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Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)
Here is a video of a robot that has learned Kung Fu moves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LekL1jTCLo0&ab_channel=GlobalUpdate
This video also shows the robot walking, but what I want to address is the robot doing Kung Fu moves and not walking. The way the robot walks works, but it is not a realistic depiction of human walking from an Alexander Technique perspective. I also suggest you watch the video with the sound off. I find the commentary is a distraction from what the robot doing Kung Fu teaches us about posture and balance.
The upper body of the robot is not anywhere near as flexible as the human body, but it still conveys a sense of upright great posture and great balance as it punches and twirls through the Kung Fu kicks.
Typically a person doing a martial art will strive for balance in spiraling kick moves by tensing the body to compensate for being slightly off balance.
Ideally a person who does Kung Fu using Alexander Technique principles should have a lengthening spine and a free neck to help align their body, so that the body is Directing, lengthening through the spiraling in UP balance, so that the kick is done without struggling for balance.
This is what we see with this robot.
The robot is fully upright as he spins and kicks and returns to a poised position.
He has no choice. What do I mean?
If the robot was off center as he spins he would fall over, or have to quickly change his upper body alignment to not fall over.
Why?
Because he is not in any way stuck to the floor. The only way he could spin off balance and stay upright is if he had huge feet and/or weighted feet, which he doesn’t have.
An example is a person sitting down. If a person sits down and is off balance, lacks a clear sense of a center of gravity, he could be the strongest person in the world, but he would simply fall over. He would have to move the upper body forwards so that he wouldn’t fall over backwards, since his feet aren’t stuck to the floor.
What this robot does in such an extraordinary way is maintain a clear effortless sense of a balance without compromising his upright alignment.
HE CAN’T COMPROMISE HIS UPRIGHT ALIGNMENT THROUGH THE SPINNING KICKS, BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE A WAY TO PHYSICALLY TENSE UP TO KEEP HIS BALANCE.
It is this tensing up and hunkering down, pulling head neck downwards into a shortened compression that allows the human body to not fall over over as it spins and kicks off balance.
IF A PERSON LEARNING KUNG FU STUDIES AND INTERNALIZES WHAT THIS ROBOT DOES AS IT SPINS AND KICKS, THEN HE WILL RELEASE HIS NECK AND LENGTHEN HIS SPINE AND FIND A SENSE OF WHOLE BODY BALANCE THROUGH THE MOVEMENT.
In other words he will be so centered and balanced without hunkering down to keep from falling over, he will experience an incredible sense of muscular ease and balance, as he moves without any excess tension to allow a sense of upright centering.
IF YOU ARE LEARNING KUNG FU, TAKE THE TIME TO FIND CENTERED UPRIGHT BALANCED POSTURE THROUGH ALL OF MOVEMENTS, SO THAT FROM THE BEGINNING YOU AREN’T FORCING YOURSELF TO GET IT RIGHT OFF BALANCE FROM THE GET-GO.
