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The Beauty of Movement with Purpose
June 11, 2012

The Beauty of Movement with Purpose

My almost 6-year –old son participated in his first karate tournament this weekend. It was fantastic! There must have been 200 competitors from age 5 to 55 or more performing Kata and sparring routines.

My personal experience with Martial Arts has been very limited. But when the black belts performed their mid-day demonstration I felt like I was watching a modern dance show. The performances were focused, passionate, and incredibly physical. Like really good dance, the performances transcended the movement and the moment and took both the athlete and the audience beyond the dojo. It was beautiful.

Karate is beautiful in its discipline, its breath, its attention to detail, its economy of movement and its purpose.

Joseph Pilates studied martial arts and was highly influenced by it. The underlying principles of the Pilates technique go well beyond the physical elements of exercise science.

  • Breath connects your mind to your body and helps set the pace, rhythm and dynamic of your movement.
  • Centering connects you to your core support muscles and anchors your movements.
  • Concentration is the essence of grace. Your mind controls your body.
  • Precision creates efficiency. Do more with less energy. 
  • Control is about discipline. Stay focused on your core to control your movements. Stay focused in your mind to control your attitude.
  • Flow through the movements, riding the breath.

We exercise because we know we have to, because it makes us feel better and look better and have more energy. But we know there is more to Pilates than that.

My son finished his tournament with a gold and a silver medal. He’s a good athlete and for better or worse, he has a keenly competitive spirit, like his mother. I was very proud of him. And I was moved by the beauty of his movement.

Pilates – like Karate - makes us more beautiful because it teaches us to move with purpose and grace. It makes us live in our bodies. It helps us be more human. Everyone deserves a medal for that.

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