Well, it looks like I haven’t posted a Nia move from the Nia 52 Moves in a long time. When I started my blog and website I wasn’t actually planning on posting about each and every move, but with only nine left that I have not posted about, I really might as well finish the list. It might not be done quickly, but I will get to them all. Why not, right? Only nine, well, eight after this one, to go! So today I am posting about the Chop Cut.
As with most, if not all, of the 52 Moves of Nia there is a specific way to do it, but then a lot of different ways it is done. I will go out on a limb to say this move, the chop cut, is a common move. I am sure many, many people have done this move whether they are dancing, practicing martial arts, or not. It is just a common move. Or at least I think of it as a common move.
To practice it as a Nia move, one of 52, we chop the air with the edge of our hands. The edge of the hand we refer to as the blade side. Using one hand at a time, raise the arm from the shoulder and bring it down. Slice, with the blade, from up to down. Allow the elbow to be slightly bent. All fingers are extended. Keep the hands active and engaged even the one that is not doing the slicing.
The Nia Technique book states the benefits as:
an excellent exercise for affirming your personal power. This move is effective for building strength in the arms and shoulders, and it is superb for releasing stress.
The move itself can release stress but when combined with sounding it can be really effective. The book recommends saying, “because.” I usually have my class say, “HA!”
The ideal Chop Cut is using the whole arm and the blade of the hand. Sometimes we might use straight arms. At times while we are dancing, we might just make the movement from our elbows. Just letting our forearms move, chopping at the air in front of us fast. That kind of movement can be done faster than using the entire arm. At times the chop can just be from the wrists. So just the hands move. It requires loose wrists. This move can be done really fast. Sometimes when we chop with our hands, we move them in the space around us, so we are moving more than just our wrists. So the chop is coming from the wrists so it is more of “just a chop” than a “chop cut”. The Chop Cut when done according to “specs,” is a power move. The other ones are great and sometimes they fit better into the dance.
So, am I right? Have you done a Chop Cut before? Were you dancing?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 