My mother would often be heard saying, “stand up straight and stop slouching.” (she said it in a Jamaican accent which sounded more terrifying) My mother knew a thing or two about posture but of course, she didn’t have a degree in anatomy and physiology, she had one of those other degrees that you don’t seem to be able to get anymore, it was a degree in common sense from the university of life.
So, it turns out that having good posture and standing or sitting up straight has many benefits. Good old mum!
1. It allows all your muscles to work properly and it enables your muscles to support your skeletal structure the way that nature intended.
2. Good posture in sitting and standing trains our body to keep good posture when bending, that’s when you really need those muscles to wake up.
3. If you get those first two points right, it will reduce the risk of injury when moving around in your day to day life.
4. Here’s another huge benefit of good posture that most of us don’t even think about, it allows you to a breathe easier so there’s nothing restricting your airways
5. That old saying that goes, “if you don’t use it, you lose it,” is so true in so many ways. Those with bad posture are so used to having bad posture they don’t actually know when they’re not standing or sitting straight.
6. All the following should be in line when standing; Ankle and shoulder and then your ear. When sitting; shoulder and ear but also hips directly underneath the shoulders.
The great things about martial arts and Taekwon-Do in particular, that’s the one that I’ve done for many years, is we have so many opportunities to practice good posture during a training session. So, the next time your instructor says, “chunbi” (ready) there’s some good old posture practice right there, so stand up straight and enjoy how it feels.
