Lower Training is Better Training.

I received some great questions about the Lower, Slower, Softer training article.

So, Why Lower?

Well, your ability to relax and move well at ‘thighs parallel’ has a direct impact on your power and quality of movement when you are standing up.

One aspect of this is that the stronger your legs are the less effort it takes to support & move your body weight. The less effort it takes to stand and move the more you can relax and be softer.

The stronger your legs are, the softer you can be.

So, even in arts like Tai Chi and Bagua that often (though not always) fight standing up, this low training will greatly improve your expression of the art.

Also, as soon as you start working low, tension and structural errors stick out like sore thumb. Forcing you to correct them.

Low training allows you to use all 3 dimensions much more effectively.

Many Silat systems work from a medium height…

…but can instantly be flat to the floor or standing all the way up.

This freedom of movement not only adds a lot of power,

– It also greatly increases your ability to use ALL the space around you,

– It increases your reach,

– It’s one way to say out of of your opponents reach but keep them within yours,

– and it allows you to capitalize on any stiffness or hole in your opponents range of movement.

Of course it takes time to build this kind of leg strength.

So, you need to start training with things you can use right now.

…with things that work well with the strengths and weaknesses that you have at this very moment.

You DON’T need to spend years training low postures BEFORE you can fight with the art.

This is why we created the 16 week Internal Combat Arts Course. Because we believe you should start these arts by learning how to USE them.

That’s the Kuntao tradition: Function First.

There are no forms in the course,

just a whole bunch of fighting methods and internal principles

(and a few Chi Kung exercises.)

www.clearsilat.com/internal-combat-arts