The Ki of Skiing
by
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My humble thanks to Don O’Bell, 6th Dan in Aikido (soft style) for teaching me a deeper understanding of Ki. The purpose of this writing is to share knowledge of balance and the use of mental focus that will allow one to ski extremely fast with some degree of safety.
I’ll begin with a simple rule: Keep your head over the foot you are standing on. If you take a ski lesson, most instructors will tell you to weight the outside ski or foot. This is fine until you hit a bump and end up with your weight on the inside ski.
With your head over the outside ski and your weight on the inside ski, you can only turn to the inside and most likely you will fall. The correction for having the weight on the inside ski is to simply move your head over the inside foot so that you can turn left or right.
An exercise to learn what “over” means would be walking on a cable strung loosely just off the ground. I would also suggest that you ski on one foot for a while, then ski on the other foot for an equal amount of time. You will learn that even small movements of the head can greatly affect your balance.
Now I will define “centering.” Your “center” is two fingers’ width below your navel and about two and one-half inches in—unless your belly button has been misplaced. Note that if you are not in balance, you will not be able to be “centered.”
Find a partner and stand face-to-face, about one arm’s length apart. Relax your mind and go mentally into your center. Have your partner gently push on your shoulder with an outstretched hand, slowly increasing the force. If you are relaxed mentally and physically and are “in your center,” your partner should not be able to move you.
To test how centered you are, your partner will move his free hand to your face while snapping his fingers. This movement, plus the sound of the fingers snapping, may cause you to be moved off balance.
Once you have mastered being centered, have your partner pat you on the shoulder with his free hand while saying, “Pretty good.” This should cause you to come out of your center allowing you to be moved once again off balance. Practice until nothing can get you out of your center.
Out on the slope you can test for centering by having someone place a hand on your uphill shoulder while you are in an angulated position and pull the shoulder gently downhill. You should not move if you are relaxed and in your center. I must point out that if you tighten any muscles, you will come out of your centered position and most likely your balance will be in jeopardy. At the other extreme you may be too relaxed, like you have had a couple of beers recently. Just being centered can cut as much as a half second off a run through the gates.
In Aikido (a martial art) we call the center the “one point.” Think of the one point as the mental and physical center of your body. Now you must learn to move from the one point while being mentally in your center. Learning to move from the center or one point is called “using your Ki.” Maintaining your center is also “using Ki.” Don’t get tight or squeeze your grips or the handles of your ski poles.
I don’t say that learning Ki is easy; however, some people are blessed with a natural ability to be centered and to move from their center. I am not one of them.
An exercise for learning Ki is riding a bike with your body angled forward like you ski. Hold the handlebars of the bike with a relaxed grip and use them only for balance. Steer the bike with relaxed and subtle movements of your hips. It took me months to get this down. Practice until you feel the bike turn like you ski. Be careful of pine needles and sand or anything else of a slippery nature.
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About the Book
The KI of skiing is the ultimate booklet on Centering and the use of KI to obtain insane speeds on a pair of ski''s; with some degree of safety. For those who are not insane it gives you the mental skills to enjoy our sport to a very high degree. All skiing was done at Mount Shasta on a very narrow Black Diamond ski slope. The ski used was a Green 203-CM. G.S.(World Cup) by Elan and a very old Nordica ski boot held on by Look Bindings. The pictures help illustrate the ski skills that hone your balance, teach subtle Edging skills and correct hip movements. By adding the "Real Secrets of Skiing".... Centering and Ki.... You have both the physical and mental skills to excel in the sport of Skiing. Even tho the booklet is small in size I think you will find that it gives you the knowledge to make huge gains in your skiing skills. As your balance and edging skills improve and along with being centered and using KI, your turns will have more power. Along with that power comes faster and cleaner turns(less sliding). The biggest improvement will be a reduced number of falls you make by being in your "Center". There is a rumor, (I don''t know who started it!), that if you are in your Center, the opposite sex will be strongly attracted to you....! I have tried to pass on the mental skills that should be at the core of great skiers. Without these mental skills you are just another Hacker that will never enjoy the pure thrill of scaring yourself silly.... T those that have the patience and courage to read and apply what I have imparted to your deeper understanding.... ....Go and become great skiers!....The KI of Skiing is my gift to the sport of snow skiing. I hope many read it and actually use the knowledge within. It may make the sport a little safer and enjoyable for all.... Will do clinics and on the hill demonstration''s. Must provide transportation, lodging, food, and an obscene amount of cash.... Dale Mollenhauer 528-670 Little Valley Rd. Little Valley, CA. 96056 If any questions about your skiing or the booklet, send a $20.00 check and S.A.S.E. to the above address.
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To my fan club at
The Ki and Centering exercises can be learned quickly if you are sober, not on drugs, or have serious mental problems. Once the skill of keeping your head over the foot you are standing on even if it is the "WRONG" foot (your inside or uphill foot)..... That is your balance..... Then you can add Centering and Ki to your skiing. This will reduce the falls you may be making. At high speeds falling can ruin a great day on the slopes.
This book is not intended to be read or understood by ski instructors or other slow skiers! To those that read and understand please send me your clipped ski tickets and pulled passes..... Anyone giving a copy of this booklet to a U.S. Ski Team member will be fined a huge amount..... As yet to be determined.....
A special thanks to Gwen Albee (a former F.I.S. race coach) for getting me on video. And for telling me to commit when I was holding back on the white pass turn..... She still can’t believe that little brat (Bode Miller) is the number one skier in the world!