Then I drove down to Hatfield to help my friend/student Paul C.
As with most humans as we age and with injury etc.....He's concerned about his balance.
Since this is one of the primary principles in all martial arts and especially 'internal' training, balance work is being done continuously. First consciously progressing to unconscious balance.
The training involves paying close attention to the feelings at the bottoms of your feet. The interaction with the ground. Imagining your standing on a mirror, imagine you own image below the floor, then feel the floor pushing upward into the soles of the feet.
Align the bones from the soles of the feet to the top of the head. Proper vertical alignment is essential!
I then 'Tai-Chi-ized' the PT exercise 'lift your knee up', that Paul has been practicing; I put a chair on either side of him, with him standing in the middle, in a modified Wuji Stance, holding on lightly as possible for assistance, once he felt 'situated' then lift the knee. He was able to lift his knee hip high.
We also used stretch band to exercise his upper body, mainly upper back and biceps. Then substituted 2 1/2 lb hand weights for the bicep curls. My original idea was to us stretch band holding one end down with your foot. My idea is to internally connect the foot to the upper body (hand).
I noticed some of Paul's best movement was walking. He could find a released and relaxed state that was fluid and smooth. That walking really works well for him when he 'freezes'. Kudos!!
I'm interested to help folks adjust their exercises to be a better fit. Ultimately a better fit will help it become a healthier practice, primarily because it makes it more likely that you will be regularly.