Side-to-Side Hops (Patreon)

• LMA Curriculum

For this exercise, pretend there's an imaginary line beside you. Now you're hopping laterally over that imaginary line. Notice how I'm maintaining my equilibrium. My equilibrium stays fixed above the imaginary line, which makes it easier to hop from side to side and switch directions. This is an important internal awareness you want to have in combat, sensing where you're momentum is and not letting it get ahead of you. Otherwise, you won't be able to change directions or stop your momentum. You'll be a runaway train.

This might not sound intuitive, but equilibrium and direction are not the same. Imagine a train  going forward while all the passengers move to the back of the train. This will reduce the impact. Imagine that same impact if everyone was at the front of the train.

The same thing goes for your body. Even the slightest hit will be devastating if you're going forward with all your weight. This is also how you'll run into a throw or trip. If your weight is too far behind you as you move forward, you can easily be knocked down. Equilibrium is about making sure your gravity is under your control and underneath you. To know how to do that, you need to develop your internal compass.

For a structure to stay upright and balanced, it needs three points of contact. So then, how are we able to stand on two feet? Because our internal compass knows where that imaginary third point is and tells our equilibrium where to keep our weight so that third point stays right underneath us.

In the side to side hops, that third point is that imaginary line and the other two points are where I'm landing.

When you overthrow a punch or run forward, you're feet no longer represent the three points of balance. All your points are in front of you. So, your body goes where your three points are going, whether you want to or not. When we fall on our face, our face represents that third point. One way or another, those three points will find the ground.

Even if you see the punch coming, if you're falling forward, there's nothing you can do to avoid it because you're no longer in control of your momentum. A runaway train. You have to command your weight and balance and know when you're losing it and how to counterbalance.

The direction you're headed and the direction of your equilibrium can be the same, but they don't have to be. Where you're going can be your destiny, but it doesn't have to be, especially if that's not where you want to go. So, let's develop that internal compass. It's what will save you when you're headed the wrong way or even alert you when there's something wrong. But sometimes, you can be wrong. You can jump to the wrong conclusions or counterbalance the wrong way into the throw. We're automatically gifted with an internal compass, but it works better when you recognize it as a skill and develop it.

Liberatory training doesn't mean just thinking about this domain specifically, just for sport. Your internal compass can also mean your moral and political compass. You can think of these sensors as your spider senses that alert you when there's something wrong or when something's off.

How you do one thing can be how you do all things. Liberatory training should reflect the same principles as your liberatory politics, reinforcing each other. That way, when you're doing one, you're always doing the other. You're always doing it, and you're always developing.

– Sam