06/01/2025
Physical integration method: The six links and the three coordinations.
Part 2:
The Three Coordinations.
Linking the left and right elements of the body's structure is a way of unifying it horizontally. The next step is to unify the same structure vertically. This is the objective of the Three Coordinations.
The method is quite similar to that for establishing the connections, but this time on the vertical plane. First, we focus on coordinating the connection between the hip joints and the shoulder joints. As with the first two connections, this first coordination is fairly easy to set up and to feel, because the four joints making it up are fixed, moving neither vertically nor horizontally, like the four corners of a sheet of paper or a scarf. It is more difficult to establish the second, made up of the connection of the knees with that of the elbows, and even more difficult to establish the third, combining the connection of the ankles with that of the wrists. If the links connect, associate, unify the right and left sides of the body left sides of the body by matching the main joints, the coordinations aim rather to associate the dynamics between the upper and lower parts of the body, between the lower limbs and the upper limbs. At this level, the easiest dynamic coordination to perceive is that which associates the action of the knees with that of the elbows. Flexions and extensions in the knees are coordinated with those of the elbows. For example, in the ‘Push Back’ form (an), the extension of the elbows is coordinated with that of the left leg (in the Bow pose on the right). Coordinating the connection between the ankles and the wrists is more difficult to establish and you need to concentrate on dynamic sensations, and not on the ‘feeling’ of the body.
The Three Coordinations.
The method is quite similar to that for establishing the connections, but this time on the vertical plane. First we focus on coordinating the hip joints with the shoulder joints. As with the first two connections, this first coordination is fairly easy to set up and to feel, because the four joints making it up are fixed, moving neither vertically nor horizontally, like the four corners of a sheet of paper or a scarf. It is more difficult to establish the second, made up of the connection of the knees with that of the elbows, and even more difficult to establish the third, combining the connection of the ankles with that of the wrists. If the links connect, associate, unify the right and left sides of the body left sides of the body by matching the main joints, the coordinations aim rather to associate the dynamics between the upper and lower parts of the body, between the lower limbs and the upper limbs.
At this level, the easiest dynamic coordination to perceive is that which associates the action of the knees with that of the elbows. Flexions and extensions in the knees are coordinated with those of the elbows.
For example, in the ‘Push Back’ form (an),
the extension of the elbows is coordinated with that of the left leg (in Bow pose on the right). Coordinating the connection between the ankles and the wrists is more difficult to establish and you need to concentrate on dynamic sensations, and not on shapes or movement, to achieve it. As with establishing the links, we first perform a single form in a simple movement, then study the coordinations in a more complex sequence, and finally in a complete routine. In the end, by means of the six links and the three coordinations, the whole body is unified in all its parts and, when we concentrate on listening to our internal sensations, we can feel the effects. Firstly, the perception that the whole body forms a unity, that no part is isolated or separate. Secondly, that all the parts are linked to a centre, which is like the pivot controlling their movements and their dynamism. The body is like a spinning top, with all the points on its outer surface driven by the movement of the axis.
driven by the movement of the central axis. This is the principle of ‘When the centre moves, everything moves. When the centre stands still, everything stands still’.
Finally, one of the major effects of this method of unification is to develop a very special capacity for attention and internal listening, because it is global. This is called omnidirectional awareness and listening. From the Centre, it listens to all points on the periphery, in the body and beyond. The centre of this awareness and this listening can then be established in different places. Some place it in the head, at Ni wan, others at the central Dan Tien, with the Shen, and others at the lower Dan Tien.
When this physical process of unifyng all body parts is good then you can unifyng body, mind and energy.