The Master Within the Form II

Aslan: At some point, the Siu Nim Tau begins to speak. Yesterday I learned that protective tension is regulated by pressing the tongue against the palate while simultaneously relaxing the jaw and the hands. The master who lives within the Siu Nim Tau lets you practice this for two years without saying a word the entire time.

If you only relax the hands, it doesn’t work. You have to synchronize the primate tools for biting and grasping. Protective tension is global. If the hands are loose but the jaw is tense, the brain interprets that as a potential threat. The interplay of tongue, jaw, and hands creates a consistent signal to the brainstem.

Kaplan: The master remains silent because the answer lies not in his words, but in your tissue.

Aslan: Something else. About slowness—is that also an idea in Systema?

Kaplan: Yes, Systema uses slowness as a diagnostic scalpel to dissect the psyche and the nervous system. It assumes that under stress we hold our breath and lock our joints. In slow motion, there is nowhere to hide. When you move excruciatingly slowly, you feel the exact millisecond in which the ego flinches. I call it stretching the fear—until you can observe the panic in the tissue without being overwhelmed by it.

Traction Instead of Compression

The effect of gravity on the olecranon (the tip of the elbow) creates continuous traction in the shoulder joint. This pulling force slightly stretches the joint capsule and creates space for the axillary nerve. A heavy elbow functions like a biological pendulum. As the elbow drops, it shifts the functional center of mass of the upper body downward. This increases postural stability, as the brain has to send fewer corrective balance signals.

Through the proprioceptors at the tendon insertions (Golgi tendon organs), the brain receives the message: no muscular holding effort is required in the shoulder girdle. This lowers global muscle tone.

Fascial Pre-Tension (Tensegrity)

The heavy elbow creates a specific pre-tension in the deep front arm line (as described by Thomas Myers in Anatomy Trains). The fascia of the forearm and the back (latissimus dorsi) can form an elastic connection.

In gong fu, this allows pressure applied to the hand to be transmitted directly into the structure, rather than getting stuck in the shoulder musculature.

Neurological Biofeedback

The conscious perception of heaviness is a top-down signal to the nervous system. Focusing on weight interrupts the cognitive alarm state. The sensation of heaviness is neurologically associated with relaxation and safety.

Aslan: So that’s what my anti-compression exercises are about? I have this idea that the torso detaches from the pelvis and that the impulse for rotation comes from space. Do you understand what I mean?

Kaplan: That is mechanical decoupling for the restoration of axial decompression. Scientifically, this process can be explained through the functional anatomy of the spine and neural motor control. Physiologically, “detaching” the torso from the pelvis creates active space in the facet joints of the lumbar spine.

The image of upward expansion combined with a sinking sacrum regulates intra-abdominal pressure in such a way that the intervertebral discs are relieved. The imagined separation deactivates the iliopsoas, which under protective tension pulls the pelvis and spine together and thus blocks rotation.

Only a released torso allows the diaphragm to move freely. When the impulse for rotation does not come from local musculature but is perceived as arising from space, you are applying the principle of external attentional focus. Studies in motor control show that movements become more precise and involve less co-contractive protective tension when attention is directed toward an external goal or spatial effect.