Strong foundations...

I was watching a small group who were training in martial arts recently. This was a mixed age and ability group, so varying levels of proficiency and I was very appreciative to have the opportunity to see it. It was quite special.

I was paying attention to the footwork and noticed that for the same moves, some held shorter stances and some longer, some had their heels off the ground and others lifted their toes and some were flat on the floor. I understand that this can often be down to experience, age and ability.

What I noticed was that depending how solid the footwork was, for example if the stance was too narrow and someone had to turn around or if someone had a heel off the floor – this had a consequence on the next movement, generally leaving the person off balance.

It struck me that good / strong footwork is one of the key foundations to martial arts and if you are wobbly or off balance, you are not likely to be able to protect yourself as well as if you were firmer and more solidly grounded.

It got me thinking about the times in our life where stresses arise, things come at us (sometimes with little or no warning) and how helpful it can be to have strong foundations to help us through these times, events or circumstances.

This could be having some money in our account to manage a financial emergency. It could be having a good friend or family member or colleague to help support or cover us in times of need. It could be that we’ve gotten ourselves fit to possibly help aid recovery when we fall ill.

There are many ‘foundations’ we can seek to put in place. Give it some thought and focus on some areas which you feel could do with a bit of firming up that might be helpful for you, now or into the future…