the LHS it raises my pelvis on that side by a significant amount...aside from the annoyance of the pain, the effect this has on posture, movement and general feelings of well-being is demoralising to say the least. i'm always on the look-out for new methods for keeping it somewhere close to being 'aligned' (no matter how good the surgeon, you are never going to get four seperate edges of bone to fix together perfectly)...and some of the tips you give above will be added to my daily arsenal of tricks and twists to 'crack' out the tension that cumulates through the course of the day (working on a damned computer doesn't help ) cheers again
