Rooting & Bubbling well

To be rooted is to have a solid foundation where the feet are planted but relaxed.

The "Bubbling Well," a meridian point on the foot's bottom where one's weight should be distributed, is mentioned often in the Classics (Yong Quan). According to classic texts, this spot may be located in the "depression in the core of the sole" (Yuzhuan yizong jinjian).

One may become better anchored by loosening and relaxing the feet, reducing the strain on the muscles that would otherwise be used to compensate for the imbalance.

Like a tree, we want to be rooted like its roots but agile like its branches and leaves, receiving an opponent's pressure the same way a tree sways with the breeze. Because we are rooted, our potential mass increases, requiring the opponent to use more force to move us off balance.

Developing a stronger connection with the ground can be practiced through Zhan Zhuang exercise. You can inhale from the Yong Quan to the lower dantien and exhale back to the Yong Quan.

You should try to "settle" into a relaxed state of mind and body before you can develop your root. As you relax, the tension in the various parts of your body will dissolve- let your body relax as if hanging on a clothes hanger.

If you let dirty water sit quietly, the impurities will gradually settle to the bottom, leaving the water above it cleared and pure.

If you let dirty water sit quietly, the impurities will gradually settle to the bottom, leaving the water above it cleared and pure.