The centre

I was pondering some of the things Anna said to me yesterday whilst I was cutting the grass this morning. Her point about the abdominal muscles being the core of the posture kind of resonated with me. In the martial arts of the East there is constant reference to 'the centre' which in Japanese is referred to as the Hara. It is believed to be the part of the body where all action originates and where the spirit is housed. In karate, judo and various other arts all action is centred around this point, supposedly a hand span beneath the navel. When you think about it this makes perfect sense; if your balance is off centre it is difficult to make successful attacks, blocks or strikes. It's the same in fencing. As soon as your weight shifts from above your centre the lunge goes wrong, the parries become wild and it all starts to fall apart. In fact, the only technique where the weight should move forward beyond the centre is the fleche.
Perhaps we should dwell more on this point of our bodies and look to keep it tight and controlled. Maybe during fencing we should be more aware of what our centre is telling us and also what our posture is saying about us in everyday life. There is no doubt that in Yoga there is a great belief in the core muscles being tight and stable. So maybe sit-ups are the way to go after all!