Alright hello everyone it's me Ethan and in this video we are going to look
at the ashtanga jump through i'll show you how to do it and then we
can decide once and for all which is better: straight legs or crossed
So in the ashtanga method we are confronted fairly early on with this
dynamic movement of jumping through to sitting
the Primary Series in its entirety presents about 33 or
34-ish opportunities to work on this and the full jump through is traditionally
accepted in two forms straight legs or crossed. My teacher Sharath
says that students can use either one depending on what's comfortable
what's kind of accessible for the individual - and that
strongly indicates that a sense of rhythm and flow
or steadiness and ease should be placed ahead of doing either one of these
techniques so both are fine and that's good to know
but there are some fundamental differences so let's weigh up their pros
and cons here before i do, you've probably noticed
just from having a quick look around the mysore room that there are
other options aside from these two that are also acceptable in jumping through
for some students simply stepping from point A to point B would be the most
comfortable and efficient others might jump but touch the feet
down on the way through as they gradually build strength to clear the
floor there are even ways to bridge the gap
between those versions so students can progress while using their most
controlled jump through. Considering all those modified forms i think it's worth
mentioning that i kind of almost feel like
we should give a massive point to the crossed-leg version right there just for
making this movement so accessible jumping with straight legs seems to be so...
all or nothing, like either you can do it
or you can't - whereas jumping with cross legs actually brings
the practice to the level of the student and makes it much more comfortable while
you learn to clear the floor so for both options we look to keep the
hips low and jump forward rather than up to a half handstand. With straight
legs the feet lead the way, with crossed legs the knees go through
first then rotate the body and extend once the feet have cleared the floor
both versions are with a rounded back tailbone tucked and deep engagement in
the core of the body to hold the spine firm
exhale deeply lift the head to see where you're going
jump and inhale as you float forward & come to a comfortable sitting position
trying to do either one of these with a straight back and high hips will almost
invariably end up with you dropping to the floor like a ripe avocado
and even if you can control the way down from your little handstand
that position isn't as deeply stabilizing - it kind of moves the work
into your shoulders and lower back... Is it unsafe?
is it going to make you super stiff over time of practicing it that way?
maybe, probably not - but it's just a different thing it's not part of the
sequence and it won't build strength in the way
that the practice intends. So efficient movement to get the hips
directly from here at downward facing dog - to here at sitting
is a factor in this movement and especially if the position that you're
jumping to is with both legs extended out in front
like Paschimattanasana, straight legs could be a very smooth way
to get there. I'd say straight legs kind of has the edge when it comes to
efficiency, but not by much especially if you are going
to fold one leg to take the pose that you're moving towards
Anatomical balance is another area where straight legs might be seen
as better it's not uncommon for a student to get
really proficient at jumping cross-legged only to eventually switch
legs to change the one that's in front and
find that they're almost back at square one
however it really does not seem to be the case
that this compounds over time to form any real anatomical imbalance that
presents elsewhere inside the practice or outside - it's more
likely that the nervous system just kind of gets used to firing in a certain way
and then it feels unfamiliar when switching up the cross
if that's a concern, an optional but pretty simple solution would be
to just alternate the cross, so jump one time with the right leg in front and
then the next jump with the left leg in front
so i'm gonna perhaps controversially go ahead
and give a point to the cross-leg version as well
for being anatomically balanced all the same.
Carry-over is the one that tips the scales. Let's take a closer look at the position that
we jump towards before lowering to sitting
with straight legs we move to a controlled L-sit position
the legs being extended brings weight forward so your balance point is with
the shoulders almost directly above the wrists
with crossed legs, more weight stays behind the shoulders
so the only way to find your balance point is to move the shoulders forward
ahead of your wrists the body is then held in a very compact
ball that we can control and rotate to come to sitting
the body shape in your L-sit does not need to be super compact it's similar
i suppose to Utplutih, but not to that many other
positions in the sequence it would take strength to hold the L-sit
sure but there's no necessary stopping point there before coming all the way
down to sitting so while it can be really lovely and fluid and efficient
and some students will of course do it much more aesthetically or much more
beautifully than me, it just doesn't carry over quite as
effectively as cross legs. With the cross this sort of elevated
Lolasana position with the shoulders ahead of the wrists is
seen so many times throughout the practice
it's seen in the jump back, in bakasana, after back bending from the knees in
second series, Karandavasana is the same shape but
with the elbows bent of course, there are bent arm variations after
Utkatasana and Pasasana and what about Utplutihi, maybe we
gave that one to the L-sit but what if you want to jump back
after you finish your ten breaths there? So ultimately yes
steadiness, ease, the meditative experience - these are all
much more important factors in this practice and if jumping with straight
legs allows more of that for you then you're welcome to go ahead with that
version students with flexible hamstrings
shorter legs and a longer torso do have a tendency to find comfort in this
option but might need to integrate the cross-legged
jump at some stage so that they can apply that strength to
other areas of their practice i tend to find that the only real reason
for a proficient cross-legged jumper to switch is probably just for fun.
There you have it! Both are good, but learning to control
the jump with crossed legs seems to translate better for other strength or
arm balance postures in the sequence
thank you so much for watching this video. New videos are on the way, so
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the next one!