The “rubber band” analogy of ballroom dancing sounds like the “breathing” analogy of Tai Chi: something that it’s cohesive and structured that breathes (i.e. isn’t rigid).

@Steve — I think power coming from the ground makes a lot of martial sense, so I’m not surprised that other martial arts, even hard styles, follow the same principles.

When doing exercises like uprooting in Tai Chi, you aren’t supposed to move your feet off the ground, but it’s permissible (i.e. not cheating) to wiggle your toes to get a better grip Edit: my Tai Chi teacher has clarified the feet should be relaxed but firm on the ground, so no toe wiggling. Since we practice with our shoes off, it makes me wonder whether this is applicable in a real-world self-defence scenario when one is wearing shoes.

Cool.

Through my own exploration in the transference of force throughout the body, I realized that usually, a “grounding” is not possible, when one small muscle (in the chain of muscles required for the force transference from certain direction) is too weak. In my case, I have more positions open to me now my toes are strong enough to support my weight. So instead of needing to get into a stance for certain forces, I am already in the right stance without wasting time to change.

The rubber band analogy is probably the highest form of the connection between a couple that dances. I still have trouble with it as I often forget my dance partner when I am in the zone. It’s about being aware of the other.