Let’s focus on stretch your neck to making your posture acculately

When you open your legs, How do you put your weight on your sole. The kyudo book is written that the place to put your weight is your toe.

However doing this, it can be harder to pull the bow with ease. Your leg muscles might tighten.I’m afraid, your posture become bad.

I will explain how to put your weight correctly and bad way.

■Your leg muscle tighten when putting your weight on your toes

In Japan, It is often said that the place to put your weight on is toe when pulling the bow.When you hear that, many people might lean their pelvis forward. But, when you do this, it can be difficult to pull the bow accurately.It is because this way  makes your core line misplace.

Although, it can be easier to put your weight on your toes when you leans your upper body forward from your pelvis. But, This way makes your toes tighten too much and have a stiff in your foot muscle.

確かに、骨盤から上半身が折ると、楽に母指球に体重が乗りますよね。しかし、こうすると、つま先が強い圧迫されてしまい、足の指先が緊張します。

As a result, your leg muscle will become stress.

これによって、足首周り、膝の筋肉も緊張してしまい、脚の筋肉が無駄に緊張します。

膝 = knee、足首 = ankle、母指球 = toe

Many people think that finger muscles are very small so the affect that is small. But, finger muscle is connected to your whole of body.

この結果、脚の力みに連動して、上半身が力んでしまうのです！これが引き分け以降、姿勢が崩れてしまう原因です。指先って、小さい部位と思いますが、体のあらゆる筋肉と繋がって影響を与えているんですよね。

For example, let’s pinch your thumb, middle and ring finger. When you do this, you will tighten not only your hand muscle but also your wrist muscle. As a result, it can be harder to move your elbow and arm. Therefore, To tighten your finger muscle makes your arm and leg muscle tighten.

例えば、手のつま先同士、親指と中指、薬指をギュッとつまんでみてみましょう。すると、手先だけではなく手首にも力が入ってしまいます。その結果、肘、腕を動かしにくくなります。指が力むと、腕や脚も全部力みます。そうして、上半身や下半身も力んでしまいます。

So, when leaning your upper body, your toes is pressed to the ground too much and you will become the posture which tighten you foot finger muscle.

そこで、体重を拇指球の乗せようと、体を倒し気味にすると、足裏の前方が圧迫され、自然とつま先に力がこもる姿勢になります。

ln body anatomy, your back leg muscle and back muscle tighten when you tighten your foot finger muscle. As a result, your posture will become bad.

具体的には、つま先に力を入れると、足首、太もも裏側、背中の筋肉にも力が入ってしまいます。先が力むと脚の裏側が力みます。そして、脚の裏側の筋肉は背中の筋肉と解剖学的に繋がっているため、射の最中に、上半身に強い緊張が起こります。よって打ち起こし以降、姿勢が崩れてしまうのです

Many old kyudo teachers explained that your weight should be eqully on your whole sole.

Tiba Hanshi: It might be incorrect if you put your weight on your toe and heal only

Uoo Hanchi: put your weight on the ground so that hollow rubber sticks to the floor

sasaki, check the center of gravity , it  is failure if there is a
stress somewhere

Takagi Hanshi :Put your weight on the ground as if they are unified to it

Tiba: Put them only part of soles is not preferable undesirable.

宇野範士：Imagine a suction cup sucking to the ground

佐々木範士：Feel where your weight is on your sole. your ashibumi is a failure if that is partial.

Why should the weight rest on the entire sole when standing? This is because when the weight of the sole is firmly on, the stability of the joints related to the upper body (chest, shoulder joint, neck joint, head, etc.) increases.

This can be compared as follows: Tokyo Tower is supported by four legs. However, let’s say that the two leg tips are shortened by 5 mm. Then, the whole tower is greatly inclined and the apex is greatly displaced from the original position.

At first glance, it may be small to be 5mm shorter. However, the wobble of the vertices exerted by it is great. The same can be said for people, and the ground contact surface of the sole is important for maintaining a correct posture. This is explained in the description of the shooting book of Oshu Bamboo by Sumo Uozumi.

From yourself, tilt your upper body and put your weight on the ball. Certainly, if you tilt your upper body forward, pressure will be applied to the thumb ball. However, if you try to tilt your upper body, the pelvis will tilt too far forward, and you will have a warped hip posture with your back straight. In the world of archery, there are five ways to set up the body called “five bodies (warp, bend, hang, retreat, and middle torso)”. It is said that the posture of the “curved torso” with its back warped is not suitable for close use.

Among the five torso, it is said that the middle torso is the most suitable. If you want to build a “middle torso”, you must tilt your body forward and stop standing on your own ball. Therefore, it is necessary to interpret the stepping posture in which the weight is placed on the thumb ball as a result of the weight being placed on the thumb ball as a result, not on one’s own.

■How to use your neck to align your posture

For this reason, it is important not to put the center of gravity of the treadle yourself, but to arrange it so that it rides naturally. Therefore, create a posture where the center of gravity fits in the thumb ball. First, stretch your back behind your neck. Next, with your neck stretched, drop your shoulders easily.

If you don’t understand the meaning of “stretch the back of the neck” at this time, you can just pull the jaw and stretch the nape muscles. Pull your jaw and drop your shoulders. This eliminates wasted force on the upper shoulder muscles. If you take this posture, you will get weight on the entire sole.

If this posture can be constructed, it is possible to construct an appropriate “middle trunk” in the near future.

Then, keep your consciousness of stretching the back of your neck down, and slightly lower your “gaze” so that you can tilt your body slightly forward (about 4M ahead). Then, the weight shifts slightly to the front of the sole, and settles slightly around the front of the arch. In this way, be sure to extend the cervical spine upward so that the spine is not twisted or bent. This prevents the center of gravity from going forward.

■The importance of using your neck when ashibumi in detail

So how does an old archer explain the posture of stepping? When citing the second volume of the textbook, many archery folks explain the importance of correcting the head position.

For example, Nori Chiba, Noriyoshi Kanaga, and Nori Uno in the second volume of the textbook mention “stretching the section (nape: behind the neck)” when stepping on. Some of the other teachers cite the word “Tenchi High” on foot. These sentences also express the position of the head in stepping and torso making, and explain that the head is as high as possible, the back of the neck is stretched, and the spine has no unnecessary curvature in the front or back. The

Furthermore, when you look at the explanation of Mr. Umeji Mitsu, who created the school of Kagetsu, there is an action called “Kashirai”. This explains “how to set the head” in how to adjust the posture in shooting. Thus, in stepping, it is important to properly position the head in addition to the width of the legs and the width of both legs.

In addition, there is an explanation in the book of the Olympics by Musashi Miyamoto that “slightly pulls the chin and stretches the term”. In this way, other martial arts professionals value the “back of the neck” when building an appropriate posture. Let’s always be aware of each shot. In addition, the state where the weight is naturally placed on this thumb ball continues until the remnant during the shooting.

If you try to put your weight on the thumb ball, most people will put too much pressure near the toes. Therefore, it is important to “stretch the neck and drop the shoulders” so that the spine is almost straight, but the upper body does not tilt forward more than necessary. This makes it difficult for the posture to break down after being drawn and drawn, and it is possible to suppress the disturbance of the arrows.