STRENGTH

The typical Western body image of strength is one of a muscular upper torso. Think of the strong man depicted in a cartoon and you will have an image reflecting a cultural stereotype of “strength.” Strong biceps and shoulders are the body parts most focused upon by muscle bound men at the gym. Eric Levinson, physical therapist assistant at Wardebrg Health Center, taught me leg and hip exercises that helped me to recover from one of my injuries, one very common among skiers, a torn ACL. He explained that these leg stability exercises were the hardest ones to convince his male patients to do because most of the male athletes preferred to increase their upper body strength instead of working the lower body. Upper body strength is easier to show off in sleeveless t-shirts, while a strong lower body, essential for balance, may go unnoticed under jeans.

The typical strong upper body shape is like a V, much like the hood of the cobra. However, unlike the top-heavy weightlifter, the cobra is a well-balanced animal and has the lower body strength necessary to make its puffed up chest much more than a showy bluff. Without balance between upper and lower body strength, the cobra would not have the strength to rise up from its basket.

Interestingly, an Eastern perspective on body strength focuses on the lower half of the body. Visiting martial arts masters have commented on the top-heavy muscularity of American muscle men. I have seen very small, old men easily topple young, “strong” Americans using an unseen strength rooted in the lower half of their bodies. The Eastern martial artist’s strength is typically more developed in the lower half of their body, the legs and abdominal region, especially in the area where chi resides, known in Chi Kung as the Tang Tien. Visualize this lower body strength as the inversion of the upper body’s V.

CobraBalance seeks to bring balance between upper and lower body strength, creating something like an X as the ideal model for the body. Master Tatsuo Shimabuku, creator of Isshin-ryu karate, explained that crossing the X made for the best, most powerful body dynamic, weather crossing the body to block a punch or coming to the center from where one may explode outward into a strike. Adding to Shimabuku’s teachings, the center of the X is the balance point of all planes: horizontal, vertical, and beyond the tangible, it is the equilibrium point of stillness, akin to the aware state one experience during Zen meditation. Between each CobraBalance move, we come to the center.