Starting Positions
To make learning the dance of shiva easier I try to use a consistent set of starting positions. That way, instead of having to think about what starting position to use, you can get on with practicing because the starting position is a given.
As your understanding improves you can experiment with different starting positions perhaps with the goal of improving flowability.
Most of the recommended starting positions for learning the dance of shiva have been selected with the goal that their is little or no duplicated movements within a practice set.
And I’ve also selected starting positions so that for each set of moves, the starting positions are (mostly) the same.
As an example, in the part 2 moves, the starting moves for quadrant 1 are generally
- 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4.
For each new starting position the right hand advances 1 move.
For quadrant 2 the starts are similar:
- a-a, a-b, a-c and a-d.
Likewise for Q3 and Q4 starts:
- 1-a, 1-b, 1-c, 1-d, and
- a-1, a-2, a-3, a-4.
In each case the left arm remains fixed and the right arm advances. I’ll discuss other starting position sets when they arise.