How to DO THE FIGURE 8!
Do the Figure 8: Improve your body… your skills… and your life.
- Stand directly behind the board. Slowly place your feet on the two swivels with your toes facing forward. Feel free to hold onto a chair or any stationary object if you need support. Bend your knees slightly so that your legs are not locked at the joints. Your feet should be approximately shoulder width apart. Remember the 8board is adjustable.
- Face forward and try not to look down at your feet. It is critical that your vertical access stays true, in line.
- Interlace your fingers, pressing together only your thumbs and index fingers. Your index fingers will begin to work as an imaginary pencil, drawing geometric forms in the air. Keep your elbows bent – pressed firmly against your rib cage Your arms should now be perpendicular to your torso.
- Slowly begin drawing a horizontal line in front of you, right to left and then left to right. Be sure that your elbows are pressed against your ribcage. Keeping the elbows pinned to your ribcage will force your legs to follow the movement of your arms.
- Your feet will begin to slowly move parallel to one another on the rotating disks. Some people tend to be so “locked,” that they forget to swivel their feet. Be sure your hands and feet shadow each other in parallel lines. During this movement, your fingers should also be moving from side to side.
- Start to bend and straighten your elbows, lifting the index fingers up, then down, as they move right to left, drawing an “infinity sign” or a sideways “figure 8”.
- Slowly widen your hands, unlocking your fingers, keeping your arms slightly concave and equal in length from the body’s center. Allow your hips to pull through, following the same movement as the hands. By unlinking your fingers, you will begin to feel the fluid, drag of the arms.
As you do the Figure 8 motion, you will begin to feel your hips pull your arms and feet into motion, as opposed to your hands initiating the movement – as you began. As one hip rises, the other one will fall. There is a constant flow of motion taking place due to the weight transfer, verticality and horizontal movement. The key is to maintain your center while all this is taking place.
The only thing that is not moving is your head. Try to keep your eyes focused straight ahead, just as you would in a match or game. Imagine a vertical line running directly through you from the top of your head down through the center of the 8board. Once you start to get the movement down, you’ll soon realize that every part of your body is moving in a small figure 8, including your hips, knees and shoulders.
The ideal Figure 8 motion is initiated from the hips, resulting in the arms and feet always “catching up”. Remember, there is no starting or stopping in the figure 8 – it is a continuous motion that the infinity sign symbolizes.
Congratulations! You’re doing the Figure 8. Welcome to the secret world of graceful and effortless performance.