The question of why Grounding is necessary has been asked of me many times by many people.

Primitive and Not-So-Primitive People all over the world know the value of Grounding. Grounding reduces the Center of Gravity of the body so that the movement of mass is less than the expenditure of muscular strength. In combat, particularly when you face multiple adversaries or will experience multiple combats in a short period of time, this reduction of muscular energy spent is very important.

In a fast moving Art such as the Art of the Spear or the Art of the Sword, both upper body motion and lower body motion are extreme in terms of the cost of energy to the body. Grounding reduces the amount of muscular strength which is expended and leaves the Warrior with a greater reserve of energy for ongoing combat.

How do you ground?

Grounding initially involves the balancing of the body. Balance should be maintained throughout the ranges of motion of any and all combat, but the initial grounding is the most important step.

With an experienced practitioner, grounding should be done upon arising in the morning. With the less experienced, grounding should be done not only upon arising, but before every exercise, martial and mundane, throughout the day.

Initial grounding begins by placing the feet shoulder width apart. The weight of the body must be balanced equally upon both feet.

This placement of the feet is also necessary to begin the earthing process. Earthing is the process of drawing energy up from the earth. As you stand, equally balanced, upon your feet, feel the solidity of the earth beneath you. Feel that solidness spread up into your legs and allow it to work its way up your body, past the hips, into the diaphragm, into your chest, into your neck, and ultimately your entire body. Your body should feel as a mountain feels. Solid, immovable, strong.

Next is breathing. Air is not only necessary to fill the lungs so that they may oxygenate the blood, but is an important elemental energy source. As you breathe in, feel the energy of the sky as it fills your body. Your body will become lighter and less tense. The energy of the air is flexible and is easily moved to where it needs to be.

After Grounding, with the excercises of earthing and breathing taken care of, it is important to also energize the watery base energy of the body. This can be done by a simple series of lungeing movements. Allow your body to fall forward, your leg moving automatically to stop your fall in a long step. Immediately feel the recoil and surge of the watery essence of your body and allow it to follow its natural course.

Allow the watery motion to follow through naturally. Bring your body back to the upright position with your feet shoulder width apart. Earth again, then practice the lunges. Go both to the left and to the right. It is important for a Warrior to be able to move in the full range of motion in both directions. Always moving to the right, or always moving left is a bad habit which must be removed.

The water in your body will move with its own inertia to the full extension of your move. Then, it will impact the limits of your body and its impetus will recoil. So what normally happens to it?

Normally, Westerners are very rigid of body and motion. The natural Watery motion of the body is subconsciously subdued. When you begin to pay attention to it, you will find that there is a natural recoiling effect when you reach the end of your range of motion.

Follow through. Follow the natural movement of the watery body and learn to use the energy that is contained within each motion to bring your body back to the starting point.

Within the Fianna Organization, RigFennidhs Bear, Shirley and Nathrach are the teachers who can best teach this technique, as I have described it here. Other Instructors may teach variations of these techniques in their courses of study. As it is very difficult to accurately describe the technique in words, it is best demonstrated and taught in a one to one situation. Unfortunately, combat techniques in general are of this nature.

These techniques involve the Western European Elements. Earth, Air and Water. However, the Teutonic Peoples were intrigued by chemical reactions of these elements.

For example. They understood that the compilation of Earth, (solid fuels) and Air produced two of the ingredients of Fire. They further understood that the mixture of Water with Cold Air produced Ice. Thus, Fire and Ice became important Elements among certain of the Teutonic Tribes.

Some of these Elemental configurations will be discussed elsewhere in this site.

Why is it important to Center?

Centering is the act of eliminating all of the world around you from your physical and mental being. This is a meditative and relaxing excercise.

Empty the mind of all thoughts. The mind should be fully engaged upon the energy of the above listed excercises. Focus on the energies that you are working with.

The body should be focused as well. Heat and cold and other environmental concerns should be set aside. Simply exist. Feel the energies which are being manipulated within your body.

These exercises are important as first steps, and then later, as fully realized states of being.

Ground. Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Allow the weight of your body to sink into your hips. Feel the center of your mass gathering in your pelvis, behind your navel and down.

Feel the massive power of the earth beneath your feet. Draw it up, feeling your body become massive and solid. Focus.

Feel the circular, breezy power of the sky, the airy energy. Let it flow through and make your body light, though staying grounded.

Go into motion and experience the surge of the watery nature of your body. Repeat as necessary to reach a state of being able to control any of the elemental forms individually in your movements.

Center. Clear your mind of all external thoughts. Become Still in the mind and Still in the body. Focus on just existing. Focus on grounding. Focus on only the position of your physical self.

Experience is the only way in which this will be Actualized and Realized.