Developing Your Personal Energy with Bodywork and Martial Arts

This blog is about the synergy of martial arts and bodywork and how they help to deepen all aspects of self-knowlege – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.  It includes my observations and some interesting history.

First, my exposure to martial arts.

I started practicing TaeKwonDo at Giorgio’s Health and Fitness about a year after I started a formal study of healing work.   I had signed up my son who loved to kick at the time thinking it would be a good outlet for him and would help to put some rules around kicking.  Such a modern Mom.  He was very young and insisted that I stand near him in every class.  Other than the instructor, I was the only person over three and a half feet tall in the room and felt very conspicuous.   My discomfort of feeling like Gulliver among a contingent of kicking and punching Lilliputians ultimately led me to sign up for Giorgio’s Parent/Child class on Saturdays.  It was fun and he was happy.  After a while, one of the teachers tried to convince me to really practice TaeKwonDo  – to go through the training process of attaining the next belt level .  He said, “You will love it.  It’s awesome.”  I poo-pooed the idea saying, “I am a peaceful person.  I work to help people, not to hurt them.”  But, after listening and practicing in the classes I attended with my son, I started to realize that this was not just a method of defending oneself or exerting physical power over another person.  It’s a training of efficiency of movement, of focus of mind, and of understanding one’s body and the form it cuts in space.  How your energy moves and how you can make it move.  How much force you can create with as little effort as possible.   Many of the things that I love about bodywork. There seemed to be a real synergy for me.  As much as I hated to admit it, the teacher was right.  I loved it.  So, I embarked on practicing TaeKwonDo.  I must give a plug for Giorgio’s Health and Fitness here as Mr. Giorgio has seemingly limitless knowledge on the practice and a great way of teaching and all of the people who practice and teach there have a true love for the sport. 

Now, the part on energy work and the influence of martial arts.

One of my favorite types of body/energy work is Polarity.  Knowing that one of the foundations of Polarity is Ayurveda (the traditional medical practice of India), I decided to get a deeper understanding of the origins of Polarity and Ayervedic therapies by getting certified as an Ayurvedic Technician.  I will  mention here that Marma points (vital pressure points in the human body where muscles, veins, ligaments, bones or joints intersect that induce the flow of energy through the body ) are integral to all Ayurveic  therapies.  Well, as I was studying for my Ayurvedic Technician certification, I read the following in the book, “Ayurveda and Marma Therapy Energy Points in Yogic Healing”  by Dr. David Frawley, Dr. Subhash Ranade, and Dr. Avinash Lele:

“The knowledge of marmas (pressure points on the body) was part of the path of the warrior who learned to master his Prana (life force) for both defensive and offensive purposes.  The ancient Vedic warrior code emphasized the development of personal energy, courage and self-dicipline, which rested on the knowledge and control of Prana and its key sites within the body.  Marmas were associated with the use of armor for the body which was devised to protect these vital points from injury.”

Of course, this makes total sense.  I have always loved that bodywork brings knowledge of the body and a balancing of life force.  And, of course, that is what martial arts practice does as well.  Yoga, and really any physical activity you do with mindfulness does this for you.  It is when there is unity of the body, mind, emotions, and spirit that we feel our best so, it makes sense to practice activities that allow us to obtain that unity as often as we can.

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