Hand presses

Hand pressing consists in, from any QM squatting position, an effort of the arms in order to detach entirely the feet from the ground. It is a useful move to throw the body quickly forward, back or sideways or to get back on one's feet after a hold or a fall on the forelimbs. It requires a full development of the arms and torso and a great pressing power. To press in forward position, one starts with the hands behind the feet, sitting on the ground. Then the legs are taken up by pressing the arms down, and the legs and torso can be raised in various postures. For the backward position, one starts squatting down with the hands in front of and close to the feet. The arms start half or quarter flexed, to bring the shoulders forward of the hands. Keep at the same time the head in extension. Then, the body can be raised onto the arms by rotating the torso and grouping the legs in. The relative position of hands and shoulder must be adjusted to maintain balance, and the head should be kept extended. One can make the move easier by placing the knees out onto the arms or by pressing the head down from the start. The sideways press can be done similarly, either from a forward or backward starting position, and then leaning sideways. One can also squat with the hands forward and to the side, and raise the legs behind and sideways. One can also train the transition between forward and backward press, which is done by rotating the torso around the shoulders, moving the legs between the arms, and going back up in the other position. Finally, for the handstand press, we start squatting with the hands in front of the feet. Start like a backward press then, once the body is well balanced on the arms, extend progressively the legs up while extending the back at the hips. The balance of the body on the arms is essential to success. As in the backward press, the shoulders must start forward of the hands, arms partly flexed. During the upward rotation of the body, balance is maintained by the extension of the lower back and hips, minute changes in shoulders, arms and head posture, and small movements of the fingers. The extension upward can go toward a full stand, in which case the arms are straightened. To come back from the press, one can simply let the legs fall back down, flexed, making sure to bring the feet close to the hands (there are also other, more dynamic techniques explained later on). The handstand press as described here is done "in strength", without momentum, and should only be attempted after mastering a regular handstand. It is also important to know all the proper falls in case of a loss of balance. The press without momentum can be made easier by starting in forward press and swinging the legs between the arms to go up.

Groupings

When training QM postures, the work consists in taking all the possible postures with front, back or side toward the ground and in going from one posture to the next in the easiest and fastest way possible. This work can be done statically, or better as a progression, moving through the changes of postures.

For instance, one can start in QM squat, move into forward hold by moving the hands forward, then move the feet toward the hands, etc. Such progression can be done head or feet first, with various combinations of squatting and extended QM postures.

The straight holds are excellent flexibility exercises, and one must join smoothly the different movements between postures and avoid a mechanical or rigid execution. These exercises can be done during a march or a run: stopping with the feet together or apart, one can squat and get into various QM postures before standing up and continuing.

The groupings can be done first by walking the hands and feet in various combinations (Planche 29 and 30) from squats to straight holds and inversely. The work can be made more dynamic (and harder) by moving both hands or both feet together (Planche 31). Note that in many cases it is better to progress in two steps (it can be harder, for instance when moving the feet back from squat to front hold).

Further combinations can be built to move smoothly (but not necessarily in one jump or walk) from one hold to another (Planche 32 and 33). Finally, movements of the trunk are also important to help transition smoothly between postures, and can be trained separately lying down (Planche 34).

QM squats

In a QM squat ("accroupetonnement"), like in a bipedal squat, the body is lowered and the legs fully flexed. The main difference is that one or both hands are touching the ground. The legs still support most of the weight of the body, the arms providing mostly increased stability and sometimes additional support. The squat has several variants as seen on the illustrations, depending on the relative location of the hands and feet. QM squats with the hands behind or sideways are not very common, but should be trained to become natural. QM squats are mostly a starting posture for other exercises such as holds and jumps, or a transition posture between them. It is also a useful posture for hiding, resting and waiting.

For most civilized people, this position is quickly painful and hard to hold. On the contrary, many primitive peoples use QM squats as a regular resting pose. [Note: Georges Hébert, as a man of the early 20th century, saw the world as divided between "civilization" and "primitive" peoples. However, he was also very impressed by the natural fitness of those primitive peoples and very critical of the civilized world's view on physical activity. Although "primitive" has a negative connotation, it is seen here as a quality, so I kept those terms.]

The huddled QM squat ("blotissement") is a full QM squat, with round back, knees to the chest, often with the arms around the legs. Like in the regular QM squat, there are different variants based on the hand and feet position. To get into any of these, one must start by getting into the corresponding QM squat and then lowering and rounding the body into the huddled form. To stand up from the back and side huddle, it is possible to use a rocking of the body, kicking one or both legs out to increase momentum.