There is a saying, 'stand like a mountain & flow like a river.' But a mountain is just a heap of earth & huge stones & ice with trees & other vegetation on the lowers slopes perhaps & ice melting & forming streams. I prefer the idea of 'stand like a tree' because trees have their roots sunk deep into the earth & they suck up moisture from below. Bamboo is a tall grass that stands very well & is flexible in the wind. Bamboo is hardy & hard to kill.
Indian yogis say 'a real 'man' breathes from his feet. Of course women who do yoga can do that too. There is the saying that 'the singer's belly is full of Qi.' But breathing with the feet goes further down than the belly, the dantian, the hara, than abominal breathing - all the same thing really but with different slants & implications.
My singing teacher in the late 50s, early 60s instructed me to focus on the light switch, over the heads of the audience near the entrance. 'Eyes on there & beam your voice so that it bounces off all the walls & revererates around the theatre.' I watched a visiting singer, a bass come on stage before a concert & hum a note, very powerful sound. He walked around the stage & found 'the spot' that he was going to stand & marked it with chalk on the floor. Classical singers often stand as if holding a ball of energy too.
In Chinese Medicine the kidney meridian begins @ KI in the balls of the feet. Kidney is the water. We are around 60% water, H2O - 2 potentially explosive gases & we are constantly feeding on oxygen & probably other trace elements in the air.
In some positions in Tai Chi forms 'peng' is mentioned. Peng meaning a relaxed springy inflation. Some of that inflation comes from the 5 bows - the arms, legs & spine. All the steps in a tai Chi form should have the feeling of peng. Some of that feeling of inflation comes from the Yi, the intention. So the fundamentals, the masterkeys are 'sung' & 'yi' - sink & focus.
Indian yogis say 'a real 'man' breathes from his feet. Of course women who do yoga can do that too. There is the saying that 'the singer's belly is full of Qi.' But breathing with the feet goes further down than the belly, the dantian, the hara, than abominal breathing - all the same thing really but with different slants & implications.
My singing teacher in the late 50s, early 60s instructed me to focus on the light switch, over the heads of the audience near the entrance. 'Eyes on there & beam your voice so that it bounces off all the walls & revererates around the theatre.' I watched a visiting singer, a bass come on stage before a concert & hum a note, very powerful sound. He walked around the stage & found 'the spot' that he was going to stand & marked it with chalk on the floor. Classical singers often stand as if holding a ball of energy too.
In Chinese Medicine the kidney meridian begins @ KI in the balls of the feet. Kidney is the water. We are around 60% water, H2O - 2 potentially explosive gases & we are constantly feeding on oxygen & probably other trace elements in the air.
In some positions in Tai Chi forms 'peng' is mentioned. Peng meaning a relaxed springy inflation. Some of that inflation comes from the 5 bows - the arms, legs & spine. All the steps in a tai Chi form should have the feeling of peng. Some of that feeling of inflation comes from the Yi, the intention. So the fundamentals, the masterkeys are 'sung' & 'yi' - sink & focus.
No comments:
Post a Comment