Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Wujifa Two Feet and What Does This Mean?


Beginning Wujifa Zhan Zhuang practice starts with a basic foot alignment

In Wujifa our feet are shoulder width apart and parallel. What does this mean in our standing or basic Wujifa Zhan Zhuang practice? They say a picture is worth a thousand words and so I spent some time here drawing a picture for you. I hope this clears up a few questions. Yes in the beginning you might stray as your personal body may not allow this placement, yet you can allow yourself to slow discover how you can adjust toward the intention of this picture.



A helpful thing to start with when aligning the feet is to imagine a line that travels from the center of your heel to the second or third toe. Due to the types of shoes people grow up wearing there can be some deformity of people’s feet and so there can be some variation to proper foot alignment. It’s a good idea to take a little time and to get to understand your own feet as they are a foundation to you standing practices.


Shoulder width - Once you have a good idea of the vector that travels from the heel to that second or third toe you want to get both feet in proper alignment with each other as well. Proper alignment in our basic Wujifa Zhan Zhuang standing practice is to have the feet shoulder width apart from each other (see picture above). Many people practicing Zhan Zhuang standing with their feet to far apart. The feet should be under the hips and under the shoulders. That would mean the distance between the second or third toe of each foot would typically be slightly less than foot apart (approximately eleven or so inches) depending on your body type and size.


Feet parallel – This would mean that the line you imagine being drawn between the center of the heel to that second or third toe of each foot would be parallel with each other. Look at the picture above to get a good idea of what feet parallel means. Remember that many people’s feet are mis-shapen and allowances can vary. Also many people carry a lot of stress in the glutes and lower back. You can read more about this in the blog post here call Basic Tips for Zhan Zhang and Pelvis


The feet are the foundation of your Zhan Zhuang and basic Wujifa standing practice. Taking the time to get in touch with this concept of the placement of the feet will change and help you as you explore the wonders of the powerful practice.

Also see the blog post: Zhan Zhaung Alignment

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