Welcome to the WAY of INTENT!

 I personally find groundwork a very useful and rewarding way to spend my practice time. Most evenings these days you will find me on the thick carpet rolling, twisting and stretching my frame, experiencing new shapes and orientations while confronting limits, adhesions, pain and numbness. My hope is that many more of you discover the value of developing Integrated Strength through groundwork.

One of the top reasons is that groundwork is a great contrast to standing training and serves as an excellent second hand on the elephant. There are a lot of differences. When standing the legs are under load, not so when doing ground work where its more likely the arms will take the load. The root is no longer below the feet, gravity compresses the body differently and bits that were used to engage the opponents are now tied up with locomotion.

Consider how much emphasis groundwork puts on the core. You know, that thing we  call the dantien, that special place in the middle that acts like a skyscraper counterweight, where we tie our belts. The demands put on our core during groundwork are FANTASTIC for discovering more torque in locomotion that can be applied to the opponent instead, standing, sitting or lying down.

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The playlist below features clips focused on groundwork practices.  I introduce a number of basic skills, including back rolls, side rolls, barrel rolls, transitions, moving up & down. The idea is to connect the skills into the ability to seamlessly flow from any position back into one that can get you on your feet.

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We also look at integrated stretching and how it can be used along with mobility groundwork to help restore lost ranges of motion and get comfortable in uncomfortable positions.