The Frame, Again

Quickies from a recent lesson:

Your frame - Resilience vs stiffness:
Your frame is all about the relationship between your elbows and spine. Your elbows need to move together, constant distance between your elbows is desirable, having them flapping about is bad, MMmmmkay?. Feeling the relationship between your elbows is how your partner gets signals about rotation. I don't remember if my instructor said this or if this is just my Aikido perspective, but rotation comes from your core, through your hips, back, and then frame. I do remember my instructor made a big deal about the phrase Counter Body Rotation (I may have remembered that phrase wrong - when you google it, you get lots of skiing and snowboarding references...)

Supporting your frame
Your frame should be supported by your lats and traps in your back, supported from below (as much as possible. At least, it should feel that way). I think of it as being like a couple of rubber bumpers in your back that your shoulder blades rest on. My mistake has been to "hang" my frame off my shoulders and collarbones and upper chest. This puts tension in your shoulders, chest, and upper body that you don't need. Apparently this one of the classic blunders men make. Supported from below via your back is the way to go. Rotating your shoulders back is a huge part of this. Start with your arms straight overhead, lower them (still straight) until they are pointing directly ahead of you, roll your shoulders back, then open your elbows out to establish your frame. This helped me feel what I should be doing. A decent frame is also going to demand better posture than I typically have.


There's a difference between getting this mentally and being able to DO it, but at least I have a mental model to start from. Now to get it into my body.