White Crane as example of how to bend at the waist

 

White Crane Video

8. White Crane Spreads Wings 白鶴亮翅  Bending and turning is done by the waist Posture 8 – White Crane Spreads Wings  Bend forward at the waist In this brief look at the "form," whenever we bend our body, we bend the pelvis at the hip joints rather than bending the lumbar region of the back. The lumbar region of the back is a weak part of our skeletal structure. The pelvis, however, is quite strong. The movement here as a good example of pelvic and waist movement, is a neuro-musculoskeletal activity. The nervous system stimulates the muscles, and the muscles move the skeleton. So there is a source of movement in the "internal energy" of the waist.  Part of the source should also include the pelvis. 腰 The waist here, in Chinese, actually consists of two characters. These characters, yao-hsi, are often translated as the single word "waist." Yao-hsi means "waist" (yao) and "crack" (hsi). The "crack" refers to where the body bends. Thus, this "crack in the waist" is what Master Hwa calls the "crimp" where the clothing folds below the belt.